IMDb Family and Movie Rating Relationship Group Project

The movie starts with Bowser’s ship landing in front of the penguin king’s palace in the penguin kingdom.Then, Bowser (Jack Black) tells the penguins to either come out or die, to which they come out and fight him, using snowballs. however they only take out one man using a catapult and an ice block. then, the penguin king (Khary Peyton) informs Bowser that “that is but a taste of our fury” and questions if they yield. to which Bowser laughs and informs that he does not. he then has his henchman, Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson) remove them from the area using magic. then, Bowser burns the palace down to the ground, and Kamek uses his magic (and the remaining rubble) to make stairs for Bowser. once Bowser climbs up the stairs, he punches a ? block, uncovering a super star. He then boasts that no one can stop him at this point. in the next scene, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are watching their plumbing ad that they spent all their savings on in a pizzaria called Punch Out! Pizza. after that, they are made fun of by their former boss, Foreman Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco) who resents them for quiting their job with him to start their own plumbing business. he jokes with them that they probably didn’t even get a call yet and calls them “The Stupid Mario Brothers” and attemps to throw his napkin at Luigi’s face, but Mario catches it and stands up for himself and his brother. Just then, they recieve a call from a couple in Brooklyn for a plumbing job. when they get into their car however, it wont start, so they walk and take a shortcut through a construction site. when they get their they meet the couples dog, Francis who starts out liking them, but after Luigi accidentally stepped on Francis’ bone, Francis no longer liked them. then, they fixed the leak in the house, but are confronted by Francis, who attacks them and wrecks the faucet. When they get back home, even their family makes fun of them. However, their mom (Jessica Dicicco) supports them. when Mario asks his Dad (Charles Martinet) what he thinks his dad tells him that hes crazy and that the worst thing about it is that he’s ” Bringing your brother down with you”. after that, Mario leaves the table and plays Kid Icaris on his NES. then, Luigi walks into their room and comforts him, telling him that hes not bringing him down with him. then, on the news, Mario and Luigi learn that there’s a problem with the brooklyn water main, so they set out to fix it. after they get into the sewers, they accidentally fall into a hidden part of the sewers, and discover a warp pipe. Luigi goes inside, and gets sucked in, prompting Mario to go after him. then, they are both sucked into the warp zone, and are separated. Mario gets sent to the Mushroom Kingdom, where he meets Toad (Keegan Michael Key). after Mario discribes the place Luigi got sent to, Toad is convinced that he ended up in The Darklands, a land ruled by Bowser. However, Toad tells Mario that the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), will be able to help him, so they set out to find her. Back in the Darklands, Luigi realizes that Mario isn’t there. He is then Chased by Dry Bones and escapes by getting inside a castle and locking the door, but is then captured by Shy Guys. Back at the mushroom kingdom, Mario and Toad travel through the mushroom kingdom and make it to Peach’s Castle. when they get to the castle door, however, the guards tell them that ” Your Princess is in another castle” but after toad cooks them up some food, they let Mario pass. in Peach’s throne room, one of her councilmen tell her that Bowser is coming to the Mushroom Kingdom next. however, Peach informs him that she is planing to make an alliance with the kong army from the Jungle Kingdom. Just then, when she walks out of her throne room, she meets Mario and both are surprised to see a human. Mario tells her that his brother is in the Darklands, and she tells him that she is going to the jungle kingdom to make an alliance to stop Bowser, so they both team up, and peach tells him that he can come with her… If he finishes a Practice course. However, He fails Multiple times, and gets so close to finishing it, but is stopped by an obstacle. however, peach still agrees to let him come with her, and attempts to make him feel better by telling him that she only finished it on her first try because she grew up there. back in the darklands, Luigi is headed towards bowsers castle in a hot air balloon. Back at Bowsers castle, bowser sings a song about how he only desires to marry peach and rule the world with her, but he is interrupted by Kamek who informs him that Mario and Peach are headed to The Jungle Kingdom to make an alliance with them, and bowser sees him as a competitor over peach’s affections. back to Mario and Peach, after travelling through the Bomb-Omb battlefield, the Desert Kingdom, and Yoshi’s Island, they Finally make it to a Fire Flower Field. There, Peach activates the fire flower and uses it to ignite a campfire. she then notices that Mario is upset about something and asks him if he is worrying about his brother, and Mario tells her that he is and that they’ve never been apart that long before. she comforts him, telling him that they are going to save his brother. mario then asks peach where she is from, and she tells him that she is not sure, and that her first memory was arriving in the mushroom kingdom. Mario tells her that she might be from his world, and they gaze up at the stars. back to bowser, bowser is informed that the koopas had captured Luigi and found him wandering around. bowser brings luigi in to interrogate him. at first, Luigi is reluctant to reveal whether Mario is his Brother or not, but after bowser looses his temper, Luigi spills the beans. bowser asks him if princesses find mario attractive and luigi tells him they do if they have good taste. then, mario, peach, and toad end up at the jungle kingdom, and are given a ride through the city and dropped of at Cranky Kong’s Palace, but Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) refuses to make an alliance. but after Mario tells him that they aren’t leaving without the kongs army, Cranky Kong tells Mario that he can have the army if Mario can beat His Son in a wrestling match in the Great Ring of Kong. Mario Agrees. Peach, However informs him that it is a very (very) bad idea. when Mario Starts the Fight with cranky’s son, Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), it starts out rough, but mario remember what peach told him about the power ups. then mario gets a mushroom that he thinks is the Super Mushroom, but after eating it, discovers that it is actually a mini mushroom. after returning to regular size, Mario attempts to use the fire flower, but Donkey Kong blows it out, rendering it useless. then, after getting the cat bell, Mario defeats Donkey Kong. Peach tells mario that she is proud of him and that he never gave up. then, Cranky sugests that they get back home by taking rainbow road. however bowser learns of this and dispatches his army to stop them. in the end, Mario and Donkey Kong get sent of the track and into the belly of a sea beast, while the kong army are captured, leaving only peach and toad left. when they get back peach gets everyone to evacuate, and sets out to try and stop bowser herself. when bowser gets their and proposes to peach, she declines, telling him that she would never marry him. however, when bowser gets kamek to torture toad using his magic, she quickly complies. back to Mario and Donkey Kong, they escape the beast using a rocket from DK’s kart. then toad hands peach a bouquet, and peach walks up to bowser, only to discover (to her horror) people dangling from a cage above a pool of lava. bowser tells her that he will be sacrificing them in her honor, and lowers the prisoners. just before kamek can start reading the wedding book though, peach knocks him out and reveals a ice flower in her bouquet, activates it and uses it to stop the prisoners from being lowered (Luigi being one of them) and to freeze bowser. back to mario, mario and donkey kong make it and save luigi. but then, bowser orders a boomer bill be launched to destroy the mushroom kingdom, but mario stops it by luring it into the warp pipe, using the super leaf. after this it causes everyone to get sucked into brooklyn, and, after a brief fight with bowser, mario realizes that he may not be able to win this one. but after seeing his friends getting hurt, and watching his plumping ad which is playing on the tv in punch out pizza, he gains enough strength to fight bowser one last time. mario attempts to steal the super star from bowser, but bowser attempts to stop him using his fire breath. however, luigi saves mario by using a manhole cover as a shield. then they lunge forward to get the super star. at first, they are thought to have been scorched by the flames, but it turns out that they activated the super star at the last second, making them invincible. then, they defeat bowser and are acknowledged as a hero by marios family, foreman spike, and even francis. as for bowser, he is shrinked using the mini mushroom and put in a bottle. at the end, it shows that mario and luigi have moved into a house in the mushroom kingdom.

End Credit Scene #1 Bowser sings the second part of his song, and is told to be quiet by one of the guards in peachs castle.

This animated film starts with Peter Parker (voice of Chris Pine) introducing himself as we know him, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. By now, everybody knows how big he is, what with saving New York constantly, getting his own comics, cereal, and even a Christmas album. He does have some things he’s not proud of (the emo dance, for one), but he takes his duties as Spidey proudly, as he is the one and only.

We meet Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (voice of Shameik Moore) as he is getting ready to start attending a private school. He lives with his father Jefferson (voice of Brian Tyree Henry) and his mother Rio (voice of Luna Lauren Velez). Miles goes around his neighborhood greeting his friends and tagging street signs with stickers he made. Jefferson, a cop, catches Miles and escorts him to school in his cruiser. As they ride to the school, they see a news report on Spider-Man, whom Jeff is not a fan of. Once they arrive, Jeff tells Miles he loves him, but Miles fails to say it back. Jeff then uses his radio to force Miles in front of all the other students to say “I love you” back, embarrassing him.

Miles gets into his schoolwork as he tries to adjust to this new environment. During one of his classes, he meets Gwen Stacy (voice of Hailee Steinfeld), who doesn’t immediately tell him who she is. Later, Miles sneaks out of his dorm to visit his Uncle Aaron (voice of Mahershala Ali), who is Jefferson’s brother and a sort of black sheep due to his criminal activities. Miles tells him about Gwen, and Aaron tells him to do a shoulder touch to try and charm her. The two then go to the tunnels near the subway so that they can do some graffiti since Aaron is fond of Miles’s artwork. As Miles spray-paints the walls, a radioactive glitching spider crawls up his leg and bites his hand after Miles takes a picture of his work, but he only lightly taps the spider off his hand before leaving with Aaron.

The next day, Miles finds himself feeling differently. He hears a voice in his head (which is accompanied by comics-style text boxes), his clothes barely fit, and he is sweating profusely. He runs into Gwen, who tries to make up a fake name when they properly introduce themselves. Miles tries to do the shoulder touch, but he only gets his hand stuck on Gwen’s shoulder, and then her hair, leading them to have to go to the nurse for her to cut her hair off. When Miles tries going back to his room, he is found by a security guard who calls him out for leaving his dorm. Miles runs and hides in the man’s office, getting everything stuck to him as he keeps freaking out. He climbs out the window and finds himself walking on the walls before running into the streets, amazed by his newfound powers and abilities.

Miles later goes to the tunnel where the spider bit him. As he examines it, it starts glitching again. Not long after, Miles hides as his spider-sense detects danger. Spider-Man enters as he’s being pursued by the Green Goblin (voice of Jorma Taccone). The fight takes them beneath Fisk Industries where Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (voice of Liev Schreiber) is attempting to start up a Super Collider. In the middle of Spidey fighting Goblin, he takes the time to get Miles out of harm’s way. Spidey realizes Miles is just like him, just as the machine is turned on. Outside in the city, certain structures start to get weirdly morphed into other shapes. A blast occurs in the tunnel. Spidey is badly injured, and Miles tries to help him, but Spidey tells him to hide before giving him a drive to shut down the Collider. Kingpin, Goblin, and another villain, The Prowler, gather around Spidey and remove his mask. He begs Kingpin not to restart the Collider, even telling him to think about his family, but this angers Kingpin and he kills Spider-Man by slamming his fists down onto him, which Miles watches in horror. He runs back home where his parents find him, and he runs to hug Jefferson.

The news breaks out that Spider-Man is dead, and that he was Peter Parker. New Yorkers everywhere are devastated. Miles buys a costume (the store owner is the voice of Stan Lee, no less) before attending a memorial service for Peter, with many other fans attending dressed as the wall-crawler. Mary Jane (voice of Zoë Kravitz) delivers a eulogy for her husband while Aunt May (voice of Lily Tomlin) stands solemnly in the back.

Miles is inspired by MJ’s words to take up the mantle of Spider-Man. He wants to test out his powers, but he isn’t quite sure of how to get them to work. He later pays a visit to Peter’s grave, just as he is spotted by another man…Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson). In his own words, this Peter tells us that in his universe, he’s been Spider-Man for years and is now an adult, but he’s lost Aunt May and he was married to Mary Jane but is now divorced due to him not being able to work out his issues as Spidey, as well as him not wanting kids when she did. He became depressed and gained weight, and then the Collider turned on, which pulled him into this dimension. Now after finding Miles, he gets knocked unconscious, leading Miles to try and swing away with him as the police go after them, only to end up crashing on the streets as people walk past them.

Miles brings Peter somewhere for safety. He questions Peter as to how it’s possible that he’s there alive when he correctly guesses the alternate dimension theory. Miles takes out the drive that the Peter of his universe gave him (which other Peter calls a “goober”), but it’s broken. Peter frees himself and takes the broken goober to try and find a new one so that he can get back home, as being in this dimension causes him to glitch and be unstable. However, before Peter can head off on his own, Miles guilts him into letting him join so that they can make things right together.

Miles and Peter, dressed in their costumes, go to Alchemax Labs where the data on the Collider is being kept. As they try to find a way to sneak in, Kingpin and his henchman Tombstone (Marvin Jones III) and his top scientist (voice of Kathryn Hahn). Kingpin’s motive for operating the Collider is to be reunited with his wife Vanessa (voice of Lake Bell) and son Richard. Years earlier, they watched as he tried to kill Spider-Man, and they fled from him, only to be tragically hit by a truck.

Miles and Peter manage to sneak into the lab and find the room with the computer. Miles starts freaking out again as he can’t unstick himself from the ceiling, just as Kingpin and his scientist are outside. Miles then also finds out he can turn invisible while he’s scared. The scientist then enters the room, forcing Peter to try and charm her. She is impressed to find Spider-Man alive, but only so she can kill him herself. She then reveals her name to be Dr. Olivia Octavius, aka DOC OCK. She reveals her mechanical tentacles as she attacks Peter, but Miles grabs the computer so that they can go. They are chased by scientists out of the lab and into the woods. The guys swing through the trees as the villains catch up, but Doc Ock gets webbed up by a third spider-person…GWEN. She tells Miles and Peter how she too has come from another dimension where she was bitten by a spider. There, she saved her father’s life but couldn’t save Peter. The three of them then head out of the woods to get away. Doc Ock later goes back to Kingpin, who is highly displeased to find there are two more Spider-Men around.

Miles, Peter, and Gwen to go Aunt May’s home, where she is able to figure out that the Peter she sees before her is from another dimension. She takes them to her Peter’s old secret hideout, which is full of different suits, gadgets, and vehicles. There, the three meet Spider-Man Noir (voice of Nicolas Cage), a black-and-white old-gangster-talking hero; Peni Parker (voice of Kimiko Glenn) and her robot SP//dr, which is powered by a radioactive spider; and Peter Porker, aka Spider-Ham (voice of John Mulaney), who was actually a spider bitten by a radioactive pig. All of them were pulled from their own dimensions and into Miles’s world. They each plan to stay behind and shut down the Collider with a new goober so that the rest can get home, but Miles says it has to be him since this is his dimension. When Peter tries to back him up by stating the cool powers that Miles has, he is unable to turn them on and prove to the others that he is capable of helping. Miles turns invisible and he dejectedly leaves the cave.

Miles goes to Aaron’s home for help, just as Jefferson and Rio are contacting Aaron since they haven’t heard from Miles in a while. Miles finds Aaron’s apartment empty, but then encounters Prowler inside, prompting him to go invisible again. Prowler speaks to Kingpin and removes his mask, revealing himself to be Aaron. Miles is horrified. He tries to get out of the apartment but is chased by Aaron throughout the city until he manages to evade him.

Back at Aunt May’s house, Miles reunites with the other Spider-People to tell them that his uncle is working for Kingpin. Unfortunately, Miles has led Prowler there, along with Doc Ock, Goblin, Tombstone, and Scorpion (voice of Joaquín Cosio). The villains attack, and the Spider-People spring into action. Even Aunt May gets in on it by defending her home. Prowler goes after Miles and chases him to the rooftop. Kingpin orders Prowler to finish Miles off, until Miles takes off his mask to reveal himself to his uncle. Aaron is mortified that he almost killed his nephew. As he backs down, Kingpin shoots Aaron in the back and then goes for Miles, but he swings out of there with his uncle. He takes Aaron to an alley where he is dying. Miles blames himself for what happened, but Aaron encourages him to keep pushing forward. Jefferson finds Miles over Aaron’s body, sending Miles fleeing. Jeff then sees his brother and breaks down.

Miles returns to his dorm where the other Spider-People meet up with him. They cause his roommate to pass out from seeing them crawl up the wall. Peter webs Miles up to his chair and takes the goober to go stop the Collider, telling Miles it’s for his safety. After they leave, Jeff comes up to Miles’s dorm outside, but he can’t respond thanks to the web. Jeff tells him about Aaron and only wishes for Miles to be okay. Miles then musters up the strength to bring out his power to free himself.

Miles goes back to Aunt May’s and gets the original Spider-Man suit, which he spray paints with dark colors. He then tests his powers more confidently as he swings around the city.

The other Spider-People find Kingpin’s gala where they are able to sneak in because the staff are wearing Spidey masks. Peter sees MJ and tried to express his guilt toward leaving her, even though she doesn’t know it’s him or what he’s talking about. They proceed down to where the Collider is, but Kingpin’s henchmen find them and proceed to attack. Miles swings in and joins his comrades as they fight back. To make things worse, the Collider is activated, causing another earthquake across the city as dimensions start warping together.

Spider-Man Noir takes on Tombstone while Peni and SP//dr fight Goblin, and Spider-Ham beats up Scorpion with a cartoon mallet. Doc Ock goes after Gwen and Peter while Miles tries to shut the Collider down. The henchmen are taken out, and Doc Ock is plowed by an inter-dimensional truck. Unfortunately, SP//dr is heavily damaged, leaving Peni devastated as Noir and Spider-Ham comfort her. She takes the spider back as they prepare to jump back home. They say their farewells, and Peni goes first, followed by Noir and Spider-Ham. Gwen affirms her friendship with Miles before going home. Peter tried to stay back and help Peter, but Miles chooses to send Peter back so that he can fix what he has to do in his world. Miles then goes after the Collider, but Kingpin starts hitting back hard. He then starts to see a new Vanessa and Richard as their dimensions start crossing over. Just as Kingpin seems to overpower Miles, he sees Jefferson as he enters the area. Miles gets himself up and uses his power to blast Kingpin away and then send him webbed up toward the button to shut down the Collider for good.

Outside, Miles calls Jeff to let him know he’s okay. He then approaches him as Spider-Man and hugs him, letting him know he’s doing a good job, but not letting his dad know who he really is. Jeff then finds Kingpin webbed up and prepped for arrest.

Miles now assumes his regular school duties while also taking on his role as the new Spider-Man, earning a number of new fans across the city. Meanwhile, in Peter’s dimension, he heads off to patch things up with MJ. As Miles settles in his room for a nap, a dimensional portal opens and he hears Gwen’s voice calling to him.

There is a dedication for Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Ariel, a sixteen-year-old mermaid princess, is dissatisfied with life under the sea and curious about the human world. With her best fish friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts and goes to the surface of the ocean to visit Scuttle the seagull, who offers very inaccurate and comical knowledge of human culture. Ignoring the warnings of her father (King Triton) and head maestro (Sebastian the crab) that contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden (the sea’s primary contact with humans involve fishermen, so King Triton considers humans as nothing more than mere predators), Ariel still longs to be part of the human world; to this end she has filled a secret grotto with all the human artifacts she has found. (“Part of Your World”) Sebastian, who is assigned to watch over Ariel and be sure she does not visit the surface again, tries to convince her that its better to live under the sea than in the human world (“Under the Sea”).

One night, Ariel, Flounder and an unwilling Sebastian travel to the ocean surface to watch a celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, with whom Ariel falls in love. A sudden storm hits, during which everyone manages to escape in a lifeboat except for Eric who goes back to rescue his dog Max. He almost drowns saving Max but is saved by Ariel, who drags him to the beach. Although it seems that his heart isn’t beating, Ariel notices that Eric is breathing. She sings to him but dives underwater when Max returns to Eric. Upon being assisted by his chancellor (Sir Grimsby), Eric has a vague impression that he was rescued by a girl with a beautiful voice; he vows to find her, and Ariel vows to find a way to join Eric. (“Part of Your World (reprise)”)

Triton and his daughters notice a change in Ariel, who is openly lovesick. Triton questions Sebastian about Ariel’s behavior, during which Sebastian accidentally reveals the incident with Eric. Triton furiously confronts Ariel in her grotto, using his trident to destroy her collection of human treasures. After Triton leaves, a pair of eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, convince a crying Ariel that she must visit Ursula the sea witch, if she wants all of her dreams to come true.

Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days (“Poor, Unfortunate Souls”). Within these three days, Ariel must receive the ‘kiss of true love’ from Eric; otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid on the third day and belong to Ursula. As payment for legs, Ariel has to give up her voice, which Ursula takes by magically removing the energy from Ariel’s vocal chords and storing it in a nautilus shell. Ariel’s tail is transformed into legs, leaving her naked except for her seashell bra. Sebastian and Flounder drag her to the surface. Meanwhile, Triton discovers Ariel and Sebastian’s disappearance and, wracked with guilt over his behavior, orders a search for them.

Eric and Max find Ariel on the beach. He initially suspects that she is the one who saved his life, but when he learns that she cannot speak, he discards that notion, to the frustration of both Ariel and Max (who knows the truth). He helps her to the palace, where the servants think she is a survivor of a shipwreck. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss (“Kiss the Girl”) but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. Angered at their narrow escape, Ursula takes the disguise of a beautiful young woman named “Vanessa” and appears onshore singing with Ariel’s voice. Eric recognizes the song and, in her disguise, Vanessa/Ursula casts a hypnotic enchantment on Eric to make him forget about Ariel.

The next day, Ariel finds out that Eric will be married to the disguised Ursula on a ship. She cries and is left behind when the wedding barge departs. Scuttle discovers that Vanessa is Ursula in disguise, and informs Ariel. As Ariel and Flounder chase the wedding barge, Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle is assigned to literally “stall the wedding.” With the help of various animals, the nautilus shell around Ursula’s neck is broken, restoring Ariel’s voice and breaking Ursula’s enchantment over Eric. Realizing that Ariel was the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Ursula reverts to her true form and kidnaps Ariel.

Triton appears and confronts Ursula, but cannot destroy Ursula’s contract with Ariel. Triton chooses to sacrifice himself for his daughter, and is transformed into a polyp. Ursula takes Triton’s crown and trident, which was her plan from the beginning. Ursula uses her new power to gloat, transforming into a giant, and forming a whirlpool that disturbs several shipwrecks to the surface, one of which Eric commandeers. Just as Ursula is set to use the trident to destroy Ariel, Eric turns the wheel hard to port and runs Ursula through the abdomen with the ship’s splintered bowsprit, mortally wounding her. With her last breaths, Ursula pulls the ship down with her, but Eric escapes to shore in time.

With Ursula gone, her power breaks and the polyps in Ursula’s garden (including Triton) turn back into the old merpeople. Later, after seeing that Ariel really loves Eric and that Eric also saved him in the process, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a human using his trident. She runs into Eric’s arms, and the two finally kiss.

Some time after the events of the first film, Buster Moon is thriving with his new theater. However, he fails to impress talent scout Suki, who tells him he would not make it in Redshore City. Buster, encouraged by Nana Noodleman, reunites the singers who competed in the first film and takes them to the city.

They sneak in for an audition with entertainment mogul Jimmy Crystal. Crystal is uninterested in Buster’s original show pitch, therefore, Gunter pitches a space-themed show which would feature Clay Calloway, a rock star who has not been seen in 15 years. Intrigued, Crystal green lights it, telling them to have the show up and running within three weeks.

During production on the show, Rosita develops a fear of heights during rehearsal and is unable to keep on her role, which is given to Crystal’s daughter Porsha while Rosita is delegated to a minor role. Meanwhile, Johnny has been assigned to work with top choreographer Klaus Kickenklober for his part in the show but senses that Klaus dislikes him due to his inability to dance. Johnny comes across a street dancer named Nooshy, who agrees to help him out. Meena has been cast in a romantic scene with Darius, a self-absorbed actor with whom Meena has no chemistry with. She later meets and falls in love with an ice cream vendor named Alfonso.

Ash and Buster visit Clay Calloway to convince him to be in the show. He refuses at first, but Ash changes his mind. Back at the theater, Buster asks Porsha if she would like to switch roles with Rosita as she cannot act. Porsha interprets this as Buster firing her. Upon learning this, Crystal blames Porsha for embarrassing him and nearly throws Buster off his building before locking him in a closet. Suki frees Buster and warns him to get out of Redshore City, before Crystal can kill him. Ash arrives with the crew and Calloway, who advises Buster not to run and hide like he did after he lost his wife. Buster then decides to have the cast and crew put on the show one night behind Crystal’s back and has Miss Crawly get Porsha to rejoin them in the show.

During the show, a jealous Klaus takes the place of Johnny’s performance partner to try to undermine his number, but Johnny defeats Klaus with encouragement from Nooshy and finally earns Klaus’ respect. Meena visualizes Darius as Alfonso and performs a romantic duet with him. Having found out about the show and angered when Porsha stands up to him during her part, Crystal tries to stop it by dropping Buster off the top of the stage which causes Rosita to overcome her fear of heights to save the latter. When the time comes for Calloway to take the stage, he claims that he is not ready. Ash leads the crowd in a rendition of one of Calloway’s songs, giving him the courage to perform.

The sun rises over the Pride Lands. Animals from all corners of the kingdom head over to Pride Rock (“Circle of Life”). The ruling lions King Mufasa (voice of James Earl Jones) and Queen Sarabi (voice of Alfre Woodard) are welcoming the birth of their cub, Simba. The mandrill high priest Rafiki (voice of John Kani) presents Simba before all the animals, and they all bow before the new prince.

A little mouse is scurrying around his environment until he comes across the vicious Scar (voice of Chiwetel Ejiofor), Mufasa’s jealous brother. Before he can devour the mouse, Scar is interrupted by Mufasa’s hornbill major-domo Zazu (voice of John Oliver). He warns Scar that Mufasa is on his way to chastise him for missing out on the ceremony for Simba. Sure enough, Mufasa arrives to confront his brother, just as Scar is trying to make lunch out of Zazu. Scar expresses his dismay for not getting his place on the throne after Mufasa now that Simba is born. After Mufasa and Zazu leave, Scar looks on with scorn.

Rafiki is by his tree, where he uses several bugs to form a drawing of Simba on the tree.

Time passes, and Simba (now voiced by JD McCrary) is an eager and curious little cub. He wakes up his father so that he can explore the Pride Lands. Mufasa explains that everything in the Pride Lands is theirs, but anything beyond the borders is forbidden from venturing into. He also tells his son that they are connected in the great circle of life in regards to his duty as a future king. Zazu then flies in for the morning report before Mufasa teaches Simba how to pounce on the bird. Moments later, Zazu tells Mufasa that he has spotted hyenas. Mufasa orders Simba to go to Sarabi.

Simba goes to Scar, who rests alone on his own little rock. As Simba expresses curiosity over what is beyond the borders of the Pride Lands, Scar tells him that it’s an elephant graveyard. Simba then goes to find his best friend Nala (voice of Shahadi Wright Joseph), who is in the middle of a bath. Simba gets his own bath from Sarabi before he tells Nala that he wants to go to the watering hole, but Sarabi makes the cubs take Zazu as a chaperon.

On their walk, Simba tells Nala where they are really going. Zazu notices them together and notes how cute it is to see two betrothed cubs together. This grosses out Simba and Nala, who insist they are only friends. Zazu says those are the rules, and Simba says he is going to change some of these rules when he becomes king (“I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”). The cubs lose Zazu amidst the other animals before they head to the elephant graveyard. While exploring, they are found by a pack of hyenas, led by Shenzi (voice of Florence Kasumba), Kamari (voice of Keegan-Michael Key), and Azizi (voice of Eric Andre). Shenzi is ready to eat them once she realizes who Simba is, even as Zazu flies in to warn her that doing so would start a war with Mufasa. She attacks, but Zazu manages to hold her off long enough for Simba and Nala to run away. The pack then surrounds the cubs. Simba tries to roar at the hyenas but merely musters up simple growls. As they laugh and ask him to do it again, a louder roar is heard. Mufasa runs in and fights off the hyenas before ordering Shenzi to back off or face retribution. The hyenas retreat, but Mufasa is upset at Simba as he takes him and Nala home.

Mufasa has Zazu take Nala home while he talks to Simba. He expresses his disappointment in him, but Simba tries to defend himself by saying that he was trying to be brave like Mufasa. He tells his son that he’s only brave when he needs to be, and that he was afraid of losing Simba. They then sit to look up at the stars, and Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past are looking down on them.

The hyenas return to their hideout, complaining about their lack of food. It is then shown that Scar is leading them, and he deliberately led Simba and Nala to their path. He then tells the hyenas about his plan to kill Mufasa so that he will lead the Pride Lands (“Be Prepared”), and this will also mean more food for the hyenas.

The next day, Scar brings Simba by a gorge to practice his roar. After he leaves Simba alone, he gives to hyenas the signal to make their move. Suddenly, Simba looks up at the cliff to notice a WILDEBEEST STAMPEDE. He runs for it and climbs up a tree for safety. Scar finds Mufasa and Zazu, warning his brother about Simba being trapped in the gorge while telling Zazu to alert the lionesses. Mufasa runs through the herd of wildebeest to reach Simba. He brings the cub up to safety but is dragged away by the wildebeest. Mufasa then starts climbing up the hill, only to be caught by Scar, who sinks his claws into Mufasa’s paws. With a sinister look in his eyes, Scar tells Mufasa, “Long live the king”, and he smacks his brother off the cliff to his demise. Simba watches helplessly as his father falls into the stampede. He runs down and discovers Mufasa’s body, tearfully pleading with him to wake up. Scar finds Simba and says it’s all his fault that his father is dead. Fearing for the consequences, Simba asks Scar what to do, and Scar orders him to run away and never return. After Simba does so, he sends Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi (plus an unnamed hyena) to chase after Simba and kill him. Simba outruns the hyenas to the edge of a cliff where he and the fourth hyena fall over. Shenzi orders the other two to make sure Simba is dead, but they figure to themselves that he could not have survived the fall, and they are not eager to climb down and check. Simba is seen hiding before continuing his exile.

Scar announces Mufasa’s death to the lionesses, and then says that Simba was also killed. He feigns his grief before walking up to Pride Rock to assume his new duties as king, and then brings the hyenas out. Zazu and Rafiki watch from a distance and mourn Mufasa and Simba.

Simba walks alone for miles before ending up in a desert. He collapses in exhaustion before a flock of vultures swoop in to try and eat him. They are interrupted by the meerkat-and-warthog duo Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), who scare off the vultures before finding Simba. The two decide they should keep the cub so that when he grows into an adult lion, he will be on their side. Simba wakes up and is despondent, still blaming himself for his father’s death. Timon and Pumbaa take him in and show him how they live their lives, according to their motto, “Hakuna Matata” (It means “no worries!”). Since the other animals are friends, Simba can’t eat them and now feasts on bugs. He spends more time with Timon and Pumbaa, now growing into an adult (now played by Donald Glover).

Under Scar’s reign, the Pride Lands become devoid of sufficient food and resources, since the hyenas are bleeding everything dry. Nala (now voiced by Beyonce Knowles-Carter) expresses concern over how things have turned. Scar even tries to get Sarabi to be his queen, promising that she can dine with him, but she refuses. He then has the hyenas eat the rest of his kill, leaving barely scraps for the lionesses. Later that night, Nala tries to leave Pride Rock, but she is spotted by Zazu, who knows what Scar will do to her if he catches her leaving. Therefore, he creates a diversion to get Scar and the hyenas to chase him, allowing Nala to get away.

After spending a day chowing down on grubs, Simba, Timon and Pumbaa lay down to look up at the stars. As Timon and Pumbaa muse over what could be up there, Simba mentions what Mufasa once told him about the kings of the past looking down on them. Timon and Pumbaa laugh it off, which bothers Simba. He goes to be alone, and as he lays down, some fur from his mane flies off. It is blown away and goes through a few animals before it finds its way to Rafiki. He senses that Simba is still alive, and he rejoices.

Timon and Pumbaa are walking through their home while singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” before Nala attacks and chases after them. As they flee, Simba jumps out and pounces on Nala, but after she pins him down, he realizes who it is. Simba is excited to see his best friend again while Nala is elated that Simba is alive. The two go off together to catch up, leaving Timon and Pumbaa to realize that the two lions are becoming more than friends (“Can You Feel The Love Tonight?”). However, the happiness is short-lived once Nala tells Simba that he needs to return home due to what Scar and the hyenas have done. Still feeling guilty, he refuses to go back. Nala leaves him when he becomes too stubborn and doesn’t listen to her.

Simba wanders off alone until he is found by Rafiki. He tells Simba he knows Mufasa, and that he is alive. Simba follows Rafiki and is led to a lake. Rafiki makes Simba see his reflection, which turns into the image of Mufasa. Up in the clouds, Simba sees and hears Mufasa’s voice as his face is illuminated by lightning. Mufasa knows that Simba has forgotten who he is, and therefore has forgotten his own father. He tells him to remember that he is the one true king. Now realizing his purpose, Simba runs off to catch up with Nala, and Timon and Pumbaa follow.

The four make it to the Pride Lands and meet with Zazu, who is also happy to see Simba again. They see how bad the land looks, and why it is urgent that they stop Scar. Simba has Timon and Pumbaa be “live bait” to distract the hyenas and to let them get to Pride Rock. Simba sees Scar hurting Sarabi when she defies him again. Everyone is stunned to see Simba returning, and he goes by his mother’s side. Scar tries to turn the tables on him by making Simba admit his guilt in Mufasa’s death. Scar advances toward Simba, causing him to slip and hang over the edge of Pride Rock. Lightning strikes a nearby tree, causing a fire down below. Scar then brags to Simba over how he looks, not realizing he is openly admitting his own guilt for the lionesses to hear. He then whispers to Simba that he killed Mufasa, and Simba pounces on his murderous uncle. Scar confesses to his crime, but then sics the hyenas on the lionesses, beginning an all-out war. The lions battle the hyenas, while Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki all get a few good licks in.

Simba then goes after Scar, who tries to run away. When Simba confronts him, Scar blames the hyenas and says that he was planning to kill them for their supposed crime. Scar begs Simba for mercy, and Simba orders him to do the same thing he ordered him to do as a cub: run away and never return. Scar seems to agree to the terms, but instead flings hot embers in Simba’s face. The two then begin to fight, swinging claws at each other until Simba gains the upper hand and knocks Scar off the edge of the cliff. He survives and sees the hyenas coming toward him. Unfortunately for him, the hyenas heard him throw them under the bus, and they proceed to rip Scar to shreds.

The rain falls over the Pride Lands to wash away the fire. With the hyenas gone, the lionesses gather around Pride Rock. Zazu and Rafiki allow Simba his chance to ascend. He walks to the edge of Pride Rock and hears Mufasa’s voice saying, “Remember.” With that, he roars before the lionesses to become the new LION KING.

The Lion King takes place in the Pride Lands of Africa, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. As dawn breaks, all the animals of the Pride Lands are summoned to Pride Rock, the home of the pride of lions. Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), a mandrill, walks through the herd and climbs the face of Pride Rock to greet his friend, King Mufasa (James Earl Jones). Mufasa leads Rafiki to his mate Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) who is holding their newborn cub. Rafiki anoints the cub with fruit juices before presenting him to the gathered animals. The animals cheer and then bow to the new future king.

Meanwhile, Scar (Jeremy Irons), the younger brother of Mufasa, is sulking by himself behind Pride Rock. He is envious of his brother’s position as king and is disgruntled at the fact that he will never be king now that Mufasa has an heir. Mufasa and his majordomo, a hornbill named Zazu (Rowan Atkinson), confront Scar on why he wasn’t present at the ceremony that morning. Scar shrugs it off, claiming he had forgotten, and scoffs his new responsibility to show respect to the future king before wandering off.

As monsoon storms drench the Pride Lands, Rafiki is seen in his tree home, a large baobab, adding details to his newest piece of wall art. He chuckles lightly as he finishes, reciting the new cub’s name, Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas).

Now a budding youth, Simba rises early one morning and pesters his father to get up and show him the lands he’s destined to rule over. Mufasa illustrates from the top of Pride Rock that everything the light touches is their kingdom, except for a place on the horizon that is covered in shadow. Mufasa tells Simba he’s forbidden from ever going there. Out in the plains, Mufasa tells Simba that there is a balance to all life which eventually comes full circle; the Circle of Life. When Zazu appears with a morning report, Mufasa takes the opportunity to give Simba a pouncing lesson which goes successfully, much to Zazu’s dismay. As Simba gets ready to try again, Zazu suddenly exclaims that a group of hyenas has been seen in the Pride Lands. Mufasa rushes off to deal with it while Zazu takes Simba home.

Simba returns to Pride Rock where his Uncle Scar is lurking about. Simba brags about his fate to be king to which Scar reacts without the slightest bit of enthusiasm. Casually, and goading Simba’s excitement, Scar asks if Mufasa showed him the shadow place on their morning walk. When Simba replies no, Scar adds that it is a dangerous place where only the bravest lions venture. Simba perks up, saying he’s brave, and begs his uncle to tell him what’s there. Scar feigns an accidental slip of the tongue by revealing that it’s an elephant graveyard but praises Simba’s cleverness. He asks that Simba never explore the place, but as Simba reassures him and leaves, Scar smiles to himself knowing full well that Simba’s curiosity will get the better of him.

Simba meets up with his friend Nala (Niketa Calame-Harris) who is being bathed by her mother, Sarafina Zoe Leader. He tells her about a cool place he has found, lying to Sarabi that its around the water hole. Sarabi gives them permission to go as long as Zazu accompanies them. Along the way, Simba and Nala devise a plan together to get rid of Zazu, which works. They then run off, Nala showing off her skills as an expert pinner, before finding themselves in the elephant graveyard. Suddenly, Zazu reappears and demands that they leave. Simba shows off his bravery by laughing in front of a large skull. Laughter echoes from within and three hyenas emerge, surrounding the cubs. Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin), and Ed (Jim Cummings) deliberate what’s to be done with the cubs, more specifically, how to eat them. The cubs and Zazu escape for a moment, but Zazu is pulled back and stuffed into a boiler which shoots him into the air. The hyenas eventually corner the cubs in an alcove and Simba tries to roar. The hyenas laugh and tell him to try again. A real roar is let out as Mufasa appears and attacks the hyenas before they run off. Zazu reappears by Mufasa’s side and Simba tries to say something but Mufasa furiously reprimands him for being deliberately disobedient and leads them towards home.

Back in the Pride Lands, Mufasa tells Zazu to take Nala home while he teaches Simba a lesson. Fearful and meek, Simba walks up to his father, noticing that his father’s paw print is much bigger than his own. He apologizes for disobeying but says he only wanted to be brave like Mufasa. Mufasa tells Simba he’s only brave when he has to be. As they reconcile, Mufasa tells Simba that all the stars in the night sky are the spirits of kings past and that they will always be there to guide him, as will he.

Back in the graveyard, the hyenas lick their wounds and quarrel with each other. Their fights are broken up by Scar who is greeted as a friend. Irritated that the hyenas couldn’t dispose of the cubs, he proposes a plan that would eliminate both Simba and Mufasa from the throne.

The next day, Scar escorts Simba through a gorge and puts him near a rock shaded by a sapling, telling him that Mufasa is planning a surprise for him. Scar instructs Simba to stay put while he fetches Mufasa and suggests that he practice his roar while he’s away. Just above the gorge, the three hyenas lie in wait in front of a massive herd of wildebeest. Scar appears above them, signaling them. As Simba waits, scowling over his little roar, a chameleon climbs down from the tree. Simba practices roaring at it, finally letting off one loud enough to scare the chameleon and echo off all sides of the gorge. But the ground starts shaking and Simba looks up to see the herd of wildebeest charging down the gorge straight for him. He runs away, the wildebeest gaining, while Scar warns Mufasa nearby that there is a stampede in the gorge and Simba is down there. Simba manages to grab hold of a broken tree, elevating himself above the wildebeests’ horns while Mufasa climbs down and runs alongside the animals. He manages to grab Simba in his mouth and carries him to safety, but is pulled back by the charging animals. After a tense moment, Simba watches his father leap onto the side of the gorge, digging his claws into the dirt and struggling up the hillside. As Mufasa nears the top, he sees Scar standing over him. He pleads for help, but Scar digs his claws into his paws and mocks him before pushing him off. Simba watches helplessly as Mufasa falls onto the stampeding herd.

As the dust settles, Simba runs down to look for his father. He discovers him beneath a broken tree, dead. As he mourns his loss, Scar appears and blames Simba for what happened. Simba, thinking he had started the stampede that killed his father, follows his uncles advice when Scar tells him to run away and never return. Simba runs off as Scar instructs his hyenas to kill him. The three hyenas chase Simba to the edge of an incline where he tumbles into a sea of brambles. Small enough to avoid the sharp spikes, Simba runs through them as the hyenas barely manage to stop near the base. Unlucky Banzai is shoved into the brambles and emerges howling, stuck with thorns. The hyenas watch as Simba runs into the distant desert and decide that he will most likely die, shouting to him that if he ever comes back they will kill him.

Scar returns to Pride Rock to announce that both Simba and Mufasa have perished in the stampede and assumes the role as king. The lionesses look on in fear as a horde of hyenas arrives to live alongside Scar at Pride Rock. Rafiki watches sullenly from a distance and smears the image he had once created of Simba.

In the desert, Simba has collapsed under the heat and a group of vultures descends on him. Suddenly, a meerkat and a warthog charge into them, bucking and kicking them away as part of their favorite game; bowling for buzzards. The warthog, Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), then discovers Simba and brings him to the attention of his meerkat companion, Timon (Nathan Lane). Timon is initially afraid of the young lion but Pumbaa asserts that he’s still little and will grow up to be on their side instead of eating them. Timon scoffs at the idea, before suggesting the very same thing as his own. Pumbaa picks Simba up and carries him into the shade where he’s revived. Simba thanks them for their help before walking away. Timon and Pumbaa take pity on him and tell him that, whatever happened to him, he has to put his past behind him, citing their motto Hakuna Matata; no worries. They then invite Simba to stay with them as a fellow outcast in their jungle paradise and teach him to eat bugs rather than meat. Simba begins to cheer up and eventually grows into a healthy, carefree adult (Matthew Broderick).

Meanwhile, the Pride Lands have been reduced to a wasteland under Scars rule. Zazu is confined to a bone cage singing while Scar lazily lies about chewing on bones. Zazu mutters under his breath that he never had to do this under Mufasa. Scar reels on the name, citing that the law is to never mention Mufasas name. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed appear, complaining that food and water have become scarce and that the lionesses refuse to hunt. Scar suggests they eat Zazu as Banzai lets slip Mufasas name before he corrects himself under Scars glare. Scar then dismisses them.

Back in the jungle, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa lie down together after a meal of bugs to look up at the night sky. Pumbaa asks what the sparkling lights in the sky are to which Timon replies that they’re fireflies that got stuck in the big, bluish-black thing. Pumbaa says he’d always thought they were burning balls of gas billions of miles away, a theory which Timon debunks due to Pumbaa’s flatulent nature. They ask Simba what he thinks. Answering only to their begging, he says he was once told that the lights are great kings of the past watching over them. Timon starts cracking up over the thought of royal dead guys watching them, but Simba wanders off, saddened over the memory of his father. He sighs and collapses onto a bunch of wild flowers, spreading their petals and leaves to the wind. The wind carries them back to the Pride Lands where Rafiki, sitting atop his tree, grabs them. He takes them back into the tree where he sniffs them and contemplates the apparent familiar smell. Suddenly it strikes him; Simba must be alive. Crazed with happiness, he quickly smears a mane around the head of his Simba drawing, stating that it is time.

Timon and Pumbaa are walking through the jungle together when Pumbaa becomes distracted by a large rhino beetle. Hungry, he follows it to the edge of the jungle and sneaks up on it as its perched on a log facing some grassland. His eye then catches something in the tall grass as the beetle flies away. Pumbaa screams as a lioness emerges from the grasses and gives chase. Hearing Pumbaa, Timon comes running and finds him stuck in the roots of a tree. He tries to free Pumbaa as the lioness draws closer. She leaps forward but Simba jumps in and begins to fight with her while Timon cheers him on. He tries to knock her down but she flips him over and pins him to the ground. Simba recognizes this move and his old friend, Nala (Moira Kelly). When he reveals himself, Nala is shocked and happy to see him again. Simba introduces her to Pumbaa and Timon, who is less than happy about the reunion since Nala had tried to eat Pumbaa. Nala tells Simba that everyone in the Pride Lands thought he was dead after Scar told them about the stampede. Nervous, Simba asks what else Scar told them, but Nala says that it doesn’t matter now that he’s alive and the rightful king. Simba excuses Timon and Pumbaa to speak to Nala alone. As they walk through the jungle together the romantic settings encourage their feelings for each other, though Simba is hesitant to talk to Nala about his past. She tries to get Simba to go back to the Pride Lands with her, telling him that everything has fallen into disarray since Scar took the throne. He refuses, explaining that he shouldn’t worry about things that happened in the past, which angers Nala. She tells Simba that returning to the throne is his responsibility but he storms off and walks out of the jungle to an open field. He tries to justify his decision before yelling at the night sky that Mufasa wasn’t there for him and feeling solemn that it was his fault.

He then hears singing coming from a tree behind him and sees Rafiki in the branches. Irritated, he walks away. Rafiki follows him and asks him a series of rhetorical questions and chanting seemingly nonsensical words. Convinced that the baboon is crazy and confused, Simba turns to walk away when Rafiki reveals that he knows Simba is Mufasas son. Rafiki then runs off and Simba follows. He finds Rafiki mediating on a rock and asks if he knew his father. Rafiki says “I know your father”, to which Simba responds that he died. Rafiki laughs, saying that Mufasa is alive, and leads Simba through a thicket of trees and vines. They stop at a reflecting pool and Rafiki instructs Simba to look into it. Seeing only his reflection at first, Simba looks harder and sees an image of Mufasa. Rafiki says that Mufasa lives within him as a large storm cloud appears overhead and a specter of Mufasa speaks out to Simba, saying that he has forgotten who he is and that he must take his rightful place as the true king of Pride Rock. Simba begs his father to stay but the apparition disappears, echoing that Simba must remember who he is. As Simba contemplates the message and the change in the winds, Rafiki wallops him over the head with his staff. Outraged and in pain, Simba asks what he did that for. Rafiki says that it doesn’t matter because its in the past, but though the past may still hurt, one can either run from it or learn from it. He swings his staff again and Simba ducks before grabbing the staff and throwing it away. Then Rafiki watches and cheers as Simba runs off, announcing that he’s going back.

Timon and Pumbaa are sleeping together as Nala approaches them and nudges them awake, frightening them at first. She asks if they’ve seen Simba but Rafiki appears overhead and declares that the king has returned. Confused by this statement and Rafikis mysterious arrival and departure, Timon and Pumbaa listen as Nala tries to explain that Simba has decided to go back to the Pride Lands to take his place as king.

Crossing the desert, Simba finally arrives in the Pride Lands to find it dark and barren. He eyes Pride Rock with a look of vengeance when Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa appear beside him. They all agree to help Simba reclaim the throne, though Timon is less than impressed by the landscape they’re fighting for. They sneak over to Pride Rock and discover that its crawling with hyenas. Simba offers Timon and Pumbaa as live bait and they do put on a colorful performance for the hungry hyenas while he and Nala move closer. Simba instructs Nala to rally the lionesses while he looks for Scar. He finds him at the base of Pride Rock, calling loudly for Sarabi. Hyenas nip at her heels as she approaches and Simba looks on mournfully. Scar questions her as to why the lionesses refuse to hunt. Sarabi explains that the herds have moved on and their only chance for survival is to leave Pride Rock. Scar refuses and, when Sarabi compares him to Mufasa, he cruelly hits her. Having seen enough, Simba appears on a ledge and runs down to comfort his mother. Scar backs away, fearful that its Mufasa that has returned, but when he realizes who it really is, he shoots a hateful glare at Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Simba confronts Scar, demanding that he step down from the throne or fight, but sly Scar asks why things must end in violence and says he would feel terrible if he were responsible for the death of a family member. Though Simba says he’s put the past behind him, Scar questions whether the lionesses have done the same. When Nala questions this, Scar prompts Simba to tell them all who was responsible for Mufasas death. Sadly, Simba confesses that he was, though it was an accident. Scar uses this and accuses Simba of being a murderer, backing him up to the end of Pride Rock to the point where Simba slips over the edge, dangling by his paws. Lightning strikes and ignites a fire beneath him as Scar looks over him, remarking that this was just the way Mufasa looked before he died. Then Scar grabs Simbas paws and whispers in his ear that he was the one to kill Mufasa.

Enraged, Simba leaps over the edge and pins Scar, choking him to confess the truth to the lionesses. Fighting immediately breaks out between the hyenas and the lions. Timon and Pumbaa join the fray with their signature bowling moves and Rafiki impresses with some acrobatic martial arts. When Timon is cornered by Shenzi and Banzai in the lions den with Zazu, Pumbaa comes to the rescue, his fury provoked when Banzai accidentally calls him a pig.

Scar manages to slip away from the fighting but is followed by Simba. They meet at the top of Pride Rock surrounded by flames where Scar begs for his life, saying that he’s family and that the hyenas are the real enemy. Having heard this, the hyenas back away growling. Simba relents, saying that he’s not like Scar and tells him to run away and never return. Scar meekly walks past him but sends a pile of embers into Simbas face, blinding him for a moment. Scar then attacks Simba and a fierce fight ensues. Scar manages to knock Simba down and leaps at him but, using the technique Nala had mastered in her pinning, Simba flips Scar with his hind legs over the edge of Pride Rock. Scar tumbles down the rock face and lands at the base. He groggily stands up and notices the hyenas approaching him from between the flames. He greets them as his friends but they respond that he said they were the enemy. Scar looks at them in horror as they lick their lips and surround him before attacking.

Using a tapa cloth to animate her story, Gramma Tala (Rachel House) tells a group of young children the story of the mother island Te Fiti. With her heart, Te Fiti possesses the power to create life and brings other islands into existence. However, other beings desired the power of her heart but only one was daring enough to take it. The demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), using his magical fish hook to shape shift into various creatures, travels to the mother island and steals Te Fiti’s heart; a small, green gemstone engraved with a spiral. Without her heart, Te Fiti’s island begins to deteriorate and sends forth a terrible darkness. Maui escapes on his boat but is confronted by Te Ka, a demon of lava and fire which rose from the sea like a volcano. Maui boldly engaged Te Ka in battle but was struck from the sky, losing both his hook and Te Fiti’s heart to the sea.

Gramma Tala finishes her story saying that, a thousand years later, Te Ka and other monsters still hunt for the heart while the darkness continues to spread until, one day, it will consume their island. At this, most of the children either cry or faint, but one girl is spellbound. Gramma Tala then says that, one day, someone will find the heart, journey beyond the island’s reef, find Maui, and take him to restore the heart and save everyone.

At that moment Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), the little girl’s father, enters and tells the children that there is no darkness or monsters and they are safe on their island as long as they stay within the reef. However, he accidentally hits a post that reveals multiple cloth paintings of monsters, sending the children into a panic. In the chaos the little girl, Moana (Louise Bush), slips away and goes down to the water. She sees a seashell wash up on shore and goes to collect it when she notices a baby sea turtle being menaced by a group of frigate birds. Leaving the shell, Moana shields the turtle with a large leaf and guides it to the water’s edge. Once it’s safe, a rippling effect washes over the surface of the ocean and the water recedes, revealing a trail of beautiful seashells which Moana gathers in her tiny arms.

Within the canyon of water and surrounded by sea life and coral, a wave forms over Moana’s head and looks curiously down at her. It plays with her, splashing her and tying her hair in a topknot. Then, in the water, Moana sees a shiny object drifting toward her. She plucks the glowing green stone from the water and trails her finger over the spiral design. Just then, her father calls for her and the ocean returns her to shore on a piece of driftwood, but Moana drops the stone. Before she can find it, Chief Tui picks her up and takes her back to the village along with her mother, Sina (Nicole Scherzinger). She tells Moana that she’ll do wondrous things as the future chief.

Growing up, Moana learns everything she needs to know about life on her island, Motonui (song: “Where You Are”), but she finds herself continuously drawn to the ocean. Every time she goes near it, her parents bring her back and remind her that to her duties and her people are where she belongs; not the sea. Her grandmother, Tala, however, encourages Moana to follow her heart and listen to the ‘voice inside’; for that is who she truly is. Chief Tui then takes Moana, now grown, to the sacred peak of their island and shows her a tall pile of flattened stones which he and his forefathers placed to raise the island higher. One day, he says, Moana will place her own stone on the peak.

Moana grows into her role as chief in training despite her inner wish to go to the sea and makes her rounds on the island: she fixes a leaking roof, provides support to a man getting a tattoo, and teaches children hula dancing. An elderly man points out a rooster named Heihei (Alan Tudyk) pecking and attempting to eat a rock and wonders if he should be eaten, but Moana says that, in some cases, one’s strength is hidden beneath the surface. Then, a woman shows Moana and her parents that the coconut harvest has yielded blackened, rotten fruit. Moana chooses a new location to plant a grove but then a group of fisherman show the chief that their haul of fish has brought in nothing, despite changing their fishing rounds. Moana suggests fishing beyond the reef, but the notion angers her father who storms off.

Sina goes to Moana and explains to her that Tui’s reservation against the ocean comes from his youth when he took a boat to sea and was wrecked in a storm. His friend, who had begged to go, drowned. Tui doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Moana but Sina tells her that she must make her own choices, however hard they are.

Conflicted over her duties to her village and her dream to sail the sea (song: “How Far I’ll Go”), Moana ultimately decides to finally take a canoe out to see if she can find any fish beyond the reef and takes her pet pig, Pua, with her. At first it seems she can sail with ease, but a wave knocks her canoe sideways and sends Pua overboard. Distracted, Moana fails to see another wave rise above her and flip her canoe over. Moana is submerged and gets her foot trapped within some coral but manages to free herself by smashing it with a rock. She makes it to shore, exhausted, and find Pua scared, but alive. Gramma Tala then walks up joking that whatever transpired should be blamed on the pig. Moana tries to hide her bruised ankle, but Tala isn’t fooled and takes a look. However, she promises not to tell Moana’s father.

Moana says that Tui was right about going out there. She tells Tala that she’s going to put her stone on the pile. Tala doesn’t argue and goes to the water to dance with a school of manta rays, saying that when she dies she’ll come back as one, or else she chose the wrong tattoo. Curious as to why her grandmother isn’t contradicting her, Moana asks if there’s something she wants to tell her.

Tala takes Moana to a holed up cavern where, after removing some rocks, Moana finds a passageway. Tala says that Moana has heard all their people’s stories but one. She tells her to follow the tunnel and bang the drum to find the answer to the question that’s bothered her all her life: who is she meant to be?

Moana follows Tala’s instructions and finds a small fleet of boats and canoes hidden in the cavern behind a massive waterfall. She bangs the drum on the largest ship and sees a vision of her ancestors within the tapa sail. It reveals that they were voyagers who sailed the ocean finding new islands to inhabit (song: “We Know The Way”). Thrilled, Moana asks Tala why they stopped voyaging. Tala explains that when Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti and unleashed the darkness it made sailing too treacherous; boats stopped coming back. To save themselves, Moana’s ancestors hid away their boats and decided to remain on Motonui. Tala then shows Moana a portion of their island which appears to have the very life from it being drained to sea. She then tells Moana that her stories were true; that someone will one day restore the heart and save everyone. Then, she presses a green stone into Moana’s hand that she’d kept within her necklace, saying that she was there the day the ocean chose Moana to be the one to restore the heart. The ocean then rises up and playfully splashes Moana who was stunned to find out that the memory wasn’t just a dream as she thought.

Tala shows Moana a constellation of an enormous hook, saying that Maui will be beneath it. Moana laments that she doesn’t know how to sail but realizes she knows who does. She runs to the master hut where Tui is addressing the council, trying to assure them they won’t run out of food. When Moana interrupts and begs help to restore the heart, Tui leaves in anger and says he should have burned the boats in the cavern ages ago. He takes the stone from Moana’s hand, saying it’s merely a rock, and throws it into the bushes. When Moana retrieves it, she finds her grandmother’s walking stick. Just then, a warrior calls to the chief. Tui and Moana run to their hut to find Tala lying in bed, unwell. Whispering, she tells Moana to take the heart and find Maui. She gives her the necklace to hold the heart in and tells Moana she’ll always be with her. Moana leaves and her mother helps her pack. From the cavern, Moana takes the small canoe with a spiral painted on the sail. Once on the water, Moana looks back and sees her grandmother’s spirit in the form of a manta ray flying toward her. It illuminates safe passage for her and Moana makes it to the sea.

She struggles to sail properly, following the hook constellation, and even discovers that Heihei has stowed away. One night Moana’s canoe capsizes just before a storm hits and Moana is washed up on a rocky island. Angry that the ocean didn’t help her when she asked, Moana is still relieved that she didn’t lose the heart of Te Fiti. Then, she notices hook-shaped marks dotting the rocks on the island and realizes that the ocean has delivered her to Maui. She ducks behind her canoe as Maui approaches, preparing herself, but Maui easily lifts the canoe with one hand, excited to see a boat. Moana confronts him but Maui interrupts and begins boasting about all his exploits (song: “You’re Welcome”), using his Mini-Maui tattoo to show off his accomplishments displayed as numerous tattoos all over his body. Maui tricks Moana and traps her in the cave he lived in while he plans to commandeer her canoe, despite protests from Mini-Maui. Moana escapes the cave and jumps into the ocean as Maui sails away. Moana tries to catch up and is assisted by the ocean which deposits her quickly onto her canoe. Despite repeatedly throwing her overboard, Moana is returned to the boat by the ocean and she demands of Maui that he help her restore the heart.

Maui tries to throw the heart away but the ocean throws it back at him. Then he tries to swim away, but the ocean puts him back. He claims that the stone is not a ‘heart’ but rather a curse that lost him his hook and that bad things are always trying to find it. At that moment, a spear lands on the boat, just missing Heihei. Behind them a massive object moves out of the fog. Maui recognizes the small coconut creatures and their large ship as Kakamora - tiny, mischievous pirates. Moana begs the ocean to help them, but Maui tells her that the ocean doesn’t help; they help themselves. He is shocked to find out Moana can’t sail and does all he can to evade the Kakamora, but they latch onto Moana’s canoe with their spears and board the craft. They knock Moana down and the heart falls out of her necklace. Heihei gobbles it up but the Kakamora steal him. Maui tries to escape but Moana takes the oar and goes after Heihei. She manages to retrieve him in a flurry of paralyzing blow darts and zip-lines herself back to her canoe. She and Maui just barely escape as the Kakamora’s boats collide into each other.

Afterward, Maui is still hesitant to return the heart but Moana convinces him by saying that he would be restored to the hero he once was. She agrees to help him retrieve his hook before setting a course for Te Fiti and then asks him to teach her to sail. At first Maui refuses, but the ocean uses a leftover blow dart to paralyze Maui, forcing him to tell Moana what to do. He shows her how to wayfind, using celestial navigation. They make their way to a tall, rocky spire in the middle of the ocean. At the top is the entrance to Lalotai; the realm of monsters. Maui opens the entrance and he and Moana drop into the realm. Moana evades an array of monsters and eventually finds the entrance to the lair of Tamatoa, a creature Maui said would have his hook since he loves to collect shiny and valuable objects.

Using her as bait, Maui sends Moana into the lair where Tamatoa captures her. While Maui sneaks up from behind, Moana distracts Tamatoa by inciting him to brag about himself and Tamatoa obliges (song: “Shiny”). Maui then takes his hook and attempts to shapeshift, but it’s been so long that he can’t control his powers. Tamatoa places Moana in a cage and focuses on Maui as he finishes his song. Then, Moana uses some bioluminescent algae to create a false heart of Te Fiti and distracts Tamatoa with it while she and Maui escape. Using a geyser, Maui and Moana are shot back to the surface.

Back on top, Maui is sincere for once, humbled by the fact that he can’t shapeshift. On the canoe, he tells Moana that they have no chance of defeating Te Ka, even with his hook back. Moana then asks him about a tattoo on his back that he noticed earlier but Maui is hesitant to talk about it. After some persistence, he gives in and tells Moana he earns his tattoos which show up magically. The one on his back was his first; he was born to human parents but they didn’t want him and threw him into the sea. The gods took pity on him and made him the demigod Maui, giving him his fish hook. But Moana tells him that it’s not the gods who make him Maui - it’s him. With this renewed confidence, Maui tries shapeshifting again, starting small, and this time is able to control his powers.

He teaches Moana how to sail properly and, by morning, compliments Moana on her abilities just as they reach Te Fiti. With the island in view, Moana gives Maui the heart and wishes him luck. He shifts into a hawk and flies toward the island but Te Ka rises up to confront him. Maui is knocked out of the sky once more and retreats to the canoe. Moana tries to sail past Te Ka despite Maui’s protest. Te Ka lunges at them and Maui deflects with his hook but the force sends their canoe hurtling back out to sea. When she comes to, Moana finds Maui brooding over his broken hook. Distraught over this, Maui angrily blames Moana for not listening to him and says that one more hit to his hook will destroy it. He says he’s done helping her, transforms into a hawk, and leaves.

Saddened, Moana asks the sea why it brought her here and begs it to choose someone else, giving the heart back to it. She breaks down as she watches the heart sink into the depths but then sees a manta ray spirit swimming toward the canoe. Her grandmother appears and offers comfort, saying that if Moana wants to go home, she’ll be with her. However, Moana hesitates and realizes that, in her heart, she was meant to do this (song: “I Am Moana”). She sees visions of her ancestors and, with their strength, dives into the sea and retrieves the heart. When she surfaces, her ancestors and grandmother are gone but she prepares the canoe, stows Heihei safely in the cargo, and sails back toward Te Fiti.

At the barrier islands, she tricks Te Ka and speeds past the rocks, using the water to her advantage since Te Ka can’t touch it. Te Ka then sends a giant wave her way, knocking her canoe over and is about to hit her with a blast of fire but Maui appears and defends Moana, giving her enough time to make it to Te Fiti. When she gets there, however, Moana finds that the entire island of Te Fiti is gone; the shape of the goddess gouged beneath the water all that remains. Turning back, she then notices a spiral symbol on Te Ka’s chest and realizes the truth. Holding the heart above her, she grabs the attention of Te Ka before it’s able to deal a blow to Maui, who has by now completely lost his hook. Moana tells the ocean to clear a path for Te Ka to reach her and goes to meet Te Ka face to face.

Moana tells Te Ka that this is not truly who she is. Te Ka’s fires go out as she calms down and Moana places the heart back within the spiral on Te Ka’s chest. Restored, the lava rock falls away to reveal Te Fiti, lush and green once more. She returns to her island and takes Moana and Maui in her hand. Maui is apologetic for having taken Te Fiti’s heart and the goddess rewards him with a brand new fish hook and gives Moana a new canoe to sail in. Then, the goddess is finally able to rest.

The movie begins with two announcers, Bob Cutlass (voice of Bob Costas) and Darrell Cartrip (Darrell Waltrip) preparing for the opening of the Dinoco 400, the final race in the Piston Cup Series, the most famous and prestigious race in the United States. So far this racing season, three racers have emerged as the most likely candidates for the Piston Cup Championship, all three of them tied for the season point’s lead-

• #43 Strip Weathers, AKA “The King” (Richard Petty; modeled after one of the Petty’s real 1970 Plymouth Superbirds), a longtime racing veteran who already has seven Piston Cups to his credit and is rumored to be retiring at the end of the current season.

*#86 Chick Hicks, another veteran racer (a 1980s Buick Regal, voiced by Michael Keaton) and a longtime “second banana;” he’s spent his entire racing career coming in second behind The King.

*#95 Lightning McQueen, a rookie (standard stock car, voiced by Owen Wilson) This is his first year in the racing circuit and his performance has been nothing short of incredible. Speculation is that he might be the first driver to win the Piston Cup, Rookie of the Year, and Dinoco sponsorship in one sweep.

Now, the final race of the season- to decide the winner of the Piston Cup- is about to begin!

As the race proceeds, Hicks (who is clearly willing to do anything to succeed) sideswipes another car- causing the inevitable multicar pileup. Lightning is barely able to dart through the wreckage and keep up with the lead cars. Then, to cement his hold on the lead, McQueen stays out on the lead lap while everyone else pits. The commentators mention that McQueen has recently fired his third crew chief, offering the explanation that Lightning prefers to work alone.

Throughout the race, Lightning refuses to make complete pit stops- taking only a few seconds each lap to refuel. The strategy backfires on the last lap when his tires explode. McQueen makes a valiant effort to get across the line first, but the race ends in an absolute dead heat.

Reporters interview Lightning while the judges argue over the result. McQueen repeats again that he is a “one-man show.” His pit crew, fed up with Lightning’s shoddy treatment, quit in the middle of the interview. Chick and Lightning trade insults until The King comes over to have a word with Lightning. The King tells McQueen that his talent is extraordinary, but his attitude is stupid- Lightning can’t win without a good team behind him. Lightning’s idea of a good team is Dinoco, the most prestigious sponsor on the racing circuit (and The Kings’ current sponsor; Lightning is certain that if he wins the Piston Cup he will be offered the chance at a Dinoco sponsorship.)

An announcement regarding the outcome of the race comes over the loudspeakers. Officials declare that a tiebreaker race (between Chick, Lightning and The King) will be held in California next week to determine the championship.

Lightning meets with his transporter, Mack (a 1980 Mack Super-Liner truck, voiced by John Ratzenberger) after the announcement. Mack reminds McQueen that he needs to make a personal appearance for his sponsor, Rust-Eze. Lightning films a commercial for Rust-Eze and talks to a group of rusted out vehicles brought to the personal appearance by Rusty & Dusty, heads of the company (voiced by Car Talk hosts and brothers Tom & Ray Magliozzi respectively). McQueen forcibly puts on a good face for the crowd but is obviously unhappy working for a small-time group.

On the road with Mack, Lightning is desperate to be the first competitor to arrive at California. He refuses to let Mack stop off and rest, forcing him to drive on through the night. While on Interstate 40, Mack is confronted by a gang of street racers while he is drowsy, who force him onto the shoulder. The vibration from the rumble strips (designed to alert drowsy drivers that they are drifting off the road) accidentally causes a Lightning figurine to land on the button that opens the back door of the truck, and causes the sleeping Lightning to fall out. Lightning, terrified about being lost, desperately rushes to try and find Mack but ends up leaving the highway at the next exit and following a semi that he thinks is Mack but turns out to be a Peterbilt, who rudely tells McQueen to turn on his headlights.

While Lightning is speeding, he gets lost in the dark country roads. He passes a police car (Michael Wallis) waiting in a speed trap, who pulls out and chases after Lightning. Lightning pedals for it when he hears the police car backfiring (thinking he is being shot at). Lightning loses control, spinning wildly and becoming entangled in several power lines. He tears through a small town and ends up shredding a large gash down the main street before finally coming to a stop in front of the Sheriff.

The next morning, Mack arrives at the track alone and a huge manhunt begins to try and find Lightning McQueen.

Lightning wakes up in an impound lot strapped with a parking boot and confronted by a rusted tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). Mater tells Lightning that he is in the town of Radiator Springs, a spot just off old U.S. Route 66. The Sheriff shows up to take Lightning to court for his actions.

The other citizens of Radiator Springs- Fillmore (George Carlin), who owns a shop selling his own organic fuel; Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) and Guido (Guido Quaroni), who run a tire shop; Ramone (Cheech Marin), who runs a paint and body shop; Flo (Jenifer Lewis), who runs a gas station/cafe; Sarge (Paul Dooley), a Humvee who sells surplus; Lizzie (Katherine Helmond), an antiques dealer; and Red (Joe Ranft), the town’s fire truck - have all turned out to demand punishment for Lightning’s reckless driving, which caused a large amount of damage to the town.

The town’s physician and judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), arrives to try McQueen’s case. At first, Doc is ready to impose serious hard time on the culprit but upon getting a close look at Lightning orders him thrown out of town. A female interrupts the judge’s rulings, and Lightning is immediately smitten. But the newcomer, Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt), a 2002 Porsche 911, is the town’s attorney. Sally persuades Doc to sentence Lightning to community service and repair the damage to the road. Doc relents, telling Lightning that he will be set free once the road is finished (which at his estimate should take five days).

When Mater brings out Bessie, a massive asphalt paving machine, Lightning makes a break for it as soon as his parking boot is undone, leaving Mater to quip that he should have undone the boot after Lightning was hooked up. But Lightning only makes it a few miles out of town before he breaks down. Sally & the Sheriff catch up with him and laugh at his attempt, explaining that they have siphoned Lightning’s gas tank.

The townsfolk watch as Lightning begins repaving the road. Lightning tries to convince them of his fame in the hopes of being set free. He almost convinces Luigi by mentioning his status as a racecar, but Luigi loses interest soon after when it turns out he only cares about meeting a real Formula One racecar.

Lightning, remembering the deal (he goes free when the road is done) hauls the paving machine at full throttle, running down the road and creating an uneven and bumpy finish. The townspeople are insulted by his attitude and his work. Doc challenges Lightning to a race- if Lightning wins, he goes off free. If Doc wins, Lightning has to scape off the current layer of pavement and do the road all over again. Lightning accepts, not seeing the Doc as a threat.

At a dirt course on the outskirts, Lightning rockets off the starting line, but Doc doesn’t even move. As he speeds into the first turn of the course, Lightning’s tires fail on the dirt and he crashes. Doc wins by default. Lightning reluctantly turns to work at scraping up the pavement, grumbling the whole time. Several of the townsfolk offer Lightning their services (Luigi sells tires, Fillmore supplies organic fuel, Ramone offers custom paintjobs, etc.) but Lightning is too frustrated with his situation to accept anything from them.

By the next morning, Doc finds that the road is about 1/3 finished. Doc meets with the Sheriff, who confirms that Lightning ran out of asphalt while working and spent the rest of the night trying to make the turn that caused him to wreck the day before. Doc confronts Lightning, suggesting that he “turn right to go left.” Lightning, extremely skeptical, tries it, but it backfires and sends him back over the edge of the cliff.

Lightning resumes repaving the road when he suffers a slow leak in one tire. Guido begins to fix it, and Luigi explains that Guido dreams of working at a real racetrack pit stop. Sally, impressed by Lightning’s work and his effect on the town, offers Lightning a place at the Cozy Cone motel rather than another night at the impound. Lightning can’t resist the opportunity to refuse.

The Sheriff places Mater in charge of watching Lightning for the next night. Mater takes McQueen out to a remote field, where they go tractor-tipping, which involves creeping up to a tractor while it is sleeping, then startling it, which causes the tractor to rear up on its back wheels. Mater gives a demonstration of it, but is unable to tip more than one tractor at a time. Lightning revs his engine and causes every single tractor to tip over. They are almost caught by Frank, the huge threshing machine who oversees the tractors, and have to speed away.

On the way back to town, Mater shows off his skills as “world’s best backwards driver” - a talent that stuns Lightning. Mater proclaims Lightning to be his “best friend,” and Lightning seems to be genuinely touched by the affection.

The next morning, Lightning waits at Doc’s garage to get his daily gas ration. While waiting, he wanders into a dusty workshop belonging to Doc and finds several Piston Cup trophies on the floor, and racing memorabilia. A newspaper on the floor answers Lightning’s question- Doc is actually the legendary Hudson Hornet, a legendary racecar who still holds the record for most wins in a single season (27 in 1952 alone). But Doc refuses to talk about his racing career. To him, the trophies are “just a bunch of empty cups.”

Sally takes Lightning on a tour of the surrounding landmarks and explains the history of the town. Route 66 used to be the main transportation road, and Radiator Springs was once a famous stop along U.S. Route 66. Radiator Springs was bypassed when Interstate 40 was constructed in favor of saving ten minutes of travel time. Now the once thriving town is floundering; almost nobody comes through there anymore.

Unfortunately, Lightning and Mater’s actions of the previous night cause trouble when the tractors start stampeding through the town. As he helps round them back up, Lightning spots Doc on the race course outside of town. Doc speeds through, easily making the turn Lightning couldn’t. McQueen confronts Doc about his racing and why (if he’s so talented) Doc didn’t continue his racing career.

Doc finally comes clean: He didn’t quit, but the organization forced him into retirement after a terrible wreck forced him to sit out an entire season. When he had the chance to return, the sponsors passed him over to a hotshot rookie just like McQueen.

The next day everyone wakes up to find the road has been finished. Lightning now has his chance to leave, but instead chooses to stay behind and accept the services of the townsfolk - including new fuel from Fillmore, tires from Luigi and a new paint scheme from Ramone. As the town celebrates into the night over the completion of their new road, a swarm of reporters and media vehicles swarm in to reclaim McQueen. Before he can explain anything or talk to any of the townsfolk, Lightning is loaded back onto Mack and sent off to California. Sally learns that Doc was the one who alerted the media to Lightning’s location and is furious at his actions.

Lightning arrives in California and begins preparing for the big race, with Mack serving as his pit crew. The King and Chick Hicks get off to a decent start, but Lightning’s memories of Sally and his time in Radiator Springs are interfering with his performance and cause him to lose time.

As McQueen tries to pull himself together, Doc’s voice comes out on McQueen’s radio. He and most of the other Radiator Springs residents have come to encourage Lightning and serve as his pit crew, with Doc serving as crew chief and decked out in his old paint scheme. Cameras in the crowd spot Doc and recognize the legendary Hudson Hornet has come out of retirement.

Lightning rockets out of the pit area, desperate to catch up to the others. As the laps wind down, Chick makes contact with Lightning and causes him to spin out. But moments later, Chick is surprised when Lightning zooms passes him, driving backwards. Hicks then tries to force McQueen off the road-causing Lightning to blow a tire. Guido prepares for Lightning’s arrival, then completes the fastest pit stop in Piston Cup history by speed-changing all four tires in under four seconds single-handed, shocking the forklifts on Chick’s pit crew such that they drop their mustache-shaped grilles. Guido proudly tells off Chick’s crew saying “Peet stop!”

The three racers are down to the last lap as Lightning pulls into first place. Chick smashes Lightning once again, sending him careening off the track. Lightning, however, takes the lead by turning his tires hard to the right while sliding left and reclaims the lead position.

Chick, in a desperate attempt to win, sideswipes The King, sending him flipping multiple times through the air and landing, heavily battered and damaged on the infield. Lightning screeches to a halt when he sees the King’s state, remembering what happened to Doc. Since Lightning stopped just before the finish line, Chick Hicks speeds across for first place. Lightning goes back and pushes the King the rest of the way to the finish line, letting the famous competitor finish his last race with dignity. Lightning tells the King that the Piston is “Just an empty cup,” echoing Doc’s sentiments.

Chick Hicks is given the Piston Cup. However, he is jeered and taunted by the crowd for his actions, making it a hollow victory at best.

Meanwhile, Lightning is cheered and congratulated for his act of good sportsmanship. Tex, head of the Dinoco company, offers Lightning a sponsorship because of his fine job. Lightning considers, but decides to stay with Rust-Eze because they gave him his big chance.

Guido and Luigi are dumbfounded when an actual Ferrari shows up at their store, because McQueen said it is the best place in the world to get tires. Lightning McQueen moves back to Radiator Springs and decides to place his headquarters in the town, making the location famous once more and having the maps redrawn as “Historic Route 66.”

A series of scenes during the credits show what happens to Radiator Springs afterwards:

• Flo’s V8 café is seen full of customers, while customers try Ramone’s body art.

• A museum of Doc Hudson’s racing days opens. We see The King and his wife (who is appropriately voiced by the late Lynda Petty), as well as fellow racecar Junior (voiced by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and modeled after Earnhardt’s #8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo) in there.

*Sarge opens a boot camp for off-road vehicles (who have never been off-road), and orders a Hummer who protests about getting dirty to drop and give him 20 miles.

*In a touch of poetic justice, the street racers who were responsible for McQueen’s dilemma are caught by Sheriff speeding near Radiator Springs. They are locked into an impound lot and are sentenced to towing Bessie.

Ted Wiggins (Zac Efron), an idealistic 12-year-old boy, lives in “Thneed-Ville”, a walled city that, aside from the citizens, is completely artificial: everything is made of plastic, metal, or synthetics. Ted sets out to find the one thing that will win him the affection of Audrey (Taylor Swift), the girl of his dreams, who wishes to see a real tree. Ted’s energetic grandmother (Betty White) suggests he speak with the Once-ler (Ed Helms) on the matter. Ted manages to find his way outside of the city, finding out where much of the city’s waste and contaminants are, and an empty wasteland filled with tree stumps, and broken-down equipment.

Following a path, he comes across the Once-ler’s Lurkem (aka his home). The Once-ler at first tells Ted to go away, but when Ted claims he wishes to hear about trees, the Once-ler begins to tell him his tale.

In his youth, the Once-ler was a young man, who left his mean-spirited family, and set out into the world to make his fortune, and find suitable material to create a product he dubbed ‘a Thneed.’ He soon chanced upon the land of the Truffula Trees, where lived the Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and the Humming Fish. Chopping down one tree to make his Thneed, out of the downed tree’s stump popped the Lorax. The Lorax berates the Once-ler for what he has done, and orders him to leave. However, the Once-ler refuses.

After this, the Lorax attempts to have the animals help him float the Once-ler out of the area on a river, but ends up accidentally steering him towards a nearby waterfall. The Lorax and the other animals manage to save the Once-ler, who then promises that he won’t cut down anymore trees.

The Once-ler soon after goes to a nearby town to sell his Thneed, but no one is interested until he throws it away, and the townspeople see the multiple uses a Thneed can have. With demand exceeding supply, the Once-ler contacts his family to come and help him. The family is more accepting of the Once-ler given his new success, but is disrespectful of the Lorax and the local environment.

When it seems the method of simply hand-picking Truffula tufts is too slow, the Once-ler gives into his family’s request to chop down the trees to make the job quicker. The Lorax attempts to ask the Once-ler to stop this, but he refuses, focusing on ‘biggering’ his company and business, not giving a care that deforestation and industrial waste are harming the ecosystem.

Eventually, the Lorax finally manages to have an audience with the Once-ler, who claims that he will not cease production…until during their conversation, they witness the cutting down of the last Truffula tree. With no trees left, the Once-ler’s family packs up and leaves (after once again claiming their disappointment in him for no longer being a success), and the Barbaloots, Swomee Swans, and Humming Fish leave. The Lorax is the last one to go, floating away and leaving the Once-ler alone in the wasteland he created.

The Once-ler relates the story to Ted over several visits. Over this time, the mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O’Hare (Rob Riggle), finds out about Ted’s leaving town and attempts to stop him. O’Hare is the most powerful and wealthy citizen in town, selling the citizens bottled air at high prices, and feels that Ted’s ‘meddling’ will jeopardize his position and profits. Even so, Ted continues to leave town.

When the Once-ler finally completes his story to Ted, they ponder the small pile of rocks the Lorax left behind, upon which is written one word: “Unless.” The Once-ler then gives Ted a Truffula seed and requests that he use it to repopulate the world with the trees.

Ted eagerly returns to Thneed-Ville to show Audrey, but he is accosted by O’Hare and two of his minions. With the help of his family, Ted, Audrey, and his grandmother head to the center of town to plant the seed. O’Hare gives chase, but his attempts to claim the seed fail. Confronting the three in the center of town, O’Hare tries to convince the townspeople they are better off without trees, citing them to be unclean, and an intrusion on their perfect world. To counter this, Ted, Audrey, and his grandmother climb aboard an Earthmover, and knock down part of the city’s wall, revealing the wasteland outside.

Getting a taste of reality, the townspeople rally around Ted, and the seed is planted. Their cheers reach the ears of the Once-ler, who takes down the boards over the window of his Lurkem.

While escaping her home from armed conflict, a young Alma Madrigal loses her husband Pedro but saves her triplet infant children Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. The candle Alma carries with her becomes magical and creates a sentient house, the “Casita”, for the Madrigals to live in. Years later a village grows, protected by the Casita, and members of the Madrigal family are gifted superhuman abilities they use to help the villagers (“The Family Madrigal”). However, Bruno’s gift of precognition causes multiple conflicts that lead to the family vilifying him, while Mirabel, Julieta’s youngest daughter, is treated differently for having no gift at all.

During the evening of Pepa’s youngest son Antonio being gifted with the ability to speak to animals, Mirabel suddenly sees the Casita cracking, but her warnings go unheeded when the Casita is found seemingly fine (“Waiting On A Miracle”). Mirabel, resolving to save the magic of the Casita, goes around to investigate and question her family members. Her older sister Luisa - who possesses superhuman strength - suggests that Bruno’s room may hold some clues to the phenomenon (“Surface Pressure”). There, Mirabel sees a cave of sand and pieces of a slab of opaque jade glass, which - when repaired - constitute an image supposedly showing her causing the Casita to fall apart. After Mirabel leaves, she discovers that her family members’ gifts are starting to weaken (“We Don’t Talk About Bruno”).

At a dinner where Mirabel’s oldest sister Isabela -who can make flowers grow at will - is to become engaged to neighboring villager Mariano Guzman, Mirabel’s oldest cousin Dolores - who possesses superhuman hearing - admits to overhearing Mirabel talking with her father about Bruno’s vision. Mariano’s proposal gets ruined when the Casita once again begins to crack, causing Pepa - whose emotions control the weather - to conjure up a thunderstorm much to everyone’s shock. Isabela then blames Mirabel despite the latter denying her involvement in the cataclysm. Amidst the situation, Mirabel suddenly catches a glimpse of a man who she then chases through a hidden passage in the walls, discovering that he was none other than Bruno himself, who never really left their house because he still loves his family. Mirabel convinces him to make predictions again and gets Antonio’s permission to use the latter’s room. Bruno makes another vision, which shows the Casita collapsing and an image of Mirabel embracing Isabela.

Mirabel goes to apologize but instead learns of Isabela’s burden of being perfect and her desire not to marry Mariano. Having poured out her feelings, Isabela’s powers start to develop and both sisters reconcile (“What Else Can I Do?”). However, Alma discovers Mirabel’s actions and thoughtlessly blames her for the family’s misfortunes. Mirabel then finally snaps at her, saying how everything was truly all her fault for making everyone do things her way. Their argument suddenly creates a gigantic fissure that destroys the Casita while Alma’s magical candle extinguishes in Mirabel’s hands in her futile effort to save it, effectively stripping the Madrigals of their powers.

Ten-year-old Chihiro (voice: Daveigh Chase in the 2002 English dub) and her parents (voices: Lauren Holly and Michael Chiklis) drive to their new home. Chihiro is whiny and unhappy about the move, especially when she notices that the bouquet her friend gave her as a good-bye gift is wilting. In sight of their new house, they take a wrong turn and follow a bumpy, decayed old road through the woods; Chihiro sees an odd old statue through the trees as they drive by. The road ends at a tunnel leading to an abandoned theme park. It gives Chihiro the creeps, but her parents persuade her to go in with them and look around.

After wandering across a grassy landscape and a dry riverbed, they climb a stone staircase and come to a street lined with restaurants and shops. Most are deserted, but the aroma of cooking leads them to the one restaurant that’s well stocked with food-though it’s mysteriously deserted. Mom and Dad are hungry and start eating, despite Chihiro’s objections. The food is delicious, and Chihiro wanders away to explore while they eat. She finds a towering, ornate building that she recognizes as a bathhouse (a spa resort); there’s a train track running under it. She meets a boy (voice: Jason Marsden) in traditional dress who is alarmed to see her; he tells her to leave and get back across the river before it gets dark. Chihiro runs back to her parents, but they’re still eating-and they’ve turned into pigs. Strange, dark, ghostly figures appear in all the shops and streets, frightening Chihiro and separating her from the pigs that were her parents. Chihiro runs back to the river, which was nearly dry when they came over but is now full and large, and she doesn’t even recognize the buildings on the far side. As a riverboat approaches, she notices that her body has become transparent.

The riverboat lands a big crowd of people in costume-or maybe they’re not people; at first they’re only visible as paper masks. Chihiro thinks shes dreaming, but can’t wake up. The boy who warned her away finds her and tells her she must eat some food from his world or she’ll fade away. He assures her that she won’t turn into a pig. She swallows the morsel he gives her and becomes solid, but finds that she’s stuck to the ground until he recites an incantation to release her. A bird with a woman’s head flies above them and he hides her, saying the bird is looking for her. They run through alleys and the pig barn to the big bathhouse, which is accessed by a bridge; the boy says she has to hold her breath as they cross the bridge or the spell that makes her invisible will be broken. Customers-fantastically varied gods and spirits-are crossing the bridge and being greeted by bathhouse staff. Chihiro makes it almost all the way across, but a frog (voice: Bob Bergen) that speaks to her companion (calling him Haku) startles her and she takes a breath. Luckily only the frog seems to see her, and Haku uses magic to encase it in a bubble to shut it up.

Haku tells her to find Kamajii (voice: David Ogden Stiers), the boiler man, and make him give her a job; she must have a job to stay at the bathhouse, or else Yubaba (voice: Suzanne Pleshette), the old witch who rules the bathhouse, will turn her into an animal. And Haku says she has to stay if she wants to find and help her parents, who are still pigs, wherever they are. He knows her name and says he’s known her since she was very small.

Chihiro descends a steep, winding, rail-less wooden stairway in search of Kamajii and the boiler room. When she finds them, she sees a weird set-up in which the boiler is fed by creatures like spiders (delivering coal one lump at a time) and the machinery is controlled by a bearded, bald man with six arms and dark glasses-Kamajii. She asks for a job, but he says-after grumbling about four bath tokens at once, as four red plaques on purple ribbons descend from the ceiling-that he’s cast a spell on sootballs (the spider-things) so he has all the workers he needs. Chihiro has to keep moving to stay out the way of Kamajii and the sootballs. She picks up a lump of coal that’s too heavy for the sootball carrying it-and almost too heavy for her-and Kamajii tells her to finish what she started, so she hauls it over to the furnace and tosses it in. All the sootballs pretend to collapse under the weight of their coal so they won’t have to work, but Kamajii scolds them and Chihiro, saying that if they don’t keep working, the spell will wear off. A young woman comes in with food for Kamajii and the sootballs. The woman is shocked to see Chihiro-“you’re the human everyone is looking for!”-but Kamajii says she’s his granddaughter and asks the woman to take Chihiro to Yubaba, who will give her something to do. The woman, whose name is Lin (voice: Susan Egan), only agrees when Kamajii offers her a roasted newt; she brusquely tells Chihiro to leave her shoes and socks behind and to thank the boiler man-“he’s really sticking his neck out for you.”

They take three elevators to Yubaba’s rooms on the top floor, seeing many of the bathhouse’s clients-Lin calls one a radish spirit-between elevators. An elevator operator who hasn’t spotted Chihiro tells Lin she smells just like a human. Lin distracts him with the roasted newt that Kamajii gave her while Chihiro escapes in the last elevator with the radish spirit. They arrive at a courtyard-like room with a mosaic floor and two big front doors; Chihiro tries to open one. The door knocker says, “aren’t you even going to knock? You’re the most pathetic little girl I’ve ever seen!” The doors open and the same voice (Suzanne Pleshette)-it’s Yubaba-tells her to come in; she’s pulled through the house into a fire-lit room in which several disembodied green heads bounce around, and Yubaba, an old woman with a huge head, works at a desk. Chihiro asks for a job, but Yubaba calls it foolishness, makes disparaging remarks about Chihiro, and silences her with magic. She smokes a cigarette as she considers what to do with Chihiro. She lifts the silencing spell to ask Chihiro who helped her, but Chihiro only continues to ask for work, which makes Yubaba angry. When Chihiro persists, Yubaba offers, “maybe I’ll give you the most difficult job I’ve got and work you until you breathe your very last breath.” They’re interrupted when Yubaba’s enormous baby, Bôh (voice: Tara Strong) wakes up, which Yubaba blames on Chihiro. Chihiro keeps asking for work and Yubaba finally agrees to give her a job if she’ll be quiet. Chihiro signs a contract while Yubaba grouses, “I can’t believe I took that oath to give a job to anyone who asks.” Yubaba, observing that Chihiro is a pretty name, magically lifts all but one of the characters of Chihiro’s name from the contract and says that the name belongs to her now. Reading the one character that remains of Chihiro’s name, Yubaba says “from now on, your name is Sen.” Haku (pretending not to know her) comes to show her what to do. He says she must address him as Master Haku.

None of the workers want to take Chihiro/Sen into their department, complaining that she smells bad, but Haku says her smell will be gone after three days of eating their food. Haku assigns Chihiro/Sen to work with Lin because Lin had been asking for an assistant. Lin takes Sen to their room, which they share with several others, and gives her clothing (a blue apron and pink shirt and pants). Sen asks if there are two Hakus. Lin says no, and that Sen must be careful what she says to Haku because he’s Yubaba’s henchman. Sen doesn’t feel well.

Yubaba turns into a bird with a human head and flies off her balcony with a smaller but otherwise identical human-headed bird.

As Sen lies sleeping among her new coworkers, a voice (Haku’s) says “meet me at the bridge; I’ll take you to your parents.” She wakes up, dresses in her new clothes, and goes down to the boiler room where she left her shoes. When she observes “my shoes are gone,” the sootballs bring them out of the tunnels where they live.

Sen makes her way out to the bridge, where a semitransparent spirit is standing. It wears a white mask and a black robe. Silently, it watches her cross; it was standing in the same spot in the middle of the bridge when she crossed the night before. Haku finds her at the other side and leads her through flowering shrubs to the huge piggery. He says she must never come there without him. She identifies a couple of sleeping pigs-there are hundreds-as her parents, and promises to help them. Haku says she must remember which pigs are her parents. He gives her back her old clothes, which she’ll need to escape, and a card with her real name, Chihiro, which Sen has almost forgotten already. (She called herself Sen when she spoke to her parents.) Haku says Yubaba exerts power over people by stealing their names; she must not forget hers as he has forgotten his. He gives her something to eat. She cries as she eats and he tries to comfort her. Then Haku has to go; he leaves her at the bridge. When she turns back to look for him, she sees a dragon flying away and realizes that it’s Haku. Later, Kamajii finds Sen asleep on the floor of the boiler room; he covers her up.

Yubaba-bird and her smaller companion fly home through heavy rain. Inside the bathhouse, Lin asks Sen where she was; Sen apologizes but doesn’t explain. Sen, Lin, and other girls wash a floor until a man comes to say they get the big tub today, though the women don’t usually get that kind of work-“that’s frog work,” as Lin says. As Sen dumps her pail out the garden door, she sees the silent spirit from the bridge standing outside in the rain looking in. She asks if he’s getting wet and leaves the door open for him; he follows her in.

They discover that the big tub is encrusted with crud and will need to be soaked before they can clean it properly, so Lin sends Sen to the foreman (voice: John Ratzenberger) for an herbal soap token. Far above in her apartment, Yubaba senses something approaching. She looks out and wonders who is slinking around in the rain. A spirit that looks like a pile of mud is making its way toward the bathhouse.

The foreman refuses to give Sen a soap token, but the silent spirit liberates one for her. As they fill the big tub to soak it clean, Lin says the water contains salts that are supposed to be good for you. The silent spirit (voice: Bob Bergen again) approaches Sen and offers a handful of soap tokens. (He’s not completely silent; in this scene he makes little “ah ah” sounds, as if he’s trying to talk.) When she politely turns them down, he seems disappointed and lets the tokens fall to the floor. She’s distracted when the big tub overflows.

Meanwhile, Yubaba has identified the walking mudpile as a stink spirit, though she’s suspicious that he isn’t really. The staff fails to fend him off, so Yubaba assigns Sen to take him to the big tub and bathe him. Sen can hardly speak because he smells so bad. He’s surrounded by a pool of purple stinkiness. He gets in the big tub, which overflows with his brownish slime.

Yubaba and the foreman watch as Sen tries to clean the stink spirit. She uses the silent spirit’s herbal soap tokens to order up some good, cleansing hot water. As Lin arrives to help, Sen feels something like a thorn in the stink spirit’s side. Yubaba decides this is important and gives Sen rope to tie to the thorn (which has a handle); with help from all the staff, they pull a bicycle out of the spirit’s body, followed by an entire junkyard. (Hayao Miyazaki has said that this part of the story is autobiographical-he once pulled a bicycle out of a polluted, litter-clogged river.) When the slime clears, an ancient-looking brown face with shaggy eyebrows appears and says “well done” to Sen. He seems to disappear, leaving her with a handful of something greenish. Then he explodes out of the tub like a giant white snake-or perhaps a dragon (he resembles Haku’s dragon form)-and flies away, leaving lots of gold behind. Yubaba is delighted. The guest was a river spirit in distress, not a stink spirit. Sen sees the silent spirit sitting in the corner, apart from all the excitement.

At bedtime, Lin and Sen sit on their balcony eating dumplings. When Sen asks about Haku, Lin says the word is he does Yubaba’s dirty work. They watch a train go by on the water. (Or so it seems; with all the rain, the water has risen so it just covers the tracks.) Lin says she has to get out of that place-“someday I’m getting on that train.” Sen tastes the green stuff the river spirit gave her, but finds it very unpleasant.

That night, the frog who first saw Chihiro on the bridge goes into the room with the big tub and meets the silent spirit, who lures him closer with little gold nuggets. The spirit eats the frog, and thereafter uses his voice. He asks another employee for food and pays with more gold, which seems to grow in his hands as needed.

Sen takes the river spirit’s gift to the piggery, thinking it might turn her porky parents human, but she can’t tell which pigs are her parents.

Back at the bathhouse, Lin shows Sen a lump of gold from “a new guest here who’s loaded.” The formerly silent spirit is eating everything the staff can bring him, growing larger and uglier, and dispensing gold. Sen goes to look for Haku.

A white dragon that Sen recognizes as Haku flies across the water, lands with a splash, and then seems to be attacked by white birds. Sen opens her balcony doors so the dragon can fly into her room and closes the doors on the birds, which turn out to be made of paper.

The dragon is bleeding, but flies out and up to a higher window. Sen, worried, goes after him; one of the paper birds attaches itself to her back. She runs into the formerly silent spirit, who is glad to see her and offers her gold; she declines and the spirit, disappointed again, drops the gold, which is eagerly snatched up by the other employees. The spirit eats the staffer who was conducting him through the halls and another employee. Has Sen’s rejection of his gifts turned him evil?

Sen finds herself climbing up the outside of the towering bathhouse. She notices that she has some of Haku’s blood on her hand. The paper bird moves from her back to her hair; Sen turns to see the Yubaba-bird flying back into her rooms at the top of the bathhouse. Sen tries to get in through a window; the paper bird slips through and unlocks it for her. She goes through a bathroom down a hall to a playroom, where the paper bird enables her to hear Yubaba, who complains into the phone that the problem guest is a no-face spirit who’s eating people and that Haku is bleeding all over the carpet. She callously tells someone to “get him out of here-he’ll be dead soon anyway.” Yubaba comes to the playroom (where Sen is still hiding) and digs through the cushions to find the big baby. When Yubaba leaves, the baby, Bôh, grabs Sen and accuses her of being a germ from outside, come to make him sick. (He never leaves his room so he won’t get sick.) He threatens to break her arm if she won’t play with him, so she shows him Haku’s blood on her hand-“germs!”-and he lets go.

Sen goes out to the main room, where Haku lies bleeding in dragon form. Bôh follows and again demands that Sen play with him. The paper bird turns into a woman who looks just like Yubaba. She turns the baby into a mouse when he mistakes her for his mother. She also turns the smaller Yubaba-bird into a tiny, bug-like bird and turns the three green heads into a facsimile of the big baby.

The woman explains she’s Zeniba (voice: Suzanne Pleshette again), Yubaba’s twin sister. She says Haku stole her magical golden seal, and she wants it back. The seal carries a curse that Zeniba says will kill anyone who steals it. She says he’s a thief-he not only took Zeniba’s seal, but plans to steal Yubaba’s magic as well. Haku snaps his tail and shreds the paper bird, which is lying on the rug; this action slices Zeniba in half from top to bottom. “Oh ho, a paper cut,” she remarks as she falls apart.

Haku and Sen fall through a hole in the hearth down a long shaft, almost landing among some evil-looking spirits before Haku, still in dragon form, revives enough to fly them to the boiler room. Once there, Haku collapses; he’s still bleeding. Kamajii says it looks serious-he seems to be bleeding from the inside. Sen makes him eat part of the river spirit’s gift. He thrashes and struggles and spits up Zeniba’s gold seal and a black slug, which Sen steps on and kills. Haku changes back to human form, but he’s still ill and unconscious. Sen takes the seal.

Kamajii says Haku, like Chihiro, appeared at the bathhouse out of nowhere and became pale-faced and steely-eyed once Yubaba took him as her apprentice and got control of him. He thinks Zeniba might be able to help if Sen asks, though Zeniba is very dangerous; Sen agrees. She says Haku helped her, and now she wants to help him. “I guess my parents will have to wait,” she says a little glumly.

Lin comes to say that the silent spirit is a monster called No-face who has swallowed three people; Sen admits that she let him in, though Lin implies she’ll get in big trouble for it. Kamajii gives Sen train tickets-a rare treasure-to go to Zeniba’s house at Swamp Bottom. He says the train only runs one way now, though it used to go in both directions; Sen will have to walk back along the tracks. When Lin wonders what’s going on with Sen and Haku, Kamajii says “Something you wouldn’t recognize. It’s called love.” Meanwhile, No-face is calling for Sen. Yubaba tells Sen to get every last bit of gold out of No-face, who has grown huge and bloated, before evicting him from the bathhouse. Before Sen goes in to see No-face, Yubaba asks “what’s that dirty mouse doing here?”-she doesn’t recognize the mouse as her baby.

No-face offers Sen gold again, confiding, “I’m not giving it to anybody else.” She tells him she wants to leave because she has somewhere important to go, and that he should leave too because Yubaba doesn’t want him in the bathhouse. She asks if he has somewhere to go. He doesn’t; he complains that he’s lonely. No-face says he wants Sen-meaning he wants to eat her. She makes him eat the remainder of the river spirit’s gift instead, and it causes him to vomit uncontrollably (on Yubaba, at one point). Sen runs away and gets him to follow her down many flights of stairs.

At the foot of the stairs, No-face coughs up a couple of the people he ate (who seem fine), and says “I’ll get you for this, Sen.” He shrinks down to his original size. Lin turns up in a tub-like boat to take Sen to the train station. Sen calls No-face to follow her to the train, saying he needs to get out of the bathhouse because it’s making him crazy. She’s sure he won’t hurt them. No-face coughs up the frog, who swims away.

The train comes; Sen and No-face go aboard, Sen presents their tickets to the conductor, and they ride to Swamp Bottom, where Zeniba lives. Many of the passengers are transparent, and No-face has reverted to transparency as well. The mouse (formerly the baby) and the bug-bird are with them. The train travels over a landscape that’s nearly all water.

In the boiler room, Haku wakes up and wakes Kamajii, who explains that Sen has gone to Zeniba’s and that she broke Zeniba’s spell and cured him with the power of pure love.

In Yubaba’s room, the faux big baby (actually the three green heads) is eating while Yubaba sits nearby with some of No-face’s gold. Haku comes in and says that something precious to her has been replaced; when Yubaba looks closely, the baby turns back to the three heads and the gold turns to dirt.

Haku says, “the baby is with your sister.” Yubaba asks what he wants to get the baby back. Yubaba must tear up Sen’s contract and return her with both parents to the human world, Haku replies. Yubaba agrees, but only if Sen can pass a final test. “If she fails, she’s mine!”

Sen and No-face get off the train and go looking for Zeniba. There’s a dry path to walk on. The bug-bird and the mouse take turns carrying each other but get tired, so Sen lets them ride on her shoulder. A hopping lamppost leads them through the dark to Zeniba’s house. The door opens and Zeniba brusquely invites them in. Zeniba still looks just like Yubaba. She invites them to sit while she makes tea. Sen gives back the golden seal and apologizes for Haku. Zeniba says “he sliced me in two, you know, and I’m still angry.” Sen thinks she’s talking about the slug, which she admits to having squashed, but Zeniba says the slug was how Yubaba controlled Haku. Only love could have broken Zeniba’s spell.

Zeniba says the spell on the mouse and the bug-bird wore off long ago and they can change back whenever they want. They’re busy with a spinning wheel, however, and show no interest in changing.

Zeniba says Sen must help her parents on her own; to do that, she must remember where she first met Haku. She asks Sen to call her Granny. (Zeniba has become quite kindly.) No-face spins and the mouse and bug-bird knit a hair-tie for Sen; Zeniba says it will protect her because her friends made it for her.

The door rattles and Zeniba tells Sen to let in another guest: it’s Haku in dragon form. Zeniba says she’ll forgive Haku if he takes care of Sen. Zeniba asks No-face to stay with her-“I need a good helper”-and No-face agrees. Sen tells Granny her real name, climbs on Haku’s back with the mouse and bug-bird, and they fly off. As they fly, she remembers dropping her shoe in a river when she was very small, going in after it and fearing she would drown, but the river carried her to shore. It was the Kohaku River. Haku is the Kohaku River spirit, and can’t find his way home because the river has been filled in. Haku changes from dragon to human, and for a while they enjoy free fall.

Sen and Haku fly in human form, landing at the bathhouse bridge. The mouse turns back to a baby, who speaks up on Sen’s behalf. Yubaba wants to give Sen the final test, though the baby objects, but Sen agrees that “a deal’s a deal.”

The test: Sen must pick out her parents from a crowd of pigs. “You get one try; if you get it right you can all go home.” Sen says none of the pigs are her parents; she passes the test and her contract evaporates out of Yubaba’s hand. Saying “thanks for everything, Granny” (which surprises Yubaba, because she never asked to be called Granny), Sen runs off with Haku, who tells her her parents are on the other side of the river. She has to cross the riverbed and not look back until she’s through the tunnel. He’ll go back to Yubaba, though no longer in her thrall because he knows his name again. He promises that he and Sen will meet again. Sen-now Chihiro-hears her parents calling and rejoins them near the tunnel mouth; they’re fine and don’t remember any of what happened. They scold her mildly for running off.

『君の名は。』

The film opens to a wave of comets, shooting across the sky.

Two teenagers, Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu begin to speak, almost simultaneously. They speak of time and of dreams, and how each can be a great loss.

A piece of one comet breaks off and plummets to the earth

We see Mitsuha struggle in her sleep. She calls out to Taki, asking him if he remembers.

Mitsuha wakes up. But it is not her really. It is Taki, who is freaked out to be in a girls body (though not above copping a feel on Mitsuha’s breasts). Mitsuhas younger sister Yotsuha comes into her room, noticing her being weird again and tells her breakfast is ready. Taki, as Mitsuha, disrobes and looks in the mirror, freaked out by the strange dream he keeps having; waking up as a girl.

Going downstairs, apparently back to her normal self, Mitsuha eats with, Hitoha, who is their grandmother and guardian. Hitoha and Yotsuha note that Mitsuha had been acting weird the day before. They watch a broadcast that notes that a comet not seen for over a thousand years will be able to be seen in the sky in a months time.

Mitsuha walks to school and meets up with her friends Katsuhiko and Sayaka. As they walk, they see a campaign speech by the local mayor, who is up for reelection. As she walks by, the man screams at Mitsuha to stand up straight. We realize that the mayor is actually Mitsuhas father, estranged from the rest of the family for unknown reasons.

At school, Mitsuha flips through a notebook, and finds a note. It reads, “Who Are You?”

Later, Mitsuha learns that the day before she had forgotten her classroom and where her locker was. This information shocks and surprises her. Sayaka chalks it up to stress Mitsuha is under to perform a Miko ritual for the family shrine, something Mitsuha doesn’t want to be reminded of. As the three walk home, they bemoan how small their town of Itomori is; there are no restaurants, bookstores, or social scene. Mitsuha herself dreams of graduating school so she can move to Tokyo.

Katsuhiko suggests they go to a café. The girls scream out excited. In actuality, it is just a vending machine nearby a park bench. Mitsuha goes home, leaving Sayaka with Katsuhiko. Sayaka asks him about his future plans. Katsuhiko says he will most likely just stay in town like he always has after graduation.

Mitsuha, Yotsuha, and Hitoha practice the art of Kumihimo (braid making). Hitoha tells them the importance of what they are creating.

The mayor meets with Katsuhiko’s father, who is part of the local construction union, in order to get the support of his men for the upcoming election. Katsuhiko is told by his father that he will work with them the following weekend to his annoyance.

The next night, Mitsuha and Yotsuha perform the ritual for their shrine with includes ritualized dancing and the creation of Kuchikamizake; a sake in which someone chews rice into a paste and spits it back into a bowl, allowing it to ferment into alcohol. A few of Mitsuhas classmates walk by the ritual and mock her, to her annoyance.

As they walk home Yotsuha tells her big sister not to take it so personally, but Mitsuha is losing patience with her life. “I hate this town!” she screams out. “I hate this life! Please make me a handsome Tokyo boy in my next life!”

The next day, Mitsuha wakes up but not as herself. She is in Taki’s body. She is quite disturbed to be a boy and all that entails physically. Finding out she has overslept, she quickly gets dressed and heads out, suddenly struck that she is finally walking around Tokyo. Mitsuha (as Taki) arrives to school hours late and is accosted by his friends Shinta and Tsukasa, who note that Taki has been acting weird as well. They suggest going to a café, and Mitsuha readily agrees as there are none where she lives. Getting a call on Taki’s phone, she realizes Taki has a job at a restaurant and she is going to be late.

Mitsuha goes to work but being Taki is harder than it looks. She is unprepared to work in a restaurant, making mistakes all night. It finally comes to a head, when a man tries to con the place for free food. Mitsuha is overwhelmed and when the man wants to pick a fight, Taki’s older co-worker Ms. Okudera comes over and handles the situation, though the man cuts her skirt with a box cutter out of spite.

Later, Okudera tells Taki that she followed the handbook to handle the situation though she wished she could have done something more severe to the man who was clearly conning the restaurant. Noticing the cut in Ms. Okuderas skirt, Mitsuha offers to fix it. Ms. Okudera is charmed by this, saying Takis has been changing lately, and she is charmed that he now has a feminine side.

The next day, Taki is back to normal and knows nothing of the previous day. The staff he works with wants to know more details with his relationship with Ms. Okudera, but he has no idea what they are talking about. Ms. Okudera comes in and tells them all to have a good day, winking at Taki, which makes him blush.

By this point, Taki and Mitsuha realize their body switching dreams are actually happening, and take steps to help out each other if they switch bodies. Writing notes to each other on their smart phones, and in notebooks, they each set ground rules so they don’t step on each others toes. Mitsuhas rules are more concerned with etiquette, not having him taking showers as her (so hell see her naked) and other social cues. Taki gives her tips on his job and tells her not to blow all his hard earned money on sweets, which only makes him have to take more shifts at the restaurant.

Despite trying to play nice, both cant help but have a little fun at the others expense. Taki makes a few people fall in love with Mitsuha at school while Mitsuha flirts with Ms. Okudera, giving Taki a real shot with her. Both of them are livid with the others meddling, both noting that, I dont want a relationship!

One day, Taki switches with Mitsuha on a weekend day. It turns out to be the day Mitsuha, Hitoha, and Yotsuha are traveling to the family shrine far into the forest. While they walk, Hitoha talks to them about the idea of a union; whether it is a braid they created, time itself, or even taking a drink, unions are made every day.

The three make it to the shrine and make an offering of the sake they made during the ritual.

Taki wakes up. Checking his phone, he notices a text from Ms. Okudera, saying she cant wait to meet him. Confused, he checks the notes in his phone, and realized that Mitsuha had set him up on a date with Ms. Okudera.15 minutes from then. Taki quickly gets dressed and races out of his house, racing to meet her.

Meanwhile, Mitsuha gets ready for her day, using her braid to tie up her hair. She realizes Taki and Ms. Okudera are most likely on their date at that moment. She looks into the mirror and sees that she is crying. She is surprised at first but then realizes the truth; she wanted to have that date with Taki herself. Try as she may, she is beginning to fall for a boy she has never met.

Taki meets up with Ms. Okudera and go to a nice, if expensive restaurant. Though they both share a mutual crush, Taki is nervous and unsure how to act. His mind is somewhere else. At one point, they look at a photo display, and Taki is taken by a group of shots that remind him of Mitsuhas town. Ms. Okudera comes up to him and pointedly states she became more attracted to him once he starting acting odd, but he has changed again. He has become someone else. Later, Taki tries to extend the date but Ms. Okudera declines. She notes that is clear that Taki has a crush on someone else; that is why he is acting so different.

Taki, making a decision, tries to call Mitsuha.

Back in Itomori, Mitsuha cuts her hair. She goes to the local town festival with her friends. The comet finally becomes visible, and in a field, Mitsuha stares in awe. She sees a part of the comet break off and fall. Her eyes widen

Back in Tokyo, Taki is sad when the call cannot be connected. He wishes they could switch again, but after that night, it never happened again.

Days pass, and Taki goes through the motions. He begins to sketch Itomori from memory, trying desperately to figure out where she lives, with little luck. One day, he decides to leave the city to find the town and finally meet Mitsuha. Tagging along are Ms. Okudera and Tsukasa, who are there for moral support. They are curious and charmed by Takis mystery girl, while Taki must be coy about how he met her.

The trio travel many places but no one knows the town Taki has drawn. About to give up, Taki and his friends stop at a local restaurant. The owner recognizes the place as Itomori, but when Taki asks how far away it is, the owner goes silent for a moment before explaining three years before the town was destroyed by a comet fragment, killing over 500 people.

Taki is taken to the outskirts of Itomori where he sees little left of the town. He tries to show his friends the notes Mitsuha left for him on his phone, only for them to disappear. He doesnt know what to think.

The trio goes to a local library and sees the reports about the tragedy and the list of the dead. Mitsuha, her sister, and her friends are among the dead. Taki is shocked and heartbroken; he is somehow linked to a dead girl, who died three years ago.

The three get a hotel room for the night. Tsukasa asks Ms. Okuderas opinion on Takis recent behavior and what he claims about Mitsuha. Ms. Okudera, while admitting it is all strange, notes she always found Taki to be nice, but he became even a better person because of this girl.

Later that night, Ms. Okudera and Taki talk. She notices a braid on Takis wrist. Taki says he got a few years ago, but he doesn’t remember who gave it to him or why, though he wears it often for good luck.

As he sleeps, Mitsuha calls out to him to remember.

The next morning, Ms. Okudera wakes up to find a note from Taki to tell them to go home without him. He has to go somewhere first.

Taki travels to Itomori, and finds his way to the shrine of Mitsuhas family, still intact. He travels inside and finds the sake Mitsuha and her sister left. Taki thinks if he drinks some of her sake, he can make one last connection and perhaps save her.

Taki drinks some, but as he stands up, he trips and falls. As he does, he takes a journey, and sees all of Mitsuha’s life; her birth, happiness with her parents, the birth of her sister, the illness and death of her mother, her fathers abandonment of the family and his duties, her grandmother caring for them, and her death by the comet.

Taki wakes up in Mitsuha’s body. He realizes he has one last chance. Seeing the television, he realizes it is the day of the comet, and the towns destruction. Trying to talk to Hitoha, Hitoha realizes that someone else inhabits her granddaughter, as she had a similar phenomenon happen to her when she was younger. Taki wonders if Mitsuhas family line had these connections. Taki (as Mitsuha) tells Hitoha about the comet but is told no one will believe them.

Undeterred, Taki finds Mitsuha’s friends Katsuhiko and Sayaka and tell them what will happen. Despite doubting what they have been told, they believe her enough to help. They make a plan to knock out the towns power with explosives taken from Katsuhiko’s father’s construction company. Sayaka then will get on the emergency broadcast station and tell everyone to evacuate to the school, well out of the blast radius of the comet. However, they will need to convince the mayor, Mitsuhas father, of the severity.

Taki goes to Mitsuha’s father, but all the man can see is that his daughter has gone insane and orders her to see a doctor. Enraged, Taki grabs him by the tie and screams, You son of a—but they both stop. Who are you? Mitsuhas father asks, also seeing that his daughter is not standing before him. Nevertheless, the warning falls on deaf ears. Taki, thinking his body with Mitsuha inside is near the Shrine, races up there to meet her.

Meanwhile, Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body in the present day and sees the town destroyed. Does that mean I died? she asks.

Mitsuha remembers the day she went to Tokyo, hoping to meet Taki, thinking that even though they were technically strangers, if they were to meet, they would know their connection. By chance she met him on the train, though he did not recognize her (as their connection would only begin 3 years after her death). Heartbroken, she leaves the train, but Taki senses something and calls out to her. She takes out her braid and flings it to him, asking him to remember her name. She was the one who gave him the braid and thus linked them together.

Taki and Mitsuha finally are at the shrine, but cannot see each other, being separated by time itself. However, during the Magic Hour in a certain spot, they can finally see each other, and meet for the first time. Taki returns her braid and she ties up her hair. Taki suggests they write each other names on their hands so they wont forget. Taki writes his, but when she goes to write her name, the connection is broken.

Taki wakes up, back in his body, on the outskirts of the still destroyed Itomori. He cannot remember why he came there, or the name of a girl that haunts him. He heads home to Tokyo.

Back in the past, Mitsuha, knowing what will happen enacts her plan with her friends. They blow up the power grid with explosives, switching on emergency power. Sayaka then tells the entire town of forest fires in an effort to get people to the school. Though some take heed of the warning, not enough people do. Plus, the Mayor is trying to figure out who is sending out this false warning. Eventually, Sayaka is caught and the warning is turned off. Katsuhiko tells Mitsuha that unless she is able to convince her father, everything is lost.

Mitsuha begins to run, but becomes increasingly despondent as she cannot remember Takis name. She trips and falls, looking at her hand. She sees that Taki, instead of writing his name, wrote I LOVE YOU instead. Shocked and in tears, she continues to run, before reuniting with her father in a building.

The comet fragment still hits the town, destroying it.

5 years later…

Taki has graduated from high school and college, and is now trying to enter the work force as an architect. However, his passionate and idealistic views on preserving cities in case of disasters make him look foolish to interviewers, which lead him to get few if any offers.

Taki gets a call from Ms. Okudera, asking to meet up. They catch up, and she mentions they day they went to Itomori. Taki says he doesnt remember much of that day or why he was momentarily obsessed with the town. It turns out that reality has changed. Mitsuha was able to convince her father of the danger. That on top of her daring plan, led to the entire town to be evacuated to an area outside of the blast radius. The town was decimated, yet no one died. Still, Taki has no idea of his connection to averting a tragedy or the girl he help save.

As they part, Ms. Okudera tells Taki that she hopes he one day finds happiness. Taki notes the same, though it has felt as if he has spent years searching for it, yearning for something, or rather someone.

In a diner, he hears a couple bicker over wedding plans. We see it is Sayaka and Katsuhiko, who survived thanks to Taki and Mitsuha. Taki feels a momentary feeling of connection, but brushes it off as nothing.

Taki, not knowing why fully, searches the streets every day for a woman whose hair is tied up with a specific braid.

At one point, Taki and Mitsuha cross paths in the street, but dont look back, deciding their weird feelings are nothing.

One day, finally, they see each other on different subways. Though they are not sure why, they feel a connection. After getting off, they scramble around the city, searching for each other. Taki sees a woman at the top of a staircase and passes her by, as she walks down. Once again, they feel a stirring and almost ignore it once more. However, Taki cannot take it anymore and calls out to the woman. It is Mitsuha. He asks if they have met before. Mitsuha looks at him with tears in her eyes. She says that she feels the same way. Simultaneously, they ask, “Can I ask you your name?”

The movie opens with a TV documentary featuring Chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), the youngest chef in France to receive a five-star rating and owner of the best restaurant in Paris. He’s also the author of a bestselling cookbook that proudly bears his mantra, “Anyone Can Cook!”

A rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) begins talking about his life in monologue fashion. Remy states that he has enhanced senses of both taste and smell, which makes him very meticulous about what he eats. Remy’s brother Emile (Peter Sohn) is impressed by this talent, but their father Django (Brian Dennehy) who leads the rats’ colony, could care less - until Remy reveals that he can recognize the scent of rat poison in or near food. Django puts Remy to work sniffing and testing food for the rest of the clan. Remy is not happy about the rats having to steal food from the garbage; he would prefer to go to the kitchen and take the “fresh” samples. But Django, who hates and fears humans, forbids Remy (and all other members of the clan) to interact with them.

Despite his father’s orders, Remy spends several nights in the home of an old lady, Mabel, (which is where the rats have colonized), reading Chef Gusteau’s cookbook and watching television programs about cooking. Before long he has a near-expert level of knowledge about food preparation. One day, Remy takes Emile into the kitchen to get some spices that will go with some other food samples they have gathered. Emile hesitates, but agrees to go with his brother. While inside, Remy sees Gusteau on TV and listens in, but he learns that a famous food critic named Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), known for having viciously high standards, gave Gusteau’s restaurant a less-than-stellar review that resulted in the restaurant losing one of its five stars. A heartbroken Gusteau died soon after, which meant the loss of another star according to tradition.

While reacting to the news of Gusteau’s death, Remy accidentally wakes Mabel, who attempts to kill him and Emile with a shotgun. They manage to evade her, but the roof of the house is shot multiple times and collapses, exposing the entire rat colony. Django orders everyone to evacuate but Remy stays behind to grab Gusteau’s book. The rats manage to escape on miniature rafts into a river. Remy uses the cookbook as a flotation device but is separated from the group by a rapid current in the sewers.

Hours later, Remy sits, reading the cookbook, waiting for a sign of his friends and family. Through a fusion of grief, loneliness and hunger, Remy begins to hallucinate that the illustration of Chef Gusteau is talking to him. Gusteau encourages Remy to go up through the sewers and find out where he is now. Remy travels along several pipes and finds that he is in Paris - just in front of Gusteau’s restaurant!

Inside Gusteau’s, the new head chef Skinner (Ian Holm) meets Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), the son of Chef Gusteau’s recently-deceased old flame, Renata. Linguini gives Skinner a letter written by his mother in the hope of getting a job at the restaurant; He is given the role of plongeur, or garbage-boy, and put to work immediately.

As Remy watches the action in the kitchen, he spots Linguini accidentally knocking over a pot of soup and trying to cover up his error by adding random ingredients. Knowing that the combination Linguini has forged will be terrible, Remy freaks out and accidentally falls into the restaurant through the skylight. He tries to escape through an open window, but catches a whiff of the soup and, revolted by the smell, adds his own ingredients to the mixture. However, inspired by a hallucination of Gusteau, continues to fix the soup, but gets caught by Linguini, who traps him underneath a bowl before he can run away and anybody else notices him. Skinner spots Linguini supposedly messing with the soup and chews him out, but he cannot stop the wait staff from serving the soup. A bowl is served to a food critic, Solene LeClaire, who likes the concoction. Skinner still wants to fire Linguini, but another chef, Colette Tatou (Janeane Garofolo), sticks up for Linguini, stating that firing him for making something a customer liked would go against the restaurant’s mantra and heavily affect their reputation for the worst. Skinner relents and allows Linguini to stay.

Remy makes another attempt to escape, but this time Skinner spots him and Linguini manages to catch Remy in a jar. Skinner orders Linguini to take the rat away and kill it. Linguini takes Remy to a river but cannot bring himself to dispose of the rat. Linguini knows that the rat was the one who really made the soup and that Skinner will expect a duplication of the recipe. Linguini, seeing that Remy can apparently understand him, takes the rat home and essentially adopts him.

The next morning, Linguini sees that Remy (who he has nicknamed “Little Chef”) has apparently stolen food and bailed, but in reality has cooked breakfast for them both, which is short-lived when Linguini notices that they’re late for their first day. When they arrive at the restaurant, Linguini tries to find a way to have Remy cook but without anyone else seeing. After a few tries, they find out that Remy can manipulate Linguini like a puppet by pulling on the boy’s hair. Deciding that this is their best method, Linguini and Remy spend the next few days practicing cooking in their spare time. Before long they are able to make a perfect duplicate of the soup that captured the critic’s attention. Skinner appoints Colette to teach Linguini about the finer points of haute cuisine. Colette does not relish the task at first; she’s the only female chef, worked very hard to obtain her position and sees Linguini as a possible threat to her status.

Later that night Skinner meets with an agent. We learn that since Chef Gusteau’s death, Skinner has been making a profit by selling out the Gusteau name and image to a line of cheap frozen food. Taking a moment to read the letter from Linguini’s mother, Skinner panics and calls his lawyer. The lawyer (Teddy Newton) explains that Gusteau’s will stipulates that if no heir can be found after two years (a deadline which expires in less than a month), Skinner will inherit the restaurant. Apparently the letter from Linguini’s mother states that Linguini is Gusteau’s son, and should be the rightful heir! Skinner refuses to believe it while the lawyer suggests doing a DNA test as well as a background check.

Colette begins training Linguini (with Remy also paying rapt attention) about the fine art of cooking, and a rapport develops between the two.

One night, a group of guests, sick of ordering Linguini’s soup time and time again, asks the head waiter Mustafa (John Ratzenberger) about what is “new”. The staff panics, but Skinner decides to have Linguini prepare an old Gusteau-style recipe for sweetbreads. Skinner knows that Gusteau considered that recipe a “disaster” and hopes that it will be Linguini’s downfall.

Colette begins to follow the recipe but Linguini (under Remy’s manipulations) alters it severely, which angers her. But a few minutes later, Mustafa bursts in and declares that the customers love the new concoction and there are several more orders for it! The other chefs toast Linguini’s success later that evening. Skinner, knowing about Remy, brings Linguini into his office and pulls out a bottle of rare ’61 Château Latour in an attempt to get Linguini to talk about his “secrets” but gets nowhere.

Meanwhile Remy, resting outside, spots a mysterious figure in the garbage pails. He is stunned to find that it is his brother Emile! Overjoyed, Remy runs inside to steal some ingredients to fix food for his brother. Afterwards, Emile brings Remy to the new colony. Django is overjoyed to find his second son alive, but grows furious when Remy says he wants to leave the colony (and return to Linguini). Remy lets slip that he’s “observed” humans and has found that they’re not as bad as Django made them out to be, but Django, in an attempt to change his mind, brings Remy to a storefront that specializes in rat-killing, stating his belief that humans and rats must always be enemies. Remy, however, feels differently. He leaves the colony and goes back to Linguini.

The next morning, Remy finds Linguini still at the restaurant, exhausted from spending overnight cleaning. He notices Colette pulling in and attempts to hide Linguini’s drowsiness with a pair of sunglasses. Colette, annoyed at Linguini for seemingly using her advice to impress and get in closer with Skinner, mistakes his fatigue for snobbishness and slaps him. She confesses to a now-awake and startled Linguini that she thought he was not like the other chefs and had romantic feelings for him, and leaves in a huff. In an attempt to apologize, Linguini tries to confess his secret to Colette, but Remy, desperate to remain hidden, forces Linguini forward so that he ends up kissing Colette. After a few seconds of hesitation, she reciprocates and a relationship between the two is formed.

Meanwhile, Anton Ego is in his study when he hears news from his butler of Gusteau’s renewed popularity. Stunned, he vows to return there and find out what is truly going on.

Skinner’s lawyer returns to confirm Skinner’s worst fear - Linguini is indeed Gusteau’s son. Skinner decides not to tell Linguini and let the will’s deadline (a mere 3 days away) pass - after which he can fire Linguini and suffer no ill effects.

Later that night, Linguini goes out on a spin with Colette on her motorbike, leaving Remy behind. He finds Emile with a few other rats outside the restaurant. Remy is frustrated that Emile snitched on him, and heads in to get food to keep the other rats from telling the rest of the colony. He sneaks into Skinner’s office to find the key to the food locker, and in the process finds and reads the documents describing Linguini’s parentage. Remy tries to take the documents, but Skinner spots him escaping again. Despite a thorough chase, Remy gets away and Linguini learns the truth. Skinner is fired, Linguini takes charge of the restaurant and the Gusteau frozen-food line is halted.

At a press conference a few days later, Linguini tries to explain his “genius” without exposing Remy, much to the latter’s frustration. Anton Ego then walks in and introduces himself to Linguini, promising to come by the restaurant the next night to review Gusteau’s once more.

After the conference, Linguini vents to Remy about how he’s inhibiting his focus and, in his growing arrogance, decides to try and work without Remy’s help. In anger, Remy arranges for the rest of his rat-clan to raid the restaurant that night. Linguini finds out and throws all the rats out, including Remy, warning him not to come back or else he’ll be “treated the way restaurants are supposed to treat pests”. Remy retreats into the night, dejected.

That evening, Remy is found by Emile near the restaurant observing Linguini’s poor leadership. Emile then tries to grab a piece of suspiciously placed cheese, but Remy notices that it’s a trap and gets caught trying to save him. It turns out that the trap was set by Skinner, who wants Remy to work for him creating new frozen foods.

Ego arrives at the restaurant, and instead of ordering off the menu he challenges the chef to “hit [him] with your best shot.” Skinner, eager to see the downfall of Linguini, asks to have the same dish that Ego is served.

Remy, still caged, is freed by his father and brother. Thankful, he returns to the restaurant to help Linguini. The chefs spot him returning and try to kill him, but Linguini steps in and protects Remy, confessing the truth to everyone. The chefs, stunned, walk out - even Colette. Linguini retreats to his office believing there to be no hope for Gusteau’s.

Django comes in and admits that he was wrong; seeing Linguini stand up for Remy has changed his attitude about humans. Django recruits the entire rat colony to help out - they will follow Remy’s orders to prepare the food.

Just then, a health inspector arrives and sees the kitchen full of rats. A group of rats led by Django swarms the inspector, tying him up and locking him in the pantry.

Before long, after a thorough cleaning in the kitchen’s dishwasher, the rats form an intricate system under Remy’s supervision and are preparing all the meals for the restaurant. Linguini, knowing that someone will have to wait tables, puts on a pair of roller skates and begins serving the guests.

Colette, having had a change of heart, returns to the restaurant to help Remy and Linguini. She asks what Remy wants to prepare for Ego. Remy selects ratatouille, an older-style recipe not traditionally up to the standards of Gusteau’s (Colette calls it a “peasant dish.”) Soon enough, the entrée is prepared and served to Anton Ego.

Ego takes a bite of the ratatouille, and immediately has a flashback to his childhood where his mother prepared the same dish to brighten his spirits after a bicycle accident. He is overwhelmed with emotion for the dish. Skinner, furious, storms into the kitchen - and is tied up and thrown into the pantry alongside the health inspector.

Ego’s heart is warmed by the fantastic meal and insists on thanking the chef, but is told that he must wait until all other customers have left. That evening, Ego learns the whole truth from Linguini, Colette and Remy. After leaving the restaurant, Ego writes a fantastic review for Gusteau’s - proclaiming the chef to be “the finest in Paris”, while neglecting to reveal the chef’s true identity.

Unfortunately, the good fortune does not last. The health inspector and Skinner are eventually freed, and word gets out about the inner workings of the kitchen which leads to Gusteau’s being shut down. Ego loses his job and a great deal of credibility for promoting a rat-infested restaurant.

“Boggis and Bunce and Bean One short, one fat, one lean. These horrible crooks, so different in looks, were nonetheless equally mean.” Mr. Fox (voice: George Clooney) and his wife Felicity Fox (voice: Meryl Streep) sneak into a henhouse to steal chickens. They’re caught in a cage on the way out because Mr. Fox sees the trap and can’t resist the temptation to spring it. As they hear someone coming, Mrs. Fox reveals that she’s pregnant and makes Mr. Fox promise that if they get away, he’ll give up raiding farms.

Cut to a few years later: the Foxes evidently escaped and now live underground with their slightly odd son, Ash (voice: Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox is working a safe job as a journalist. Against the advice of Badger (voice: Bill Murray), his attorney, he moves his family into a larger and finer home inside a tree on a hill. The treehouse has a good view of the nearby farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.

Ash is immediately hostile when his cousin Kristofferson (voice: Eric Chase Anderson) joins the family for an extended visit because his father is sick. He makes the inoffensive Kristofferson sleep under a table in the bedroom they share. Ash feels threatened because his cousin appears to be good at everything. Kristofferson even succeeds at whackbat, a cricket-like game whose baroque rules are explained by Coach Skip (voice: Owen Wilson) – though Kristofferson has never played it before. Meanwhile, Mr. Fox plots with Kiley (voice: Wallace Wolodarsky), the treehouse’s caretaker, to raid the Boggis, Bunce and Bean farms. They take Kristofferson but not Ash along on the raids, which deepens Ash’s resentment. Mr. Fox is careful to conceal these outings from Felicity, who nevertheless becomes suspicious when unexplained food appears in their larder. She warns Fox, “if what I think is happening is happening – it better not be.”

The success of the raids leads the three angry farmers to set up a stakeout at the treehouse, where they shoot off Fox’s tail before the animals run back inside. The farmers try to dig them out, but the Foxes dig faster. Eventually they find their way into the sewers, where they join forces with many other animals made homeless by the farmers’ destruction of their hill. These neighbors are none too pleased with Fox for bringing this revenge down on them all.

Mr. Fox, though penitent, is irrepressible; he marshals the animals, calling them by their Latin names and noting each one’s special talent. He organizes a tunneling project to burrow under all three farms and make away with all of Boggis’s chickens, all of Bunce’s ducks and geese, and all of Bean’s turkeys, apples, and cider. Ash and Kristofferson’s relationship, meanwhile, has begun to thaw after Kristofferson defends his cousin from a bully (Bully: “Why’d you take your shoes off?” Kristofferson: “So I don’t break your nose when I kick it.”). The two cousins slip away from the celebration that follows the megaraid; they aim to get Fox’s tail back from Bean. However, the closest they get to the tail is seeing it on TV – Bean is wearing it as a necktie. Worse, Mrs. Bean catches Kristofferson, and Bean plans to use him to catch Mr. Fox.

When they find that their goods have been stolen, the farmers decide to flood the animals’ tunnel network by pumping it full of cider. The animals are forced to retreat into the sewers, and Fox learns that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson as bait to lure him into an ambush. They are soon confronted by Rat (voice: Willem Dafoe), Bean’s security guard. After a struggle with Fox that leaves him mortally wounded, Rat divulges that Kristofferson is being held in an attic on Bean’s farm.

Fox sends a message to the farmers, asking for a meeting in a town near the sewer hub. Fox offers to surrender in exchange for Kristofferson’s freedom. The farmers set up an ambush, but Fox and the others anticipate it and launch a counterattack. Fox, Ash, and Kylie escape the scene in the town and slip into Bean’s farm. A much matured Ash frees Kristofferson and impresses his father and the gang by braving enemy fire to release a rabid beagle that keeps the farmers at bay while the group escapes back to the sewers. On the way, they see a dark wolf on the hillside above the road. Fox has said he’s afraid of wolves, but he stops and tries to speak to this one in English and French. It doesn’t respond until Fox raises his fist in a gesture of solidarity. The wolf returns the gesture and departs into the woods.

Over a quaint area of land, shrouded by fog, a lone herder guides his sheep to pasture as a gigantic, metallic structure moves on four spindly legs into the highlands where the cloud cover quickly consumes it.

In a nearby city, young Sophie (English: Emily Mortimer Japanese: Chieko Baishô) sits at her window sewing adornments on a hat. Her boss enters and tells her the store is closing before inviting her out. Sophie politely declines. Some of her coworkers chatter excitedly and point outside. Sophie looks and sees the metallic object vanishing in the far off hills. The so-called ‘castle’, as the girls call it, belongs to a reclusive wizard named Howl (English: Christian Bale Japanese: Takuya Kimura) who is reputed to steal the hearts of beautiful young women. The girls joke about whether they will be preyed upon as they leave. Sophie finishes her hat and exits the store alone.

She takes a trolley downtown and decides to cut through an alleyway since a parade of soldiers is moving down the main street. As she appears to look for a particular address, she bumps into a couple of soldiers who begin to flirt with her. Sophie explains that her sister is waiting for her, but the soldiers refuse to let her leave. She then backs up into a handsome young man who drapes his arm around her, claiming to have been looking for her. With a quick gesture, he forces the soldiers into a straight stance and sends them marching down the alley. He then offers to escort Sophie wherever she needs to go and tells her not to be alarmed, but he’s being followed. As they walk down the alley, a number of globular shadows appear out of the walls and begin to rush towards them. The mysterious man apologizes for getting Sophie involved and, as the shadows are about to merge on them, puts his arm around her waist before leaping high into the air. As they hover above the rooftops, he instructs her to start walking. They step through the air together and the man sets Sophie down on the balcony of her sister’s bakery. He tells her he will draw off their pursuers and that she should wait a bit before going outside again, and then leaves.

Downstairs, Sophie’s sister, Lettie (Jena Malone), is told of her arrival. She rushes upstairs to tell Sophie that she was seen floating onto the balcony with a strange man. Sophie recalls the experience as if it was a dream and later explains to Lettie that the man must have been a wizard. Lettie advises her on the dangers of trusting wizards and that, if it had been Howl, he would have surely stolen her heart. Melancholy, Sophie notes that Howl only preys upon ‘pretty’ girls. Lettie resigns to this statement and warns Sophie to be careful, regardless, and that even the Witch of the Wastes (English: Lauren Bacall Japanese: Akihiro Miwa) is on the move.

Lettie asks if Sophie will spend the rest of her life in the hat shop, but Sophie reminds her that the store was important to their father. Lettie tells Sophie that she should live her own life before Sophie leaves.

Sophie arrives back at the hat shop and locks the door behind her but, as she’s putting her hat away, a large and elegant woman enters through the door. Sophie tells her the shop is closed but the woman ignores her and insults the shop, calling it tacky. Growing angry, Sophie once again asks the woman to leave but is reprimanded for standing up to the Witch of the Wastes. Before she can react, the Witch flies towards Sophie and flows over her like a windswept fabric, covering her in dark magic. The Witch glides back to the door and asks Sophie to give her regards to Howl before closing the door behind her. She leaves quickly in a sedan chair carried by two Shadow Men; the same globular figures that pursued Sophie earlier.

When Sophie finally looks up, she is horrified to discover that shes been aged into an elderly woman. She struggles to stay calm despite her haggard appearance. The next morning, her mother (English: Mari Devon) arrives at the shop to hear that Sophie is locked in her room, apparently ill. When she leaves, Sophie gets up and tries to motivate herself; accepting that now, at least, her clothes are appropriate for her age and decides that can’t stay at the shop. She packs a few things and leaves town, catching conversation on the streets that the prince of another country has gone missing and that war is imminent.

Sophie hitches a ride out of town and heads for the mountains, despite the driver’s warning that there’s nothing out there but witches and wizards. After a while she takes a rest to eat the food she’s packed and notices a stick protruding out of a nearby bush. Deciding it will make a nice walking cane, she yanks it out with some force and realizes that its a scarecrow which is somehow standing on its own. She names it Turnip-head before strolling away. Turnip-head follows Sophie, hopping along on its pole, despite her objections to having dealt with enough magic for the day. As the sky grows darker and the wind picks up, Sophie struggles up the hillside. Turnip-head fetches a walking stick for her which she gratefully accepts before asking if there is a place where she can find shelter. Turnip-head bounces away and Sophie muses to herself how clever she’s gotten to have convinced him to leave.

However, Turnip-head soon returns, to Sophie’s shock, with Howl’s Castle close behind. Though it is the last thing Sophie was thinking of when she asked for shelter, she discovers a back door hanging from the rear of the castle as it walks over her. She runs for the door and is allowed entry.

Nothing stirs within and there is no light save for a single fire set on a large hearth. Sophie sits herself down on a chair in front of the fire, commenting how the place is less like a castle and more like a living room overstuffed with junk. Still, in her old age she realizes nothing scares her anymore and begins to doze off. Suddenly, the fire in front of her conjures eyes and notes that Sophie has quite a curse on her. It introduces itself as a powerful fire demon named Calcifer (English: Billy Crystal Japanese: Tatsuya Gashûin) and offers to relieve Sophie’s curse if she helps him with his. Sophie asks if he can be trusted and denies his proposal but he pleads with her and claims that his master, Howl, keeps him under a tight regimen. Falling asleep, Sophie relents and agrees to help him though, as he watches her, Calcifer doubts her ability.

In a bayside town, two officials approach a building and knock on the door. The sound awakens Sophie who looks to the door with some confusion before a young boy comes down the stairs. Sophie feigns sleep again as the boy approaches and Calcifer mentions the knock came from the Porthaven door. The boy, Markl (English: Josh Hutcherson Japanese: Ryunosuke Kamiki), dons a magical disguise that makes him appear like an old man and answers the door after turning a color-coded knob. Sophie looks over curiously and is amazed to see that the door has opened to a new area. The officials at the door ask for the Wizard Jenkins and inform Markl that he’s been summoned to lend his magical assistance to the war effort. Markl accepts the notice and shuts the door before addressing Sophie who’s giving Calcifer fresh wood. She tells Markl that Calcifer allowed her inside but Calcifer objects, saying she simply wandered in from the wastes.

Markl wonders aloud if Sophie is a witch but a knock at the door draws his attention away. He opens it to help a young customer who asks if Sophie is a witch. Sophie responds that she’s the scariest witch of them all before the customer is sent off with her potion. Markl tells Sophie not to lie to customers and, when she points out his own disguise, informs her that he needs to practice his magic. When another knock sounds on the door, Markl opens the door to reveal the capital city of Kingsbury where another pair of officials requests the assistance of the Wizard Pendragon. Amazed, Sophie tries the knob out for herself, finding that each color represents a different location. When she asks about a fourth, black setting on the wheel, Markl says that only Howl knows where it leads.

Markl begins to make breakfast for himself and Sophie notices a basket of eggs and bacon. She offers to make something for him but he explains that Calcifer only obeys Howl. However, Sophie manages to force Calcifer into obedience by threatening to dump water on him or, worse, tell Howl of their secret agreement. Calcifer reluctantly agrees to obey and cook the food while Markl, amazed at Sophie’s willpower, fetches a kettle to boil tea. The knob beside the door turns to the black setting and the handsome stranger Sophie met the day before walks in. Sophie is startled when Markl addresses him as Master Howl and tries to calmly continue cooking before introducing herself as his new cleaning lady, hired by Calcifer. Howl gently pushes her aside and takes over the cooking, feeding the eggshells to Calcifer. The three then sit down to eat and Howl asks Sophie what she has in her pocket. She reaches in and is surprised to find a red note hidden there. She hands it to Howl and, as it touches his fingers, the note bursts into flame and burns an inscription on the table from the Witch of the Wastes. The encrypted message reads that Howl’s heart will soon belong to her. Howl rubs the message off the table, looking pained as he does so, before feeding Calcifer his breakfast and instructing him to heat hot water for his bath and move the castle further to the west. He then heads for the door, calling back to Sophie not to get too carried away cleaning, and leaves through the black portal.

Markl questions if Sophie is working for the Witch of the Wastes, but Sophie angrily denies it, her mouth abruptly sealing shut before she can utter a word about her curse, and promises to throttle the witch the next time she sees her. She orders Markl to finish his breakfast and furiously begins cleaning. Markl does his best to move extra things outside and warns customers to return later as there is a ‘witch on the rampage inside’. Having cleaned most of the room, Sophie goes to remove the ashes from the hearth while Calcifer warns her that he may go out. She ignores his whining and moves the last bit of wood to hang over a pot with Calcifer clinging to it, his round lower half dangling. As she takes the ashes outside, Calcifer falls and smolders in the pot. When Sophie comes back inside she sees Howl standing over the hearth, encouraging Calcifer to reignite on new logs of wood. He calmly advises her not to torment his friend before leaving once again. Sophie goes upstairs to clean and tells Markl to put away whatever he doesn’t want thrown out. After noticing the particularly dirty bathroom, Sophie sees the castle moving outside. She walks out onto a balcony, standing a bit straighter, and admires the high view of the countryside. She calls down to Calcifer, complimenting him on his spark which pleases him greatly. Markl joins Sophie outside and notices a long pole sticking out of one of the castles recesses. Recognizing it, Sophie pulls Turnip-head out of the hole. He regains his stance and bounces on the roof of the castle. Markl asks Sophie if she is, indeed, a witch to which she responds that she’s the worst kind; the kind that cleans.

Later, Calcifer sets the castle down by a mountain lake and Markl and Turnip-head help Sophie string out the laundry. Markl suggests that Turnip-head is a demon but Sophie says that, if that’s true, he must be a good demon since he led her here. She sits by the side of the lake and sighs to Markl that she’s never felt more at peace.

Meanwhile, Howl flies in a bird-like form over a fiery landscape, watching as large airships drop bombs. A number of menacing winged creatures fly towards him but he swiftly eludes them and escapes through a break in the clouds, sealing it shut behind him.

Back at the castle, the door opens and Howl walks through, his wings drooping and his feathers scorched. He sits in the chair in front of Calcifer’s hearth and, with difficulty, transforms back into his human self. Calcifer warns him that, if he continues to transform, it will be harder to become human again but cheerfully shows Howl the extra firewood Sophie left for him. Howl admits that the war is getting worse and other wizards have been recruited to fight, most having gotten to the point where they can’t remember being human. He asks Calcifer to heat water for his bath and stops by a curtain drawn to the side of the room. He pulls it back to see Sophie sleeping in her youthful form and considers her a moment before going upstairs. The sound of the water running awakens Sophie, once again elderly.

That day, Sophie and Markl walk to the Porthaven market to buy food. Near the harbor, a crowd of people suddenly comes together as a battle-ravaged ship arrives at port. Sophie urges Markl to leave as she notices a shadow man scouring the crowd. An enemy airship flies overhead, dropping bombs into the harbor and sending leaflets of propaganda falling to the ground. Sophie and Markl rush back to Wizard Jenkins’ shop and shut the door. Suddenly, Howl comes running down the stairs with a towel wrapped around his waist, howling and clutching his hair, turned from blonde to a vivid red. He yells at Sophie for getting carried away and ruining his bath potions. She defends herself, saying she merely moved things about but Howl is inconsolable. He sits down and moans that he looks hideous, turning his hair black and saying that there’s no point to living if he can’t be beautiful. The room begins to shake and shadows stretch. Markl says that Howl is summoning spirits of darkness and did this once when a girl dumped him.

When Sophie tries to comfort him, Howl’s body begins to excrete ooze. Nervous and growing upset, Sophie yells at him that she’s never felt beautiful in her life and runs outside into the Wastes where she begins to cry in the rain. Turnip-head approaches her with an umbrella which cheers her up and Markl runs out to get her. Sophie goes back inside to find Howl slumped over the hearth, his ooze threatening to extinguish Calcifer, and tells a worried Markl that he’s just throwing a tantrum. Sophie helps him up and carts him upstairs where she instructs Markl to clean him.

Howl is put to bed and rests as Sophie comes in, offering him some warm milk, which he silently refuses. As she gets up to leave, Howl asks her to stay. He explains that the Witch of the Wastes is looking for him and admits that he’s a coward for hiding, which is what most of his magic is put towards. When Sophie inquires, Howl says that, at one time, the Witch was very beautiful and Howl decided to pursue her only to find out that she really wasn’t. So he ran away. Sophie sighs in exasperation and Howl says that he knows he can’t hide for much longer now that both of his pseudonyms have been summoned to the palace to serve in the war effort. The oath he swore in the Royal Sorcery Academy requires him to answer the summons. Howl claims that the war is folly and asserts that Sophie doesn’t understand how these people are despite her belief that the king should know what his subjects think.

Suddenly, Howl sits up and proposes that Sophie go to the palace in Kingsbury, pretending to be Pendragon’s mother, and convince the king that Howl is of no use to him. Sophie reluctantly agrees. She puts on her hat and Howl uses his magic to bring some color back into her dress. Before she leaves, he gives her a ring to wear that he says will guarantee her safety and promises to follow her in disguise. Though Sophie is skeptical of the plan’s success, she tries to figure what kind of disguise Howl may take as she walks towards the palace. She figures a pigeon or a crow would be too flamboyant but, as a small plane flies by with a young lady giggling beside her pilot, Sophie muses the pilot could be Howl. As she continues, she’s soon accompanied by a small dog (Daijirô Harada). She asks if it’s Howl and takes its weak bark as confirmation.

As she approaches the steps to the palace, two shadow men carrying the Witch of the Wastes’ sedan chair come up beside her. The Witch peeks out and thanks Sophie for delivering her note and asks how Howl is. Sophie replies curtly that Howl has been a big baby since she started work for him, so she’s come to the palace to request another job. The Witch brags that she’s been summoned for her skills in magic and is going to see Madam Suliman (Blythe Danner Japanese: Haruko Katô), the king’s sorcerer, who has finally seen what talent the Witch has. Sophie asks, if the Witch is so talented, why she doesn’t remove her curse. The Witch responds that she only casts spells and cannot break them, leaving Sophie irritated.

As the shadow men approach the steps to the palace, they trigger a spell which renders them useless. A guard announces that the Witch must continue on foot which she does with frustration. Sophie soon catches up to her but finds that she must carry the dog up the high stairs. Though struggling, she manages to pass the Witch as she trundles upward, sweating profusely. Sophie makes it to the top and asks the Witch why she doesn’t just give up, but the Witch refuses saying that she’s waited 50 years for a summon since Suliman banished her to the Wastes. By the time the Witch makes it up, she’s terribly disheveled and Sophie notes that she looks older. They walk into a lobby together, with the dog in tow, where a lone chair sits. The Witch claims it and sits down, relieved, while Sophie is led into a side passage. Large bulbs around the lobby suddenly light up, casting long shadows on the Witch, forming dark figures. The Witch cries out as they move around her in a circle.

The dog leads Sophie into a large greenhouse where she is introduced to Madam Suliman, seated in a wheelchair. Sophie is surprised to see the dog lie beside Suliman and inquires about him. Suliman tells her his name is Hin, her personal errand dog sent out to escort her. Sophie sighs heavily but keeps to the original story, claiming to be Howl’s mother and explaining that he would be rather useless. Suliman is saddened by this news and says that Howl was her last and brightest student until his heart was stolen by a demon. Since then, he’s been using his magic for purely selfish reasons and Suliman warns Sophie that, should he continue living as such, he will end up as the Witch of the Wastes. Upon her cue, the Witch is brought in on a dolly, reduced to her normal state as an old woman and deprived of magic. Suliman threatens to force Howl’s magic from him if he refuses to honor the summon.

Sophie stands and says that she understands now why Howl refused to come; Suliman’s summon was merely a trap to strip him of his powers. She asserts that Howl may be selfish, but his intentions are pure and he only wants to be free. As she speaks, her appearance gradually fades back to her youthful look. Suliman smiles and says that Sophie is in love with Howl. The statement causes Sophie to recoil and revert back into an old woman. The Witch grabs Sophie’s dress, asking for Howl and, though Sophie claims he’s not coming, Suliman says that he should, now that she knows his weakness.

A propeller craft lands in the grass outside and a tall man climbs off and enters the greenhouse. Suliman addresses him as Majesty and introduces him to Sophie as Howl’s mother. The King declares to Suliman that he’s decided against using magic to win the war since Suliman’s powers shield the palace rather than protecting civilians; a statement that Suliman ironically compliments. At the opposite end of the room, a second King enters, shouting that he’s come up with a new battle strategy. When he sees his copy, the real King laughs and praises Suliman on her tricks before leaving. Still smiling, Suliman greets Howl who removes his disguise and grasps Sophie, saying that he’s fulfilled his oath and must be leaving. Suliman says she won’t allow it and conjures a wave of water to flood the room. The group is transported to an empty realm where the earth appears miles below them. Howl tells Sophie not to look down as the Witch clings to her dress. Suliman appears above them and tells Sophie she’s going to show her what Howl truly is. Falling stars surround them and begin to encircle Howl and Sophie, chanting. Howl is painfully forced to transform into his bird state and attempts to attack Suliman before Sophie stops him. Suliman raises her staff and throws it, but Howl leaps up and breaks through the illusion out of the greenhouse. He drops down onto the propeller craft with Sophie and the Witch lands in the back seat. Hin leaps onto the craft and puts himself in the Witch’s lap as they fly off.

Sophie sneers at Hin but decides that they are now too high to dump him as Howl gives her the controls to the aircraft. She struggles to maintain flight but soon gains a handle on it, despite nearly crashing. She asks Howl why he bothered to make her go to the palace if he was going. He responds that he’s terrified of Suliman, but Sophie’s courage gave him the strength to face her. Seeing that they’re being followed by the King’s men, Howl tells Sophie he will give her five minutes of invisibility and that her ring will guide her back to the castle. All she needs to do is summon Calcifer. He then separates from the aircraft on a copy to ward off their pursuers.

At the palace, Suliman’s wards pull her staff from the chair where Sophie had been sitting and she exclaims that was the most fun she’s had in a while. She sends out troops to the shops of both Pendragon and the Wizard Jenkins but, when they break down the doors, they find empty buildings. Meanwhile, Sophie continues to fly in the rain. She passes over her hometown and navigates back into the mountain Wastes. The Witch, holding onto Hin, comments that he is a ‘nice doggy’ but Sophie refuses to trust him. Up ahead, she sees the castle waiting for them but, unsure of how to land the craft, flies into the castle’s mouth where they crash. However, unharmed, they all climb out of the wreckage and Sophie greets Markl.

That night while everyone sleeps, Howl enters the room, hunched over and semi-transparent. Calcifer warns him that he’s gone too far before Howl goes upstairs. Sophie wakes, somehow returned to her youth, and notices Howl’s footprints on the floor surrounded by feathers. As she picks one up, it dissolves. Worried, she puts on a pair of boots and takes a candle. The footprints on the stairs appear bloodied but Sophie follows them. She walks into Howl’s room and finds that it has transformed into a vast tunnel, the walls glittering with his toys and adornments. She follows the tunnel until she comes upon Howl, breathing heavily and curled up in his bird-form. He tells her to go away but she refuses and tells him that she can help him break his curse. He says that she can’t even break the one on her and Sophie tells him she loves him. Claiming she’s too late, Howl stands, revealing a disfigured face full of sharp teeth and flies away, leaving Sophie calling for him, once again an old woman.

Sophie suddenly awakens and hears the bath water running. She asks Calcifer if Howl is back and he replies that she needs to hurry to break their curse; Howl is getting worse. Frustrated, Sophie asks if Howl is really a monster. Calcifer can’t answer any details but reveals that if he is extinguished, Howl will die too. Later, Markl and Turnip-head pitch in to help Sophie remove the propeller plane from the wall of the castle. Once the blockage is cleared, Howl comes down the stairs, looking cheery. Upon seeing Turnip-head, he detects a strong spell on him too and says that it seems everyone in their growing family has problems. He draws a large chalk circle with magical symbols on the ground outside and instructs Calcifer to move the castle over it. He then draws a smaller copy inside and takes Calcifer off the hearth with a shovel. He stands over the circle and Calcifer uses his demon powers to help Howl reconfigure the room. When all is done, Howl shows Sophie the new additions including her own room which looks exactly like the one in her hometown above the hat shop. Outside their door is a courtyard that leads to a new flower shop that Sophie can manage. Seeing everything, she becomes youthful again and is touched by Howl’s kindness; though he merely wants everyone to live comfortably. He shows her a new doorway on the color turn-knob that leads to a field covered in flowers. A lone cottage stands near a stream and Howl explains that it used to belong to his uncle, a powerful wizard, who gave it to him so that he could study sorcery in peace. Now, he’s giving it to Sophie.

Fearful that he is leaving, Sophie begs him to stay and says that she wants to help him, even if she’s not talented or pretty. When Howl assures her that she’s beautiful, she becomes old again. Suddenly, a large warship passes over them. Angered by its presence, Howl lightly gestures and causes the ship to malfunction. This display of magic causes his arm to painfully transform and feather, though Howl tries to hide it. When the airship yields flying creatures, Howl grabs Sophie and sprouts wings, carrying her back to the door to the castle. He drops her inside and flies away. Markl and Hin find Sophie on the stairway by the door exclaiming that she’s too old for these shenanigans. That night, before bed, Markl tells Sophie not to worry about Howl; he’s often away for days at a time, as Sophie puts the Witch to bed. Before she can leave, the Witch tells Sophie she knows she’s in love and her sighing has given her away. Sophie asks the Witch if she has ever fallen in love, to which the Witch gleefully replies that she still is and simply can’t ignore the hearts of handsome young men. An air raid siren sounds outside and the Witch warns Sophie not to go out; Sulimans henchmen are no doubt looking for the house although Calcifer keeps the place well hidden.

The next day, after returning from market, Markl rushes into the courtyard and tells Sophie that a strange woman has followed him inside. Sophie looks up to see her mother who rushes forward in tears, crying that she’s been looking everywhere for her. Sophie invites her in and her mother reveals that she’s gotten married again. She sets a small bag on a table that the Witch, sitting nearby, quickly notices. When Sophie and her mother go into the courtyard again, the Witch takes the bag and grabs a peeping bug that Suliman must have stored in there to spy on Howl. She feeds it to Calcifer who belches sickly. The Witch finds a cigar within the bag and begins to smoke it, much to Hin’s disgust. Sophie’s mother invites her to live with her but Sophie politely refuses, claiming to be happy where she is. She says farewell to her mother who leaves with a chauffeur. As they drive off, she tells the driver that she did as she was told and must now return to her husband. She whispers for Sophie to forgive her. Sophie goes back into the castle where Markl tells her that he loves her and doesn’t want her to leave. Sophie assures him that she will stay; they are a family.

That evening, Sophie attempts to reignite Calcifer who has weakened due to the cigar smoke. Markl goes to open a window but the Witch warns against it, saying that there’s an air raid and Calcifer is too weak to properly protect the house. As Sophie goes to pull Markl back from the window, a series of bombs hits the side streets, sending a tremor through the house. Sophie runs outside to see most of the street enveloped in flames and a horde of Suliman’s blob men approaching her. She runs back to the courtyard and looks up in time to see a bomb plummeting towards her, with Howl holding onto it. The bomb hits the center of the courtyard but fails to explode. Sophie runs to Howl who apologizes for not arriving sooner and escorts Sophie back into the house. Howl calls up Calcifer, coughing back to life, and takes the cigar from the Witch who says that she needs to have a chat at some point with Howl. He tells Sophie to wait at the house while he goes to deflect the second wave of bombs but she begs him to stay. He tells her he’s tired of running and now has something that he wants to protect (Sophie) before flying out the door and into the ember filled sky.

Sophie retreats inside from the shadow blobs and changes the knob beside the door to return to the Wastes. She then goes outside to watch the battle and sees Howl attacking an airship, now more monstrous than human. She watches in horror as the ship goes down and explodes in a fireball. Sophie demands that Calcifer do something, but he can’t change the portals without Howl’s help. Sophie begs him to try so that Howl won’t have a reason to fight for the shop and states that their vulnerability won’t change no matter where they are. They come up with an idea. Markl and Turnip-head help the Witch leave the house and Sophie places Calcifer on a shovel. She backs out of the house with him and watches as the entire castle falls apart. They all go back inside and Sophie puts Calcifer on the hearth, ordering him to move what little is left of the castle closer to Howl so they can help him. However, he is too weak and asks Sophie to give him something of hers. She offers him her long braid and he eats it, gaining strength enough to put together a wobbly, smaller version of the castle. Sophie commends his powers and Calcifer quips her on what he could have done with her eyes or her heart.

At this, the Witch suddenly realizes that Calcifer has Howl’s heart. Blindly motivated by her crush, she takes Calcifer off the hearth and holds the heart close to her. The castle shakes and stumbles and the Witch is set on fire, crying out in the heat. Calcifer yells out as his powers are stripped and Sophie tries to take him from the Witch but she refuses to let go. In her panic, Sophie throws water over them which extinguishes the fire. Then, the section of castle Sophie is standing on breaks away from the rest. Hin leaps into her arms as they fall into a deep chasm, Markl calling after her while the castle continues on its way across the mountains.

Sophie wakes up, having survived the wreck, and is approached by Hin. She bursts out crying, wondering if she killed Howl by pouring water over Calcifer. She buries her face in her hands as the ring Howl gave her begins to tremble, a single beam of light shining from it. Sophie asks the ring if Howl is still alive and it points to the main door that had fallen away, propped against a wall of dirt. She opens it, finding a looming darkness ahead and walks through, Hin following. Sophie finds herself in Howl’s cottage and walks outside to the fields where she sees a young boy watching a shower of falling stars; each one perishing as it lands. Realizing the doorway was a portal to Howl’s childhood, Sophie runs towards the young Howl and watches as he catches a star, speak to it, and swallow it. He coughs and brings forth from his chest a beating flame; Calcifer. The ring on Sophie’s finger breaks and Sophie is plunged into a deep darkness, but manages to shout out to Howl, telling him that she can help him and to find her in the future.

Sophie and Hin make it back through the doorway where they find Howl waiting for her, nearly a complete form of a monstrous bird. Sophie approaches him, brushes the feathers from his face and kisses him, apologizing for taking so long. She asks him to take them to Calcifer and, as she stands on his clawed foot, Howl takes off. They arrive at the walking castle where Markl, the Witch, and Turnip-head are waiting; the castle having been reduced to two walking legs supporting a single piece of floor. As soon as they arrive, Howl collapses and the feathers disintegrate to reveal his human body. Sophie props him up before going to the Witch and begging her to release Calcifer. Though she refuses at first, with Sophie’s plea, she finally relinquishes him to her. Calcifer tells Sophie he’s very tired but may be all right if Sophie is the one to give Howl his heart back. She presses him into Howl’s chest. A light bursts from it and Calcifer, once again a star, flies off shouting that he’s free.

With Calcifer gone, the castle stops moving and begins to tip over. The legs fall apart and the flooring slides quickly down the mountainside. Turnip-head leaps ahead of the floorboard and uses his pole to slow it down, but splinters and grinds it down to near nothing. The floorboard finally stops, propped between two rocks. Proud by his sacrifice, Sophie kisses Turnip-head which suddenly causes him to vibrate and transform into a human. He bows to Sophie and proclaims that he’s the prince (English: Crispin Freeman Japanese: Yô Ôizumi) from the neighboring country who had gone missing. A spell had turned him into a scarecrow and a kiss from his true love was the only thing that could break it.

The Witch compliments the handsome young man as Howl awakens and complains of a weight on his chest. Sophie tells him that a heart is a heavy burden and, when he looks at her and likens her hair to starlight, hugs him fiercely. The Witch tells the prince that, though his love is in love with someone else, he should still go home and put an end to the war. He agrees to do this, saying that even hearts can change, and the Witch suggests that she’ll be waiting for him should he return. As the prince leaves, Hin sends a visual message to Suliman who asks him where he’s been. As he shows her, she begrudgingly calls him a traitor and watches as he rejoins Sophie and Howl. She admits that her fun is at an end and decides to finally put a stop to the war.

A boy called Andy Davis (voice: John Morris) uses his toys to act out a bank robbery. The bank is a cardboard box, the robber is Mr. Potato Head (voice: Don Rickles) assisted by Slinky Dog (voice: Jim Varney), and the bystanders include Bo Peep (voice: Annie Potts) and her sheep. The day is saved by cowboy doll Woody (voice: Tom Hanks) playing the sheriff, with help from Rex the dinosaur (voice: Wallace Shawn). Woody is the only toy who gets to say his own lines because he has a pull-string that makes him say things like “Reach for the sky!” and “You’re my favorite deputy!”

During the opening credits (soundtrack: Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), Andy takes Woody downstairs to find his mother (voice: Laurie Metcalf) decorating the dining room for his birthday party. He asks if they can leave the decorations up until they move, and his mom agrees. She says the guests will arrive soon and sends him back upstairs to get his baby sister Molly (voice: Hannah Unkrich), whose crib is in his room. Andy tosses Woody onto his bed before he pulls Molly out of her crib and carries her away.

Woody and the other toys have seemed limp and inanimate up to this point, but as soon as Andy leaves the room, Woody sits up and expresses surprise that the birthday party is today. He calls “Ok, everybody, the coast is clear,” and the other toys come to life too. Woody calls a staff meeting and tells Slinky Dog to spread the word. Within a few minutes (during which Bo Peep makes a date with Woody for that evening), all the toys are assembled. Woody starts by reminding them all to find a moving buddy so they don’t get lost when the Davis family moves to their new house, which will happen in a week. Then he tries to downplay the news that Andy’s birthday party is happening today, but it causes a commotion as the toys know that Andy’s actual birthday isn’t till next week. Rex worries that someone will give Andy another dinosaur, and many of the toys have similar concerns. Woody points out that it makes sense to have the party before the move, then tries to calm them down. He’s interrupted when Hamm (voice: John Ratzenberger) the piggybank, stationed near the window, announces that the guests are arriving. The toys rush to the window to see the presents the kids are bringing; the bigger boxes make them especially nervous. Hamm predicts “we’re next month’s garage sale fodder for sure.” Woody finally says, “If I send out the troops, will you all calm down?”

Sending out the troops means that the little green plastic soldiers, led by Sarge (voice: R. Lee Ermey), lower the baby monitor to the first floor and hide with it in a potted plant, where they can observe the opening of the gifts and report back to the toys in Andy’s room. At first, the presents seem nonthreatening — a lunchbox, bed sheets (“who invited that kid?” wonders Mr. Potato Head), a Battleship game. But Andy’s mom pulls a surprise present from the closet. Andy’s very excited about it, but before they hear what it is, Rex knocks the speaker off the table and the batteries fall out. Sarge warns that the kids are headed upstairs, but the toys barely have time to resume their previous positions before the stampede thunders in. One of the kids (Andy?) sweeps Woody off the bed, saying “make a space, this is where the spaceship lands!” They put something down where Woody was, then Andy’s mom calls them back down to play games and suddenly the room is empty again. The toys creep out of their hiding places to see the new toy, pausing in surprise when Woody crawls out from under the bed. The new toy has taken Woody’s place on the bed, which causes consternation. Woody reminds them that no one is being replaced, and they look up to see what’s on the bed.

It’s Buzz Lightyear (voice: Tim Allen), space ranger, Universe Protection unit. Buzz believes he’s crash landed on a strange planet on the way to sector 12, and his ship (his box) is damaged. Woody welcomes Buzz to Andy’s room and tries to explain that Buzz has landed in Woody’s usual spot. The other toys climb up on the bed to meet Buzz and ask him about the buttons and gadgets on his space suit. They’re impressed with Buzz’s voice recordings — “a quality sound system” — not like Woody’s pull-string-activated voice, which “sounds like a car ran over it.” Buzz also has a laser (“a little light bulb that blinks,” grumbles Woody), and wings. Buzz takes exception to being called a toy, and when Woody says he can’t really fly, Buzz climbs the bedpost, shouts “to infinity and beyond!”, and dives. He bounces off a rubber ball, does a loop-de-loop on the racetrack, and gets stuck for a few rotations on the toy plane tethered to the ceiling before flipping down and landing neatly back on the bed. All the toys are dazzled except Woody, who says “that wasn’t flying, that was falling with style!”

In the montage that follows (soundtrack: Randy Newman’s “Strange Things Are Happening to Me”), Andy has Buzz shoot Woody, then puts on a cardboard replica of Buzz’s helmet and wings. A western-themed poster in Andy’s room is replaced by two Buzz Lightyear posters, and drawings of Woody on the bulletin board are covered with drawings of Buzz. The western-style bedspread disappears; the new one is emblazoned with Buzz’s image and his name. In the final indignity, Andy takes Buzz to bed and leaves Woody in the covered wagon toy chest.

Some alarming noises draw the toys to the open window, where they can see the neighbor kid, Sid (voice: Erik von Detten), who’s about to blow up a Combat Carl action figure. Sid’s dog Scud, a brown and white bull terrier, is tied up nearby and barking like crazy. Buzz thinks Sid, who’s laughing maniacally, is “a happy child;” the others explain that he tortures toys. Buzz wants to help the doomed toy soldier, but Sid lights the fuse and Andy’s toys duck as debris goes flying. When they look again, there’s no sign of Carl. “The sooner we move, the better,” says Bo Peep.

Andy’s mom suggests dinner at Pizza Planet (a space-themed restaurant) and tells Andy he can bring one toy. Doubting that Andy will choose him unless Buzz is unavailable, Woody plans to trap Buzz in a gap behind Andy’s desk. The plan backfires and Buzz falls out the window into the bushes below. The other toys accuse Woody of pushing Buzz out the window out of jealousy, but as they are about to punish him, Andy returns. Failing to find Buzz, he grabs Woody and the family drives off — but not before Buzz crawls out of his bush and climbs on the back of the minivan.

While Andy’s mother refuels the car at a Dinoco station, Woody wonders how he can convince the other toys that Buzz’s fall was an accident. Suddenly Buzz appears. Woody is delighted, though more for his own sake than Buzz’s (“I’m saved!”), but Buzz is very bitter over what Woody did to him. The two fight and roll out of the car, which drives off and leaves them stranded. Luckily, Woody sees another vehicle heading for Pizza Planet and knows that they can meet Andy there. He tricks Buzz into coming with him (but only because if he came home without Buzz, the other toys would attack him). Buzz insists on riding in the “cockpit” (the front seat) so he can wear a seatbelt; Woody climbs in the back and gets thrown about by the driver’s erratic maneuvers. They reach Pizza Planet and hide in discarded food packaging so they can sneak through the front door. Woody quickly spots the Davises, but Buzz climbs into a claw-crane machine shaped like a spaceship, thinking it’s the ship home Woody promised him. The machine is filled with three-eyed green aliens (voices: Debi Derryberry, Jeff Pidgeon) who believe the claw is a god. Woody climbs in to get Buzz out, but Woody and Buzz are captured by Sid, along with one of the little aliens.

Sid takes them back to his house and immediately gives the three-eyed alien to Scud, who starts chewing on it. Then Sid takes a doll away from his little sister Hannah (voice: Sarah Rayne) and runs upstairs to operate on her. (“No one’s ever attempted a double-bypass brain transplant before!”) Woody and Buzz, still in Sid’s backpack, look on in horror as Sid replaces the doll’s head with the head of a toy pterodactyl and gleefully gives it back to Hannah, who shrieks for her mother and runs away. Sid follows.

Woody tries to get out of Sid’s room, but the door’s locked. He’s frightened by Sid’s nightmarish mutant toys, which Sid has butchered and reconstructed a la Frankenstein. There’s an erector-set spider with a one-eyed baby head, a jack-in-the-box whose jack has been replaced by a green rubber hand, a fishing pole with legs, and other horrors. Buzz thinks they’re cannibals. Meanwhile, Andy’s toys are searching for Buzz from Andy’s window. They have to stop when the car pulls into the driveway. Andy can’t find Woody and many of the toys think he ran away, which they interpret as evidence of his guilt. But Bo Peep hopes he’s ok.

Next morning, Sid interrogates Woody about the location of a “rebel base.” When Woody remains silent, Sid uses a magnifying glass to concentrate the sunlight on a spot between Woody’s eyebrows, which starts to smoke. Woody is saved when Sid is called away to eat his Pop-tarts. Buzz compliments Woody for not succumbing to Sid’s torture. Woody notices that Sid has left the door open, but before he and Buzz get out, the mutant toys block the way. Buzz tries his laser on them and is puzzled when it doesn’t work. Woody pushes the button that activates Buzz’s karate-chop action and frog-marches him through the crowd of toys, which parts to let them through. Woody drops Buzz as soon as they reach the door and runs down the stairs saying “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” a la Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

On the landing, he finds Scud, scary even in his sleep. He backs up, then Buzz grabs him and leads him down the hall past the head of the stairs. But the ring on Woody’s pull-string catches on the wrought-iron stair railing, and he says (involuntarily) “Yee-haw! Giddyap, partner — we got to get this wagon train a-movin!” Of course the dog wakes up and comes to investigate. Buzz says “Split up!” and runs through an open door; Woody pulls another door closed behind him. Buzz sees someone asleep in a recliner and notices that the television is on. A voice is saying “Come in, Buzz Lightyear! This is Star Command!” At first Buzz thinks Star Command is really trying to reach him, and fiddles with the radio on his suit. But as the commercial enumerates his features and adds a disclaimer that Buzz is not a flying toy, Buzz begins to believe that he really is, as Woody keeps telling him, only a child’s plaything. He’s despondent. Then he spots an open window in the stairwell (apparently nobody in this neighborhood bothers with window screens) and tries to prove himself wrong by flying through it. He bounces off the stairs and lands in the hall, losing an arm in the process (soundtrack: Randy Newman’s “I Will Go Sailing No More”).

Hannah picks Buzz up and carries him off to her room, where Woody finds him playing the part of Mrs. Nesbitt at a tea party. (“What a lovely hat, Mrs. Nesbitt. It goes quite well with your head.”) Woody imitates Hannah’s mother’s voice to lure Hannah out of the room so he can rescue Buzz. Buzz is raving and depressed, but when he wails that he can’t even fly out the window, it gives Woody an idea. He opens the window in Sid’s room and calls over to Andy’s room, where Hamm is beating Mr. Potato Head at Battleship. Most of the toys seem glad to see him. He tosses a string of Christmas lights across and tells them to tie it to something, but Mr. Potato Head says “How ’bout we don’t?” and tries to convince the other toys that they should leave Woody where he is. Woody tells them Buzz is with him, but Buzz won’t come to the window where the toys in Andy’s room can see him, though he does throw Woody his detached arm. Woody uses the arm to make the toys think Buzz is standing next to him, but eventually slips up and they see that the arm isn’t attached to Buzz. They react pretty much the way people would react to a severed human arm, with horror and disgust. They let go of the string of lights, which falls to the ground. When Woody begs them to listen, they leave the window, except for Slink, who closes the blinds. Woody cries.

Down on the floor, Sid’s mutant toys have surrounded Buzz. When Woody tries to drive them off, the baby-headed spider comes at him and takes away Buzz’s arm. Woody can’t break through the group around Buzz, but he’s sure they’re killing him until the crowd of toys breaks up and reveals Buzz with his arm re-attached. “But they’re cannibals,” Woody says; “we saw them eat those other toys” … then he looks at Sid’s toys again, and notices that Hannah’s doll and the pterodactyl have their own heads back. Realizing hes misjudged them, he’s trying to apologize when they all disappear under the bed and Sid comes back.

Sid has a rocket. His first thought is to use it on Woody, but Woody’s hiding, so he picks up Buzz instead. “I’ve always wanted to put a space man into orbit,” he says malevolently. A rainstorm forces him to delay the rocket launch until morning.

Next door, it’s Andy’s bedtime and he’s mourning the loss of his two favorite toys. His mom comes in and says she’s looked everywhere, and all she can find is his hat, which she gives him. (This is the white-laced red cowboy hat that looks like the had worn by Jessie, a character we meet in the next movie.) Andy’s mom reassures him that they’ll find Woody and Buzz before they move out — tomorrow.

That night, Woody convinces Buzz that even if he’s not a space ranger, life as Andy’s toy is still worth living, though Woody himself despairs that he’ll ever be Andy’s favorite toy again. Buzz regains his spirit in time to see the moving truck pull up to Andy’s house. But before they can escape, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz (still strapped to the rocket) out into the back yard. He starts working on something ominous with a big empty water jug while doing newscaster-style narration of the preparations for the approaching rocket launch.

Woody pleads with the mutant toys to help him rescue Buzz and they hesitantly join him. (None of Sid’s toys talk.) Woody outlines a plan and assigns tasks to each toy. Ducky and Legs go into the heating ducts to avoid Scud, who saw Woody trying to follow Sid and is still growling outside the bedroom door. Ducky and Legs get outside by removing the light fixture on the front porch, then ring the doorbell. When he hears the doorbell, Woody releases a wind-up frog from Sid’s room; the frog scoots under Scud and zooms down the hall. Scud gives chase and follows the frog downstairs, where Hannah’s answering the door. The frog goes out, Ducky grabs it, and they’re both reeled up by Legs (who’s part fishing pole) before Scud catches up. Hannah, exasperated, shuts the door, leaving Scud outside. The porch light fixture drops back into place before anyone notices it’s gone.

As soon as Hannah’s out of the front hall, Woody and his cadre of toys come down the stairs, roll through the kitchen, and exit through the cat flap in the back door. They land in the bushes, where they have a good view of the launch site. Sid’s newscaster voice is asking his mission control voice if launch pad construction is complete; mission control says it is. Sid himself is out of sight, apparently rummaging around in the shed looking for matches. Ducky, Legs, and the wind-up frog pop out of a down-spout as Sid prepares to start the count-down.

The launch pad looks very strange. Buzz and his rocket are standing on a dart board on a milk crate. Nearby is an orange-striped traffic horse with a rake leaning on it and the empty water jug propped underneath. The jug is connected with vacuum-cleaner hose to a red funnel, which is aimed at Buzz’s feet.

Woody approaches Buzz, who’s happy to see him and asks for help getting loose. Woody says “Everything’s under control,” and falls to the ground in the manner of a toy expecting a human on the scene. Sure enough, Sid comes out of the shed using his mission control voice (“all systems are go, requesting permission to launch”) — and then notices Woody. He tosses Woody on the charcoal grill and says “You and I can have a cookout later.” He puts a match in Woody’s holster and turns back to his rocket launch, where he lights another match and starts counting down from 10. While he’s focused on this, toys are taking up positions all around the yard.

Before Sid can light Buzz’s fuse, Woody’s voice recordings start playing, one after another: “Reach for the sky! This town ain’t big enough for the two of us! Somebody’s poisoned the waterhole!” Sid is distracted and comes over to pick Woody up off the grill. His string hasn’t been pulled.

“It’s busted!” he says disgustedly.

“Who are you callin’ busted, buster?” says Woody. “That’s right, I’m talking to you, Sid Phillips. We don’t like being blown up, Sid.” Sid begins to look terrified. “… or smashed, or ripped apart,” continues Woody.

“W-we?” Sid stutters.

“That’s right!” replies Woody. “Your toys!” A rag doll climbs out of the sandbox and walks across the yard saying “ma-ma … ma-ma.” A large toy pickup truck emerges from a pile of sand while a couple of partially dismembered soldier action figures rise out of a puddle. They all advance on Sid, who backs away and jumps when the three-eyed alien from Pizza Planet pops out from under Scud’s red water bowl. Sid backs toward the clothes line and the baby-headed spider drops down on his head. He shrieks and shakes it off, but the toys have him surrounded now. Woody says, “You must take good care of your toys, because if you don’t, we’ll find out, Sid. We toys can see everything!” Woody’s head spins all the way around (think The Exorcist (1973)). “So play nice.”

Sid is panic-stricken. He screams, throws Woody in the air, and runs into the house, where he tells Hannah the toys are alive. When he sees the doll she’s carrying, he says “nice toy,” and backs away. She waves the doll at him. He screams again and runs upstairs crying; she chases him.

Outside, Woody and other toys are celebrating. “We did it!” As Buzz thanks Woody, they hear a honk from next door. Andy’s mom tells the kids to say goodbye to their old house and the minivan starts to move. Woody and Buzz rush over and Woody climbs on the back of the car, but Buzz, still burdened with the rocket, can’t get through the fence. He tells Woody he’ll catch up, but Woody comes back for him. They manage to get on the back of the moving van, but Scud runs after them and gets hold of Woody’s leg. Woody can’t hold on to the truck and tells Buzz to take care of Andy for him. Buzz, sacrificing himself to save Woody, jumps on Scud’s head, making him let go of Woody. Woody climbs back on the truck and pries open the cargo door as the truck comes to a stoplight. Woody pulls out RC, the remote controlled car, and sends him to get Buzz, who’s under a parked car where Scud can’t reach him.

The toys in the van think Woody is murdering another toy and try to stop him. This is a problem because Woody’s controlling RC. The angry toys pick up Woody and Rocky, the strong-man, spins him around, which causes RC to drive in circles around Scud (who’s still barking furiously). They throw Woody against a box; RC’s path straightens out. Hamm jumps on Woody. RC, with Buzz still precariously aboard, approaches a busy intersection. The traffic light is not in their favor. RC scoots under a moving car, but two other cars collide while trying to avoid Scud. The wrecked cars cut the dog off from his quarry and RC pulls away.

On the truck, Woody tries to tell the toys that Buzz is out there and they have to save him, but Mr. Potato Head isn’t buying it. “Toss him overboard,” he says, and they do — but Woody holds on to RC’s controller. RC sweeps Woody off his feet and Woody turns RC up to turbo so they can catch up to the moving truck.

Lenny (voice: Joe Ranft), the binoculars, notices RC and his passengers gaining on them and alerts the other toys. Bo Peep confirms that Buzz is there — “Woody was telling the truth!”

“What have we done?” wail the toys. Bo Peep tells Rocky to lower the truck’s cargo ramp. Slink stretches out and Woody is able to grab his paw just as RC’s batteries begin to lose strength.

In the Davises’ car, they’re listening to “Hakuna Matata.” Molly can see RC in the side mirror and laughs, but she can’t talk, so no one else notices. RC is swerving dangerously. Slink, stretched past his limit, loses his grip and RC coughs to a stop in the middle of the road as the moving van disappears in the distance. Then Buzz remembers he still has a rocket strapped to his back, and Woody remembers he still has the match Sid put in his holster. He strikes it and is about to light Buzz’s fuse when the wind of a passing car puts out the match. Despair. But when Woody’s hand starts to smoke, he realizes that Buzz’s helmet concentrates the sunlight just as Sid’s magnifying glass did. They use it to light the fuse. The rocket catches them up to the truck and lifts them off the ground. As they go by Woody drops RC, who lands in the truck. Buzz and Woody go straight up with the rocket. Buzz opens his wings, which apparently break the tape holding him to the rocket, and zooms downward. He’s still clutching Woody, who says “Buzz, you’re flying!”

“This isn’t flying, this is falling with style!” retorts Buzz, repeating Woody’s earlier line. They pass the truck again and fall through the minivan’s sunroof, landing neatly in the box next to Andy, who finds them and gleefully tells his mom. She assumes they’ve been in the car the whole time.

On Christmas Eve at the new house, Andy, Molly, and their mom are gathered around the Christmas tree. The army men are hiding in the tree with the baby monitor; the other toys are in Andy’s room gathered around the speaker. Bo Peep pulls Woody under some mistletoe (held by her sheep) and kisses him. Andy’s bed still sports a Buzz Lightyear bedspread, but one of the pillowcases and the comforter at the foot of the bed are western style. Drawings of Woody are again prominent on the bulletin board. There are two Buzz Lightyear posters, but also a cowboy poster. Balance and harmony reign.

All the toys seem happy and relaxed; instead of fretting that Andy might get another dinosaur, Rex hopes for a leaf-eater so he can play the dominant predator.

The first report comes in from Sarge: Molly’s first present is a Mrs. Potato Head, to Mr. Potato Head’s delight. He says he’d better shave and yanks off his mustache.

Woody, a bit lipstick-stained and woozy, joins Buzz on Andy’s bed. They’re still friends. Sarge announces that Andy’s opening his first present, but there’s a burst of static and Buzz whacks the speaker a few times. Woody asks Buzz if he’s worried and Buzz denies it, then says, “Are you?”

“Now Buzz,” Woody teases, “what could Andy possibly get that is worse than you?.”

In the town of Bunnyburrow, 9 year old bunny, Judy Hopps (Della Saba) is performing in a school play. Her theme explains that animals, once primitive and wild, have now evolved to where predators and prey can live side by side in harmony. The founding mammal city, Zootopia, is hailed as a place where anyone can be anything. Judy then announces that she wants to be a police officer. A kid fox in the audience, Gideon Grey (Phil Johnston), sneers at the idea and even Judy’s parents, Bonnie and Stu (Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake) tell her that there’s never been a bunny officer. However, Judy is willing to try against all odds. When Judy sees Gideon bullying some kids by taking their fair tickets she boldly confronts him, but Gideon responds by taunting Judy’s dreams and slashing her in the face. He leaves and, though she’s hurt, Judy shows her friends the tickets she got back and declares that she doesn’t know when to quit.

Years later Judy attends the Zootopia Police Academy. Judy is tiny compared to the other recruits and faces difficulties managing the obstacle courses run by the drill sergeant (Fuschia!). But through sheer determination, and by using her wits, Judy makes it to graduation as valedictorian. Zootopia Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons) oversees the ceremony and Assistant Mayor Bellwether (Jenny Slate), a sheep, formally congratulates Judy as the first bunny police officer, saying it’s a big day for all small animals. She is assigned to Precinct 1 in the heart of Zootopia, much to the apprehension of her parents.

A few days after, Judy, her parents, and many siblings head to the train station. Stu convinces Judy to take a can of fox repellent with her before she gets on the train to Zootopia. Judy listens to a hit by pop singer, Gazelle (Shakira), as she zooms through the diverse districts of the city, from the frozen tundra to the sultry rainforest. She finds her apartment, a run-down single room with a rickety bed, paper-thin walls, and two noisy neighbors, Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson (Byron Howard and Jared Bush). Despite this, she’s all to excited for her first day. She gets up bright and early and makes it to the police station where she is directed to role call by the pudgy desk sergeant, a cheetah named Benjamin Clawhauser (Nate Torrence). All the other officers (elephants, rhinos, hippos, and bears) tower over Judy. Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) calls them to order and explains their first priority is handling the case of fourteen missing animals; all predators. Bogo divides everyone into teams but assigns Judy to parking duty.

Judy is disappointed but sets her standards high and uses her sharp ears to help her write 200 tickets before noon. Around then, she notices a fox who appears to be up to something enter a local ice cream shop run by Jerry Jumbeaux Jr. (John DiMaggio). Though suspicious at first, Judy then sees the fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), is just trying to purchase a jumbo-pop for his son who is wearing an elephant costume. Jerry refuses service to the fox with sneering bigotry and this angers Judy who steps in and proposes a compromise; she’ll let the elephants off with a warning for the health code violation of serving ice cream without gloves on their trunks if Nick can have a jumbo-pop. When Nick confesses he doesn’t have his wallet, and apologizes to his son for the worst birthday, Judy goes further and pays for the treat. She tells Nick she can’t stand it when people are mistreated for being predators or prey and walks away with a spring in her step, happy to have helped someone in need.

Later that day, Judy is writing more tickets when she notices the little fox in his elephant suit. She approaches to say hello but then notices that he and Nick are melting the jumbo-pop from the roof of a building and letting the drippings collect in large jars. They drive away together, with the little fox at the wheel. Judy follows them into Tundratown and sees them making mini pops with the melted juice. They take them into the Savannah District and sell them to hamsters coming out of work. The hamsters chomp on the pops and leave the sticks in a recycling bin. The little fox collects the sticks and he and Nick take them to a construction zone in Little Rodentia where they’re sold as lumber. Later, Nick and his ‘son’, a full-grown fennec fox named Finnick (Tom Lister Jr.), part ways and Judy confronts Nick. Nick doesn’t deny that he’s a hustler but provides Judy with all the paperwork he needs to make his endeavors technically legal and humbles her by saying that the city is not a magical land where dreams come true and a meter maid can never be a real cop.

Judy returns to her apartment, sullen, and bears through an inadvertently insulting call from her parents who are thoughtlessly relieved to see she is not a “real cop” in their eyes and has instead the safest job on the force. The next day, Judy is writing more tickets and enduring unending verbal abuse from the citizenry for her duty when she is approached by a frantic pig (Josh Dallas) who tells her he’s just been robbed. Judy springs into action and chases the thieving weasel (Alan Tudyk) through the city square and into Little Rodentia. During the chase, in which Judy has to take considerable pains to avoid accidental harm to the tiny citizenry and their property, Duke kicks a plastic doughnut from a shop toward Judy and it nearly crushes a lady shrew, but Judy stops it in the nick of time and uses the doughnut to apprehend the weasel. Judy rolls him into the station but is called to Bogo’s office. He reprimands her for leaving her post and endangering the public to retrieve a bag of moldy onions. Judy objects, saying that the ‘onions’ are actually flower bulbs called Midnicampum holicithias and that she only wanted to serve as a real cop. However, Chief Bogo responds that she had her orders as a parking attendant and disobeyed them, making a political appointee like her intolerable to him.

Just then, an otter named Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer) barges in, begging Chief Bogo to find her husband, Emmitt, who has been missing for ten days. Bogo offers empty assurances until Judy steps up and promises to find him. Bogo escorts Mrs. Otterton out of the office before firing Judy for insubordination. However, when he opens the door again, he finds Mrs. Otterton speaking with Assistant Mayor Bellwether who promptly sends a notice to the mayor about Judy’s willingness to take the case and tells Judy to come to her for any assistance. Bogo reluctantly allows Judy to take the case but gives her a 48 hour ultimatum; she finds the otter or resigns. Judy agrees.

At the front desk, Clawhauser gives Judy the case file but there are no leads or witnesses and, since she’s new, she has no technological resources. However, Judy notices in the lone photograph they have that Emmitt is eating a familiar looking popsicle. She locates Nick on the streets and demands his help but he refuses. When she says his ten dollars’ worth of mini pops can wait, he claims to have made two hundred a day since he was twelve. Judy records Nick on her carrot pen recorder and puts his own words against his tax files which show he’s claimed zero income. Judy says she’ll report him for tax evasion, a federal offense, unless he helps her. Finnick, who was asleep in the stroller Nick was pushing, laughs at the reverse hustle and wishes Nick good luck working with the fuzz before walking off.

Nick takes Judy to Mystic Springs Oasis, the last place he saw Otterton going. They’re met by a yak named Yax (Tommy Chong), doing yoga behind a desk. He recognizes Mr. Otterton but says he hasn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. He then takes them into the oasis to find Emmitt’s yoga instructor, an elephant named Nangi (Gita Reddy), and Judy is shocked to find the oasis is a haven for naturalists; nude animals. Nangi has no memory of Otterton, but Yax unwittingly gives Judy all the information she needs, including the plate number for the car Otterton was picked up in the last time he was there. Nick says he has a friend at the DMV who can help them run the plate number. There, Judy is disheartened to see that the DMV is run solely by sloths. Nick’s friend, Flash (Raymond S. Persi) is able to run the plate number for them but, naturally, takes forever to do so. This isn’t helped when Nick, in an attempt to push Judy’s buttons, delays them with a joke. By the time they exit, it’s nighttime.

Judy finds out the car in question is a limo in Tundratown but, by the time she and Nick arrive, the lot’s closed. Without a warrant, Judy cannot get in. Defeated, she holds out her recording pen to Nick but flings it over the fence. Nick goes to retrieve it and Judy meets him on the other side, slyly saying that she doesn’t need a warrant if she has probable cause - and a shifty-looking fox climbing over the gate qualifies. They locate the limo and search it, finding polar bear fur, claw marks all over the back seat, and Otterton’s wallet. Then, Nick recognizes an insignia on a drinking glass and panics; he knows who’s car this is. When they open the car door to leave they’re confronted by a couple of polar bears who shove them into a car.

Squeezed in the back seat between two polar bears, Nick explains that the car belongs to a thug boss named Mr. Big with whom he’s not on good terms because Nick sold him an expensive rug made from the fur of a skunk’s butt. Nick and Judy are brought into a study where Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche), a shrew, is carried in by his polar bear guards. He berates Nick for tarnishing his trust and the hospitality of his grandmother who he recently buried in the skunk rug, and scolds him for returning on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Unafraid, Judy steps forward and tells Mr. Big that she knows Emmitt Otterton was with him last and will find out what happened to him if it’s the last thing she does. Unfazed, Mr. Big orders his bears to ‘ice’ Nick and Judy and they’re held over a trap door in the floor that reveals icy water. Mr. Big’s daughter, Fru Fru (Leah Latham), then walks in wearing her wedding dress and recognizes Judy as the bunny that saved her the previous day from being crushed by the doughnut. In gratitude, Mr. Big releases Judy and Nick and invites them to Fru Fru’s wedding reception where he explains that Otterton was his florist but, before meeting with him to discuss something important, went crazy in the limo he sent, attacked his driver, and disappeared. Mr. Big directs them to speak with the driver, Manchas (Jesse Corti), in the Rainforest District for more information.

Manchas, a melanistic jaguar, cracks open the door when Nick and Judy arrive, showing scratches all over his face and acting fearful. He tells them that Otterton kept talking about the ‘night howlers’ before he went wild and savagely attacked him. Nick says they’re there to talk about the night howlers too and Manchas agrees to let them in but, just after he unlocks the chain, Judy and Nick hear him groan followed by a thud. They push the door open to see Manchas on all fours, growling viciously at them. Nick and Judy run for their lives, pursued closely by Manchas. Judy manages to call for backup as she and Nick tumble and fall through the slick canopy. Finally, Judy is able to cuff Manchas to a light pole near a gondola station and throws herself and Nick off it into some vines away from the jaguar’s claws. They meet up with the responding police units and Judy explains to Chief Bogo that she believes Manchas, like Otterton, went ‘savage’. However, when she takes them back to the gondola station, Manchas is gone. Bogo, irritated and not believing Judy’s story demands her to hand over her badge for failing to complete her assignment, but Nick stands up for Judy. He says that Bogo gave them 48 hours, which means they have ten left to find Otterton. He takes Judy onto a gondola and they leave.

Over the rainforest, Nick explains that he was idealistic like Judy once. As a kid, he wanted nothing more than to join the Junior Ranger Scouts. His mother bought him a new uniform and he was excited to become part of the group, despite the fact that he was the only predator to join. Upon arriving, however, the other animals bullied and muzzled him, saying that he was stupid for thinking they’d trust a fox. After that day he decided he would never let anyone see that they had gotten to him and if people only thought of foxes as shifty and untrustworthy, then that’s what he would be. Judy consoles him but Nick deflects from her affections by looking at traffic below. He then realizes that there are traffic cameras all over the canopy and they can use them to find out where Manchas was taken.

Judy recalls that Assistant Mayor Bellwether offered to help them. They meet her at City Hall and she takes them to her office which is nothing more than a janitor’s closet. Despite her upbeat personality, it’s no secret that she’s woefully mistreated by the Mayor. She opens the database for the Rainforest District traffic cameras before being called away by Lionheart. Judy and Nick find the footage of Manchas and see that he was netted and hauled away by timber wolves. Judy realizes that the wolves must be the Night Howlers. They watch as the wolves’ van drives through a tunnel but fails to come out the other side. Nick says that there’s a maintenance tunnel and, if he were to do anything illegal, that’s the route he’d take to avoid observation. They relocate the van and go to where it was headed - an old building outside of town called Cliffside Asylum. Nick and Judy make it past the guards by inciting a group howl; something the wolves can’t resist. Inside, they find new equipment in an old hospital ward. Following claw marks on the floor, they find fifteen cells inhabited by various predators, all feral and savage, including Manchas and Mr. Otterton.

Judy realizes she’s just found all of the missing mammals but, just then, Mayor Lionheart enters with a badger doctor (Katie Lowes). Judy and Nick hide in an empty cell and Judy records Lionheart as he demands to know why predators are going savage. The doctor has no answer and says that they must come forward to Chief Bogo but the Mayor refuses, saying his reputation as a predator official is at stake. At that moment, Judy’s phone rings with a call from her parents. Lionheart is startled and the doctor orders security to investigate before locking off the wing. Nick and Judy escape by flushing themselves down a toilet just before the guards arrive and they manage to get the evidence Judy recorded back to Bogo.

The ZPD arrive at the asylum and place everyone, including the Mayor, under arrest. Lionheart protests that they still don’t know why predators are going savage and he was trying to protect the public. Later, Chief Bogo, deeply impressed at Hopp’s achievement, holds a press conference where Judy gives Nick her pen recorder and offers him the chance to sign up as her partner. Nick is flattered and watches as Judy is called to the stand to answer some questions. Judy starts simple, mentioning that all the savage mammals are predators, but when pressed as to why, she speculates that it could be something to do with their DNA. As predators, the inflicted may have reverted back to their primal origins. The reporters go into a frenzy before Bellwether shuts down the conference. Judy is relieved to be off the podium but Nick is angered by what she said. Judy says she was just stating facts but Nick asks her if a fox such as himself should indeed be trusted. When he raises his arms, asking if Judy is afraid of him, she instinctively puts her hand on her fox repellent. He hands her back the application, telling her that it’s best she doesn’t have a predator for a partner, before leaving.

A wedge is driven between the predator and prey populations, with prey acting fearful against all predators. Gazelle hosts a peaceful protest against discrimination, despite backlash, and savage attacks continue in the city as more predators go primal. Judy feels responsible for the ensuing tensions between the animals and goes to see Mrs. Otterton where she’s watching Emmitt meander mindlessly in his hospital room. At the police station, Judy is summoned by Bogo to see the new mayor, Bellwether. Bellwether explains that with the population in Zootopia being 90% prey, she wants Judy as the face of the ZPD to inspire hope. But Judy claims that she’s no hero and says she’s done the opposite of what she wanted; to make the world a better place. She says a good cop should help the city, not tear it apart, and hands over her badge before leaving.

Judy returns to Bunnyburrow where she manages her parent’s vegetable stand. She wonders aloud to them how she ever thought she could make a difference but they console her as a pie truck pulls up. As the driver, a grown Gideon Grey, gets out, Judy’s parents explain that they’ve partnered up with him and never would have done so had Judy not opened their eyes. Gideon apologizes to Judy for what he did when he was younger, stating that his own insecurities manifested into unchecked rage, but Judy forgives him and says she knows a thing or two about being a jerk. Just then, some bunny children run through the field behind them and Judy’s father warns them to stay away from the growing Midnicampum holicithias near the edge. Gideon laughs and says his family just called them night howlers. Judy perks up at this and her father explains that the flowers keep away pests but are toxic. His brother Terry ate one and went into a rage, biting Judy’s mother. Judy realizes that the night howlers weren’t the wolves - they were flowers. Not only that, but they make animals go savage.

She grabs the keys to the truck and races back to Zootopia. She finds Finnick and he points her to Nick, sitting in the sun beside a small bridge. Judy runs up to him and reveals the truth about the night howlers but he walks away. Desperate, Judy apologizes to him and says she needs his help. She begins to cry and admits that she was a jerk to him and really is a dumb bunny as he once said. Nick doesn’t seem to react until he replays a recording of her repentance and holds up her pen recorder enabling that and smiles, saying he’ll erase it after 48 hours, before embracing a profoundly relieved Judy. They climb into the truck and Nick helps himself to some of Judy’s blueberries while she shows him a picture of the weasel thief she caught stealing the Midnicampum holicithias; Duke Weaselton. They find him on a street corner selling bootleg DVDs such as ‘Wrangled’, ‘Pig Hero 6’, and ‘Meowana’. Judy confronts him and demands to know what he was doing with the night howler flower bulbs, but he says he won’t talk. Judy and Nick smile slyly and take the weasel to Mr. Big. Duke is incredulous as to why Mr. Big would help a cop, but Mr. Big smiles and says Judy is the godmother of his future grandchild. A very pregnant Fru Fru says she’s going to name her daughter after Judy. On threat of being iced, Duke relents and confesses he sold bulbs to a ram named Doug who works out of an abandoned rail station.

Nick and Judy follow the directions to a rusty subway car underground. They sneak inside and find Doug (Rich Moore) in a yellow jumpsuit preparing the blue flowers and harvesting them chemically to produce a serum which he puts into fragile pellets. He loads a pellet into a gun as his phone rings, telling him his next mark is a cheetah in Sahara Square. He assures the caller he can make the hit since he was able to get an otter in a moving car. He places the gun in a briefcase and goes to answer a knock at the back of the car, saying that Woolter and Jesse have come back with coffee. Judy takes the opportunity to knock Doug out of the car and locks the door before ordering Nick to get the car moving. With some finagling, they’re able to start it and the car moves down the track, slowly gaining speed. Judy is intent on bringing the evidence to police headquarters but two rams jump onto the moving car. They manage to knock Jesse off the car inside the tunnel, grazing him as he hugs the wall and shaving his belly pink. Woolter head-butts his way into the front of the car as they make their way outside but they soon face another oncoming train. Judy tells Nick to speed up and kicks Woolter into a switch lever just in time, but they are traveling too fast around the next curve and the car derails into the next empty station. Judy and Nick jump from the car as the friction causes it to go up in flames and watch from the platform as it explodes. Judy thinks all the evidence is destroyed but Nick holds up the briefcase with the gun inside.

They run upstairs out of the station and into the Natural History Museum, empty due to renovations. As they near the exit toward the police station they are called from behind by Mayor Bellwether, accompanied by two rams in police uniform. Bellwether thanks Judy for discovering the perpetrators behind the predator conspiracy and reaches for the briefcase but Judy wonders aloud how she knew where to find them. They edge toward the exit but are blocked by a disheveled Woolter. Realizing Bellwether was behind the plot all along, Judy and Nick run and attempt to hide down a corridor. Along the way Judy runs into a protruding mammoth tusk and cuts her leg. Nick pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket, blueberries spilling everywhere, and bandages Judy’s leg but she tells him to leave her since she can’t walk. They try to think of something as they are surrounded by the sheep.

Bellwether calls out to Judy, saying that in the city prey outnumber predators 10 to 1. They need to band together to end their mistreatment against the more powerful and loud predators and, once united, will be unstoppable. Judy and Nick run for it but are knocked into a sunken diorama and Nick drops the briefcase. Bellwether retrieves it and looks down on Nick and Judy before taking aim with the gun and shooting Nick. The blue solution covers his neck and he trembles while Bellwether calls the police and feigns alarm, saying Officer Judy is down and being attacked by a savage fox. Judy tells Bellwether her plan won’t work as Nick advances on her, growling. Bellwether says that fear always works and, with a predisposition to savagery, predators will be forced out of Zootopia and she’ll dart every one to keep it that way.

Nick then lunges at Judy and puts his jaws around her neck, but just as quickly releases her as Judy puts on a dramatic performance. Nick and Judy then reveal they switched out the serum in the gun with blueberries and have recorded everything Bellwether said on Judy’s pen recorder. Horrified, Bellwether backs up to flee only to be stopped and arrested by the responding ZPD.

On the news, an anchor reads that Bellwether was charged for masterminding the savage predator conspiracy. Former Mayor Lionheart gives an interview where he says he didn’t know about Bellwether’s plot and only caged the savage predators to protect the city, citing he did a wrong thing for the right reasons. It is announced that an antidote has been created with positive effects. Judy goes to the hospital where she sees Emmitt Otterton recovering and embracing his concerned wife.

Months later, Judy, a police officer again and much wizened by her experience, addresses the new police academy graduates, one of them being Nick Wilde. She says, “When I was a kid, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything. Turns out, real life’s a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes, which means…hey, glass half full! We all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. No matter what type of animal you are, from the biggest elephant to our first fox, I implore you: Try. Try to make a difference. Try to make the world a better place. Try to look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us.”

A Scottish man (voiced by Mike Myers) reads a fairy tale from a book:

“Once upon a time there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort which could only be broken by love’s first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon’s keep in the highest room of the tallest tower for her true love and true love’s first kiss.”

(laughing) A green hand rips the page out of the book. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.” Cut to an outhouse exterior. The toilet flushes. “What a load of…” The door slams open, revealing the man, a green ogre. He sees his house, built into the bottom of a large tree stump, and breathes a happy sigh. He lives a normal life (for an ogre). He undresses and takes a (mud) shower outside. He brushes his teeth (using a caterpillar’s guts as toothpaste). He smiles into the mirror (but it cracks as in “The Munsters”). He jumps into a pond (and farts). Some dead fish float up, and he grabs one. After he gets dressed, he gets a giant slug out of a hollow log (for his dinner). Finally, he paints a “BEWARE. OGRE” sign and posts it.

Men burst out of a tavern in the town and plan to capture the ogre for a reward. They grab pitchforks and torches and head for his place. The ogre is eating a bowl of eyeballs. He burps to light his fireplace, swallows the fish, and then relaxes in his easy chair. The men finally arrive at the ogre’s house at night. The ogre hears them, and sneaks up behind them. He frightens them by telling them what he could do to them, then he roars and they all flee in fear. The ogre sees a poster on the ground and picks it up: “WANTED. FAIRY TALE CREATURES. REWARD”. He tosses it back on the ground and walks away.

In the forest, various fairy tale creatures are being loaded into wagons for the rewards: The Seven Dwarfs, a witch, an elf, Pinocchio, The Three Bears, Tinker Bell, etc. A talking donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is next in line after Pinocchio (voiced by Cody Cameron). The Captain of the Guards (voiced by Jim Cummings) gives Gepetto (voiced by Chris Miller) five shillings for the “possessed toy”. The donkey’s owner (voiced by Kathleen Freeman) can’t get him to talk when asked by the knights, so they drag her away. As she struggles with the knights, she kicks the lantern holding Tinker Bell, and it flies into the air, landing on the donkey and spilling pixie dust on him. He floats into the air. The donkey talks now as he floats away, saying, “You might have seen a house fly, maybe even a super fly, but I bet you aint never seen a donkey fly!” (copying the crows in “Dumbo”). Peter Pan (voiced by Michael Galasso) and the Three Little Pigs (voiced by Cody Cameron) are surprised that he can fly, but the Captain of the Guards is more surprised that he can talk. The pixie dust wears off, and the donkey falls to the ground. The knights try to seize him, but he runs into the forest.

The donkey bumps into the back of the ogre, who was posting a “KEEP OUT” poster on a tree. When the knights approach, the donkey hides behind the ogre. The Captain of the Guards announces that Lord Farquaad authorized him to arrest them and transport them to a designated resettlement facility. The ogre says, “Oh, really. You and what army?” The Captain looks back and sees that the other knights have run away, so he too runs away, yelling in fear. As the ogre walks away the donkey follows him and compliments him on how great he was with the guards. The donkey says that he doesn’t have any friends and asks to stay with the ogre, who then tries to scare him away. The donkey just gives him a compliment on how scary that was and sings. The ogre tells the donkey that he is an ogre, but the donkey doesn’t care. The donkey asks for the ogre’s name, and he replies, “Shrek.” Shrek lets the donkey stay at his house for one night (outside).

As Shrek eats his dinner, he hears a noise and shouts at the donkey to stay outside. He looks back at his table and sees the Three Blind Mice (voiced by Christopher Knights and Simon J. Smith). When he grabs the mice, The Seven Dwarfs push the case with Snow White onto the table. They tell Shrek it’s because the bed’s taken, and Shrek sees that The Big Bad Wolf is in it. He grabs the wolf and tosses him out, but sees hundreds of fairy tale creatures camped outside his house. Pinocchio and one of the pigs tell Shrek that Lord Farquaad evicted them and put them there. The donkey tells Shrek that he knows where Lord Farquaad is, so Shrek announces that their welcome is worn out, that he will see Farquaad right now so that he can get them all off his swamp and back where they all came from. They all cheer. Shrek tells the donkey that he is coming with him. The donkey is happy and says, “Shrek and Donkey, on a whirlwind big city adventure.” Donkey then starts singing “On The Road Again”, but Shrek makes him hum it instead.

In a castle, the town’s lord walks down a hallway. When he reaches the guards at the end, it’s obvious that he is a dwarf. He enters the torture chamber where the executioner, Thelonius (voiced by Christopher Knights), is drowning The Gingerbread Man (voiced by Conrad Vernon) in a glass of milk. The lord (voiced by John Lithgow) torments The Gingerbread Man, and then crumbles one of his severed legs. He tells The Gingerbread Man that he and all the other fairy tale trash are monsters that are poisoning his perfect world. He demands that The Gingerbread Man tell him where the others are and starts to tear off one of his gumdrop buttons. The Gingerbread Man then rambles on about The Muffin Man, but they are interrupted by knights who bring in The Evil Queen’s Magic Mirror. The lord knocks The Gingerbread Man into a trash can then asks, “Mirror mirror on the wall, is this not the most perfect kingdom of them all?” The Magic Mirror (voiced by Chris Miller) replies that he is not technically a king yet, but can become one by marrying a princess. The Magic Mirror then presents the eligible bachelorettes, “Dating Game” style: Cinderella, Snow White, and Princess Fiona (in the castle guarded by a dragon). Upon prompting by Thelonius, Lord Farquaad picks Princess Fiona. The Magic Mirror then displays Princess Fiona while playing “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”. Lord Farquaad says that she’s perfect, and that finally he will be the perfect king. The Magic Mirror tries to tell him what happens at night after sunset, but he tells the mirror to be quiet. Lord Farquaad then announces that they are going to have a tournament.

Shrek and Donkey reach the castle at Duloc. The parking lot is arranged like the one at Disneyland. Shrek remarks that it must be Lord Farquaad’s castle. It’s extremely tall, and Shrek jokes that he could be compensating for something. As they approach the roped lines for the ticket booth, Shrek tries to talk to Duloc’s costumed mascot (voiced by Andrew Adamson), which looks like Lord Farquaad, but he runs away in fear through the lines. Shrek walks straight through the ropes, dragging them along as Donkey follows, and tries to calm the mascot down. The mascot gets knocked out when he runs into the turnstile. Shrek and Donkey go through the turnstile. Elevator music plays in the otherwise quiet and deserted courtyard. The souvenir shop only has Lord Farquaad items. Donkey sees an information booth and pulls the lever. There is some clicking, and then the doors open, revealing music and wooden puppets (like in “It’s a Small World”) that sing the rules for Duloc, “a perfect place”. The doors shut and a camera takes Shrek and Donkey’s picture, then their photo comes out, showing them stunned.

Shrek and Donkey hear fanfare and go in that direction. Lord Farquaad is high upon a balcony announcing that the tournament winner (champion) will have the privilege to go rescue Princess Fiona. Shrek and Donkey march past the contestants (knights), then Farquaad instead tells the knights that the one who kills the ogre will be named champion. Shrek bursts open a wine barrel to slip up some knights, then slides through the brew, swinging at them with one of their axes like a hockey player. Donkey climbs onto the other barrel and rolls over some more knights. When more knights arrive, Shrek jumps into a corral and fights them like a professional wrestler. After a while, the crowd cheers for Shrek. Donkey joins in, “tag team” style, knocking out another knight. After Shrek sits on another knight, a woman (voiced by Jacquie Barnbrook) shouts for Shrek to give “give him the chair”, so he whacks him over the head with a chair. After Shrek throws the last knight, Donkey kicks him, knocking him out. Shrek hams it up for the crowd. Lord Farquaad signals to the knights with crossbows, but instead of giving the order to kill Shrek, he proclaims that Shrek is the champion. Farquaad tells Shrek that he won the honor to go on the quest. Shrek replies that he is already on a quest to get his swamp back, where Farquaad dumped the fairy tale creatures. Farquaad offers a deal to Shrek that if he goes on this quest, Farquaad will give him his swamp back, with the squatters gone, so Shrek agrees.

On the way to rescue Princess Fiona, Shrek and Donkey pass through various vegetable fields. As Shrek munches on some vegetables, Donkey asks Shrek why he’s going to fight a dragon and rescue a princess to get his swamp back, which Farquaad filled with “freaks”. He tells Shrek that he should act like an ogre, and lay siege to his fortress and grind his bones. Shrek sarcastically suggests that instead he could have decapitated some villagers and drank their fluids. Shrek tells Donkey that there’s a lot more to ogres than people think, that they are like onions and have layers.

Shrek and Donkey pass a run-down windmill. After two days, they finally reach the castle where Princess Fiona is held, up on a mountain. Dried lava and brimstone are everywhere. Donkey thinks the smell is from Shrek, but Shrek tells Donkey that if it were him, Donkey would be dead. They reach a footbridge over a river of lava leading to the castle. Donkey is afraid to cross, but Shrek backs him up, tricking him to cross.

Inside the castle, Shrek tells Donkey to look for stairs so they can reach Princess Fiona. Shrek puts on some armor of a dead knight. Suddenly, the dragon breathes fire and chases after Donkey. Shrek grabs the dragon’s tail, but it shakes him off, sending him flying into Princess Fiona’s room and waking her up. Meanwhile, the dragon has Donkey trapped. Donkey complements it on its white teeth, notices that it’s a girl dragon, and gives it more appropriate compliments. The dragon picks him up with her teeth and walks happily away. While Shrek recovers, Princess Fiona lies back down on the bed and pretends to sleep. Shrek approaches her but instead of kissing her, he shakes her forcefully and shouts for her to wake up. Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) wants romance, but Shrek keeps his helmet on and drags her down the stairs. Down below, the dragon is cuddling and romancing Donkey. Shrek grabs a hanging chain and swings towards the dragon, but the chain is stuck up above. He shakes it loose, and he falls, knocking Donkey away as the dragon is about to kiss him. The dragon kisses Shrek’s naked butt. The chain’s frame falls around the dragon’s neck like a collar. Shrek and Donkey run away, then Shrek grabs Donkey and Fiona as the dragon chases them, repeatedly breathing fire. They crisscross the castle and the chain tangles around all the pillars. Shrek locks the chain into the floor with a sword. As they run across the bridge the dragon burns half of it up, but they make it safely across. The dragon tries to fly after them, but the chain holds it back.

Safely on the other side, Fiona demands that Shrek remove his helmet and kiss her. He removes his helmet, and she is shocked and disappointed that he is an ogre. Shrek tells her that Lord Farquaad sent him, that he’s the one who wants to marry her. Princess Fiona tells him in that case that Lord Farquaad should rescue her and she refuses to leave. Shrek picks her up then they head back to Duloc. When Shrek finally sets Fiona down she asks Shrek and Donkey what Duloc and Lord Farquaad are like. Shrek and Donkey start making short jokes about him. She says that they are just jealous of him. When she hears that they will get to Duloc the next day, Fiona gets upset and insists that they make camp immediately. They find a rock cliff, and Princess Fiona sleeps alone in a small enclosure on it. Shrek tells Donkey stories about the stars, and then says that things are more than they appear. Donkey wonders what they will do when they get back to their swamp, but Shrek tells him that it’s his swamp, and he is going to build a ten-foot wall around his land. Donkey thinks that Shrek is trying to keep people out, then Shrek shouts at Donkey that he’s trying to keep everyone out. Fiona wakes up and slides the door open, then overhears Shrek telling Donkey how people judge him before they even know him, and that’s why he’s better off alone. Fiona closes the door then Donkey and Shrek talk about the stars again.

At his castle, Lord Farquaad is in bed with a drink and repeatedly makes the Magic Mirror show him the picture of Princess Fiona. He says that she’s perfect.

The next morning, Princess Fiona sings with a bird, but it explodes when she hits a high note. She cooks the bird’s eggs for breakfast. Fiona tells Shrek and Donkey that she is making it up to them because they got off to a bad start yesterday; after all, they rescued her. As they walk towards Duloc, Shrek burps then Fiona burps too. Suddenly a man (voiced by Vincent Cassel) swinging from a vine grabs Fiona. He calls out for his Merry Men. They all appear, dancing and singing about him, Robin Hood. As he brandishes a knife, Robin Hood finishes the song by saying he will cut out Shrek’s heart, but Fiona swings down and knocks him into a boulder. She defeats the Merry Men with Kung Fu mixed with “The Matrix”. Shrek and Donkey are amazed. Shrek asks Fiona where she learned that, and she replies that when one lives alone one has to learn these things. She sees that there’s an arrow in Shrek’s butt. Donkey starts panicking, so Fiona sends him off looking for a blue flower with red thorns. When Fiona tries to pull out the arrow from Shrek’s butt, he squirms, falls to the ground, and Fiona lands on him – just as Donkey returns with the flower. Donkey gets mad because he thinks they just wanted to be alone. When Fiona pulls out the arrow, Donkey sees the blood and faints. Shrek picks him up, and they head back to Duloc.

In a field, Princess Fiona grabs a spider’s web and gathers up the flying bugs bothering Shrek, giving it to him, who eats it like cotton candy. Shrek catches a frog and inflates it like a balloon, handing it to Fiona. Fiona grabs a snake off a tree branch and inflates it like a balloon, and gives it to Shrek. They push each other playfully, then run off together, and their balloons float away into the air.

They finally reach the windmill and see Duloc in the distance. Shrek shrugs and tells Princess Fiona that her future awaits her, and she’s surprised to see Duloc. Donkey interrupts, and tells Fiona that Shrek thinks Lord Farquaad is compensating for something. Donkey starts to say that it means Farquaad “has a really…” Shrek knocks him down, a little too hard, and then tells Fiona that they should move on and starts walking. Fiona tells Shrek that she’s worried about Donkey, that he doesn’t look so good. Shrek comes over and plays along with her pretense, and says that he looks awful. Fiona tells Donkey that she’ll make him some tea. Donkey then acts like a hypochondriac. Shrek and Fiona go to find dinner and firewood. Fiona likes the food Shrek cooked (weed rat), saying that it’s delicious. She sighs, then looks at Duloc and says that she’ll be eating differently tomorrow night. He hopes that she will visit him in the swamp, because he’ll cook for her. She says that she would like that, and then they smile and look at each other. Shrek begins to ask Fiona something important, but changes his mind and asks for the rest of her food. They lean towards each other, about to kiss. Donkey butts in, saying that the sunset is romantic. Fiona jumps up, panicking. She pretends to be afraid of the dark, and Donkey tells her that he is afraid of the dark too. Fiona goes into the windmill to sleep by herself, glancing back briefly at Shrek. Donkey tells Shrek that he can tell with his animal instincts that Shrek and Fiona “were digging on each other,” and says that Shrek should tell Fiona how he feels about her. Shrek tries to deny that he likes her, and then dejectedly says that Fiona is a princess and he is an ogre. He walks off and tells Donkey that he’s getting more firewood, but Donkey sees that there’s still a large pile of firewood there. Shrek sits alone by a field of sunflowers, staring at Duloc until night.

Donkey, afraid to be alone by himself in the dark, goes inside the windmill looking for Princess Fiona. A large green hand grabs the ladder, and then a female ogre looks down on Donkey as he wanders around. All the sights and sounds frighten Donkey. The ogre falls through the wood and screams as she lands on the floor, frightening Donkey even more. He’s terrified when she stands up, and he screams for Shrek. Donkey asks her what she did with the princess. She tries to calm and quiet him down, saying that it’s her, in this body. He thinks that she ate the princess and shouts at her stomach, then calls for Shrek again. She finally calms him down and convinces him that she is the princess. He wonders what happened to her, telling her that she’s… different. She admits that she’s ugly. Donkey thinks it’s because she ate the weed rat, but she tells him that she’s been this way as long as she can remember. She says that it only happens when the sun goes down. She looks at her reflection in a barrel of water and recites a spell: “By night one way, by day another. This shall be the norm until you find love’s first kiss and then take love’s true form.” She tells Donkey that when she was a little girl a witch cast a spell on her; every night she becomes “this, this horrible, ugly beast”; she was placed in a tower to await the day her true love would rescue her. Fiona sits down and tells Donkey that it’s why she has to marry Farquaad tomorrow before the suns sets and he sees her like this. She cries, and then Donkey tries to console her. He says that she’s ugly, but adds that she only looks like this at night, and that Shrek is ugly all the time. She replies that she’s a princess, and it’s not how a princess should look. Donkey suggests that she shouldn’t marry Farquaad. She insists that she has to, because only her true love’s first kiss can break the spell. Donkey tells her that she’s an ogre, and Shrek’s an ogre, and that they have a lot in common.

Shrek walks back to the windmill, holding a sunflower. He’s rehearsing what he will say to Princess Fiona when he gives it to her. When he climbs the steps of the windmill, he overhears Fiona telling Donkey that she just can’t marry whomever she wants, and to take a good look at her. She asks Donkey, “Who could ever love a beast so hideous and ugly? Princess and ugly don’t go together. That’s why I can’t stay here with Shrek. My only chance to live happily ever after is to marry my true love.” She tells Donkey that it’s just how it should be. Shrek becomes disheartened because he thinks Fiona was calling him ugly, and then throws the sunflower down and storms off towards Duloc. Fiona tells Donkey that it’s the only way to break the spell. He tells her that she has to tell Shrek the truth and starts to leave, but she says that no one must ever know and makes Donkey promise not to tell anyone. Donkey says that she should tell Shrek, then goes outside. Fiona opens the door and looks around, but only sees the sunflower and takes it inside. Donkey looks around then sleeps by the campfire.

In the morning, Princess Fiona picks off the petals of the sunflower, reciting the “He loves me, he loves me not” game, but instead saying, “I tell him, I tell him not.” She pulls off the last petal, excited that she should tell Shrek about her spell. She opens the door and calls for him, but only sees Donkey outside snoring. The sun rises and she transforms back to human form. Shrek walks up and she rushes to greet him, but he angrily walks past her and sits on the steps. She says that she has to tell him something, but he replies that he heard everything she said last night. She says that she thought he would understand. He says he understands, quoting her asking, “Who could ever love a hideous, ugly beast?” She says that she thought it wouldn’t matter to him, but he says that it does. A horse whinnies and they turn around. Fanfare announces Lord Farquaad’s arrival as he rides towards them, accompanied by some knights, then Donkey wakes up. Farquaad greets Princess Fiona, and then Shrek demands that Farquaad give him the deed to his swamp, as promised. Farquaad tells Shrek that the swamp is cleared out as agreed, then tells him to take the deed and go before he changes his mind. Shrek grabs the deed and stands aside. Farquaad calls Fiona beautiful. She tells him that she was just saying a short farewell, just as a knight sets him on the ground. Farquaad says that it’s sweet, that she doesn’t have to waste good manners on the ogre; it doesn’t have feelings. Fiona agrees that “it” doesn’t. Farquaad grabs her hand and proposes to her. She looks at Shrek, who is staring at his deed, then accepts. Farquaad jumps up happily and tells her that he’ll make plans for them to marry tomorrow. She stops him and says that they should get married today, before the sun sets. Shrek angrily walks back to his swamp. Farquaad agrees that they should get married today, and talks about all the things to prepare. They both get on the horse and head to Duloc, and then Fiona tells Shrek “fare-thee-well.” Donkey tries to stop Shrek and says that there’s something he doesn’t know about Fiona. Shrek shouts at Donkey that he heard what they said last. He tells Donkey that since he and Fiona are great friends, Donkey should follow her home. Donkey replies that he wants to go with Shrek. Shrek continues shouting at Donkey that he lives alone in his swamp, not with anyone else, “especially useless, pathetic, annoying, talking donkeys!” Shrek storms off to his swamp.

(“Hallelujah” by John Cale plays in the background.) At his swamp, Shrek sees that the fairy tale creatures are gone; only their tents remain, along with some debris. He sighs heavily and walks back to his house. Donkey walks through the forest, sadly glancing back. Shrek sees his reflection in a puddle of water, and then sadly lowers his head. Princess Fiona, in her wedding gown, looks sadly out the window. Shrek looks sadly out his window, then angrily takes a sunflower off the table and throws it into the fireplace. Fiona sadly looks at herself again in the mirror. Farquaad looks at himself in the Magic Mirror, which smiles only when he’s looking at it. Fiona looks at the wedding cake and pushes the figurine of Farquaad down to its proper height. She turns around and quizzically looks at the suit of armor. At the same spot, in his house, Shrek leans sadly against the table and stares at the fireplace. Donkey drinks from a pond by the forest, then is startled when he hears and sees the dragon crying; they console each other. Shrek is alone, and tries to eat at his table; Fiona is alone, and tries to eat at her table; they both put their faces in their hands.

Shrek hears a thumping sound outside and opens the door to see Donkey putting branches on the ground. Donkey tells him that it’s a wall. Shrek tells him that a wall should go around his swamp. Donkey replies that it does go around his half of the swamp, and that Donkey gets the other half. Donkey tells Shrek that he earned half of the swamp because he did half of the work rescuing the princess. They argue over ownership of the swamp. Shrek gives up and walks away, saying that he’s done with Donkey, then Donkey chases after him. Donkey says that Shrek just thinks about himself; he’s mean to Donkey, insults him, doesn’t appreciate him, and pushes him around or away. Shrek asks Donkey that if he treated him so bad, why did he come back? Donkey replies that it’s what friends do: they forgive each other. Shrek agrees, and then he shouts that he forgives Donkey for stabbing him in the back. Shrek goes into the outhouse and slams the door. Donkey tells Shrek that he’s so wrapped up like onion layers in his feelings. Shrek tells Donkey to go away, but he tells Shrek that he’s “doing it again,” like he did to Fiona; all she ever did was love him. Shrek replies that he heard their conversation, that she called him ugly, a hideous creature. Donkey tells him that she wasn’t talking about him, but was talking about somebody else. Shrek comes out and asks who she was talking about. Donkey refuses to tell him because Shrek doesn’t listen to him. Shrek apologizes, and admits that he is just a big, stupid, ugly ogre. Donkey forgives him because that’s what friends are for. Shrek wonders what Fiona said about him, but Donkey tells him to ask her. Shrek cries out that they won’t make the wedding in time. Donkey whistles and the dragon flies down. Shrek climbs the chain up then the dragon puts Donkey up too. They fly away to Duloc.

At the castle, the bishop (voiced by Val Bettin) is marrying Princess Fiona and Lord Farquaad. Thelonius holds the rings. Two men hold up cue cards for the audience’s appropriate response. Fiona interrupts and asks the bishop to skip to the “I do’s”. Farquaad chuckles and tells the bishop to continue. The dragon lands outside, and then the knights run away fearfully. Shrek goes to the door of the church, but Donkey tells him to wait until the preacher says, “Speak now or forever hold your peace”, then for Shrek to say, “I object!” Shrek says that he doesn’t have time for this, but Donkey replies that chicks like romance. They go to the side of the church and Shrek repeatedly throws Donkey up to look through a window. Donkey tells Shrek that they are already married. Shrek bursts into the church just before Farquaad and Fiona kiss, shouting that he objects. Fiona and Farquaad are annoyed to see him. Shrek wants to talk to Fiona, but she says that it’s too late and tries to kiss Farquaad. Shrek grabs her hand and tells her that Farquaad only wants to marry her so that he can be king, then tells her that Farquaad is not her true love. Fiona asks him what he knows about true love. Shrek stammers, and Farquaad laughs because Shrek loves the princess. Farquaad cues the laughter. Fiona asks Shrek if it’s true, but Farquaad grabs her hand and insists that she kiss him now. Fiona looks at the setting sun and recalls her spell. She walks to the window and tells Shrek that she wanted to show this to him before. She transforms into an ogre, and then grins sheepishly at Shrek. As for Shrek, he can only casually note that her state explains a lot about her recent behaviour.

The audience is shocked. Farquaad sees Fiona and says that “it” is disgusting and orders his guards to get “it” out of his sight, to get them both. As Shrek and Fiona try to reach each other, Farquaad declares that the marriage is still binding, that he is still king, and puts on the crown. As guards drag Shrek away, Farquaad tells that he’ll beg for death. He then tells Fiona that he’ll lock her back in that tower for the rest of her life. Shrek frees one of his hands and whistles. The dragon bursts through the large stained glass window with Donkey on top and swallows Farquaad, killing him, then burps out his crown. Shrek tells Fiona that he loves her, and she tells him that he loves him too. They kiss, and then Fiona begins her transformation as her voice-over recounts the rest of the spell. She rises up into the air, glowing. Bright light radiates from her, then a shock wave from her shatters all the windows in the church except one (which the dragon later breaks). Fiona completes her transformation, and then returns to the floor and collapses. Shrek helps Fiona up. She’s still an ogre, and tells Shrek that she doesn’t understand, that she’s supposed to be beautiful. Shrek tells her that she is beautiful, and they kiss again.

At the swamp, Shrek and Fiona get married, with Donkey and all the fairy tale creatures as guests. The wedding song is “I’m a Believer”, by Smash Mouth. One of the fairy godmothers transforms the three blind mice into horses, and a garlic bulb into a carriage, and then Shrek and Fiona leave in the carriage. Donkey takes over the song, with the others singing and dancing. The wedding celebration continues while Shrek and Fiona ride away into the sunset.

The fairy tale ends with “And they lived ugly ever after. The end.” The book closes, revealing the fairy tale to be “Shrek”, and the song ends.

In a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, a superhuman named Robert “Bob” Parr (better known by his superhero alias “Mr Incredible”) fights crime as an undercover superhero using his powers of super-strength in the city of Metroville (a parody of Metropolis). one afternoon while on the way to his wedding, Bob helps an elderly woman with her cat, stops a police car chase, prevents the suicide of the local bank president Oliver Sansweet and attempts to prevent a French clown-like super-villain named Bomb Voyage from robbing the Metroville Bank. whilst attempting to save the bank, a 10-year-old fan boy named Buddy Pine wants to be Mr Incredible’s sidekick, and unintentionally interferes, causing Bomb Voyage to get away and blow up part of a monorail system. Bob makes it to his wedding late and marries his longtime girlfriend Helena Truax (better known by her super-heroine alias “Elastagirl”, who is also a superhuman and is capable of changing the shape and size of her body via stretching). shortly after their marriage, Mr Incredible is sued in Superior Court by Oliver Sansweet and the injured train passengers, leading to the government eventually banning all super-humans from using their superpowers in public.

15 years later, Bob and Helen are now living a quiet suburban life with their three new children, Violet Parr (a 15-year-old social outcast who has the powers of invisibility and force fields), Dashiell Robert “Dash” Parr (a 10-year-old sporty troublemaker who has the power of super-speed) and Jacob “Jack-Jack” Parr (an infant capable of multiple superpowers unknown to the family). the family is often now struggling with everyday life problems and is sometimes dysfunctional, and Bob is bored with his new job as a clerk for the business company Insuricare, thus secretly trying to sneak out at night as a masked vigilante with his longtime best friend Lucious Best (better known by his superhero alias “Frozone”, who is also a superhuman and has the power of freezing things). one day, Bob loses his temper with his grumpy boss Mr Gilbert Huph who refuses to let him stop a nearby mugging during a private meeting, and Bob angrily smashes him through the office and is fired. when he arrives home, worrying what Helen will think, Bob finds a message from an overseas scientist named Mirage who tells him she is working for a base on a remote island and they need his help to shut down an out-of-control AI-controlled robot known as the “Omnidroid” which is terrorising their laboratory. Bob sees this as an opportunity to become a superhero again, and leaves, telling Helen that he has been sent to a conference.

as Mr Incredible, Bob is flown overseas to a tropical jungle island. Mirage warns him that the Omnidroid has an advanced artificial intelligence and is designed to teach itself, so that Bob should not fight it too much. Bob lands in the jungle, and the Omnidroid appears, revealing its appearance as a gigantic octopus-like droid. Bob battles with the machine, finding it almost invincible, but eventually manages to destroy it in a volcano. after he is sent home, Bob notices a tear in his costume and seeks the help of his fashion designer, Edna “E” Mode. Edna tells Bob that he cannot use a cape during battles, due to many superheroes in the past dying from cape-related accidents, and she designs him a new red and yellow suit to replace his old blue and red suit. incorrectly assuming he has told his family about going back into superhero business, Edna decides to design new suits for the entire family.

Bob is sent back to the island to have a meeting with Mirage, but when he arrives, he discovers that Mirage is really a secret agent who is the second-in-command for a crime lord and cereal killer known as “Syndrome”, and his mission was only a test for the Omnidroid’s abilities. Bob is attacked again by the now-updated Ominidroid and Syndrome appears. Syndrome reveals himself to really be an adult Buddy Pine who now seeks revenge on Bob for rejecting him as a sidekick. Syndrome throws Bob into a lake and attempts to kill Bob with a miniature bomb, but Bob escapes via swimming through a cave, though Syndrome assumes him to be dead.

at nightfall, Bob sneaks into Syndrome’s secret base lair and looks into his computer files. Bob finds that Syndrome has been secretly planning and thus far succeeding in a mass genocide scheme known as “Operation: Kronos”, and has been testing previous Omnidroid replicas via killing past superheroes and has plans already to kill Helen. suddenly, Mirage catches Bob and Syndrome has him imprisoned.

meanwhile, Helen notices the tear in Bob’s costume and visits Edna to have it mended. Edna, assuming she knows what Bob has been up to, shows Helen all the suits she has made for the family. Helen, now confused and concerned, calls Insuricare to make sure she knows where he is, but is surprised to discover he has been fired. using Edna suit-tracking device, Helen finds that Bob has travelled to a tropical remote island. she takes the new suits home and borrows a jet from her longtime pilot friend, Snug Porter, and uses it to pursue Bob. Helen soon realises that Violet and Dash have snuck into the plane, angering her but also prompting her to fear for their safety. Syndrome tracks them down and attempts to kill them with missiles, but Helen manages to save her kids as the plane explodes, although Syndrome assumes them to be dead.

Helen shifts her body into speedboat-shape, and manages to bring her children to the island. over night, they camp in a cave, and Helen leaves to find Bob, telling the kids that they must use their powers in case of emergency. the kids eventually escape the cave by morning, after realising it was part of a volcano. they are picked up by Syndrome’s henchmen who they battle with. after Bob is freed by Helen and Mirage (although Helen becomes suspicious about Bob having a relationship with Mirage), they join their kids into the battle. this is all eventually broken up by Syndrome, who imprisons them all.

Syndrome reveals his evil plan to the family, that he will become the hero he dreamed of being by pretending to save the world from his own creations, and selling superhero inventions so that everyone will have fake superpowers of their own and mutant super-humans will no longer have a place in the world. Syndrome unleashes his most biggest and powerful Omnidroid replica on Metroville, and pretends to battle with it by remote-controlling it and using his gadgets on it. but, due its artificial intelligence, manages to outsmart him and knocks away his controller and knocks him unconscious. the family are broken out by Violet (with help from the reformed Mirage) and use one of Syndrome’s jets to fly to Metroville. with the help of Frozone, and Syndrome’s remote, they manage to destroy the Omnidroid by smashing one of its claws through its power source. when Syndrome awakens, he is jealous to find that the “Incredibles” are now accepted by the public as superheroes despite the law, and he vows revenge. after they are transported home, the family find Syndrome attempting to kidnap Jack-Jack. when Jack-Jack awakens, Syndrome threatens him, and Jack-Jack manages to use his own powers to traumatise him and force him to let go. a traumatised Syndrome attempts to escape in his plane, but is sucked cape-first into the jet’s engine, killing him and causing the plane to crash on their house.

Riley is a girl born in Minnesota. Five emotions live inside her head. They are responsible for her actions and make her memories. The memories are kept as balls. They each give a different color depending on the emotion of the memory. The most important memories are core memories that power islands of personality. They reflect a different aspect of Riley’s life. Joy makes Riley happy. Fear keeps her safe. Disgust prevents her from being poisoned, physically and socially. Anger makes her life fair. Sadness however, doesn’t seem to have a purpose. She’s ignored as a result.

Riley turns eleven. Her parents move to San Francisco. Sadness has a magical touch. When she touches a memory, it turns sad and blue, and it can’t be changed back to what it was before. Joy forbids Sadness from touching any more memories until she finds out what’s going on. The first day at the new school, Joy has Sadness stand inside a circle so she can’t spread her gloominess. Riley talks about her life in Minnesota. Joy brings up a memory and has it played on a projector in Riley’s head. Sadness wanders outside her circle and touches the memory, turning it sad. While the emotions are trying to remove the memory from the projector, Sadness takes control of the console, making Riley cry in front of her classmates. A new core memory is created. This core memory is sad and blue. Riley’s only had happy core memories before. Joy sees sad memories as a bad thing. She tries to get rid of it. Sadness tries to stop her, saying it’s a core memory. In their struggle, all the core memories are knocked from the holder they’re kept in. Joy, Sadness and the core memories are sucked up the tube, into the far depths of Riley’s mind.

Joy and Sadness are in Long Term Memory, a labyrinth of corridors of shelves of memories. They meet Riley’s former imaginary friend Bing Bong, who’s desperate to reconnect with Riley. He says the Train of Thought can take them back to Headquarters. Their journey takes them through Abstract Thought and Imagination Land. Parts of Preschool World are being demolished, Princess Dream World and the Stuffed Animal Hall of Fame. Mind workers are taking Bing Bong’s song-powered rocket to the Memory Dump, a deep pit where obsolete memories are erased. A plow pushes the rocket into the dump. Bing Bong is really upset over the loss of his rocket. He’s completely unresponsive when Joy tries to cheer him up. Sadness listens to what Bing Bong has to say. He and Riley had great adventures together. They were best friends. It’s sad. Bing Bong hugs Sadness. He cries candy. He’s okay now. He continues to take the emotions to the train station. Joy wonders how did Sadness do that?

In Headquarters, Fear, Anger and Disgust try to take charge in Joy’s absence. They’re unable to make Riley happy. Dinner ends in disaster. The father sends Riley to her room for her rude, disrespectful behavior. Later that evening, the father can’t cheer Riley up with his monkey noises. Riley dumps her best friend and quits hockey. Goofball Island, Friendship Island and Hockey Island fall into the Memory Dump. Anger comes up with the idea: Riley’s happy core memories were made in Minnesota. The only way for her to be happy is to return there and make more.

Joy, Sadness and Bing Bong are on the Train of Thought. Unfortunately, the train does not run while Riley’s asleep. They enter Dream Productions. Joy’s idea is to wake Riley up with exhilaration, excite her awake. A dog costume, Joy is in the front. Sadness is in the back. Bing Bong lets down a brightly colored curtain and balloons. The dog costume is ripped in half, but due to the reality distortion filter, it looks as if a real dog has split in two in the dream. Despite all this, Riley stays asleep. Security men capture Bing Bong and take him to the Subconscious, a place where they keep Riley’s deepest, darkest fears. Bing Bong is trapped in a cage of balloons, on the belly of a giant, sleeping birthday clown named Jangles. Joy frees Bing Bong. Before they leave, Joy and Sadness wake up Jangles who chases them into Dream Productions. Fear is on dream duty. The sight of Jangles really scares him and wakes up Riley. The train is running again.

Bing Bong picks out a memory. It’s the time in the twisty tree. Mom and Dad and the hockey team are cheering Riley. Sadness loves this memory too. “It was the day the Prairie Dogs lost the big playoff game. Riley missed the winning shot. She felt awful. She wanted to quit.”

Anger carries out his idea to run away. Riley is led to steal her mother’s credit card to pay for her travel expenses. Honesty Island crumbles. The crumbling island bashes into the railway line of the Train of Thought. The train crashes against Long Term Memory. Mind workers rescue Joy, Sadness and Bing Bong from the train, before it falls into the Memory Dump. The three characters find a recall tube. When Sadness tries to get in the tube, the core memories start to turn blue. Joy thinks Riley should be happy. She closes the tube and starts to get sucked up, leaving Sadness and Bing Bong behind. As Long Term Memory crumbles and breaks away, the recall tube shatters. Joy and Bing Bong fall into the Memory Dump.

Joy finds the sad core memory. She looks back over Riley’s obsolete memories. She just wanted Riley to be happy. She picks up the twisty tree memory and rewinds it to find it’s sad at the beginning. Sadness’ words echo “It was the day the Prairie Dogs lost the big playoff game. Riley missed the winning shot. She felt awful. She wanted to quit.” Mom and Dad and the team, they came to help because of Sadness. Joy and Bing Bong find the song-powered rocket. They try to use it to escape the dump, but the rocket falls short each time. The third time they power up the rocket, Bing Bong gets out of the rocket at the last second, allowing Joy to escape the dump. Bing Bong thanks Joy for letting him be important one last time, before fading away. In Headquarters, the emotions discover running away was a bad idea. Family Island, the last remaining island starts to break apart and fall. The console starts to shut itself down and become inactive. Riley becomes completely unresponsive to the emotions’ commands. They can’t make Riley feel anything. They’re also unable to remove the idea bulb to run away.

Joy looks around for Sadness, but Sadness now believes her actions only hurt Riley. She’s floating around on a rain cloud. The imaginary boyfriend generator, imaginary boyfriend says he would die for Riley. It’s time for him to prove it. Joy has the machine make lots of copies of imaginary boyfriends. She unties a balloon and lets the air out, blowing it towards Sadness so her cloud floats towards Headquarters. Joy builds a ladder of imaginary boyfriends. She’s standing on top of the ladder. She lets the ladder fall down. She bounces off a Family Island trampoline. She’s flying through the air over the Memory Dump. She grabs Sadness. The two emotions hit against the window of Headquarters. Anger throws a chair at the window. The window does not break. Disgust provokes Anger so that he gets really angry. He’s the Anger emotion. When he’s really angry, fire bursts from his head. Disgust uses his flaming head to burn a hole in the window and let Joy and Sadness in.

Sadness is magically able to remove the idea bulb, so Riley comes home. Joy allows Sadness to touch the core memories so they all turn sad. She allows Sadness to play the sad memories in the projector in Riley’s head. Sadness takes control of the console. A tearful Riley admits she misses Minnesota. She wants her old friends and her hockey team. The parents need her to be happy, but she wants to go home. The parents are not angry. They miss Minnesota too, the woods where they took hikes, the backyard where she used to play and Spring Lake where she learned to skate. The parents hug Riley deeply. Sadness takes Joy’s hand and they both press a button together. A new core memory is created. This core memory is yellow and blue, happy and sad.

As the credits appear, a pair of metallic hands with spindly fingers summons a doll from the dark abyss outside a window. The hands dismantle the doll, which is wearing a pink dress and has curly brown hair, and reassemble it into a new doll with blue hair, a yellow raincoat, and galoshes. Then they send it back into the void.

Coraline Jones (voice: Dakota Fanning), a girl of 11 or so, moves with her parents, Mel and Charlie (voices: Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), from their house in Michigan to their new home at the Pink Palace Apartments in Oregon. It is a rather dilapidated pink Victorian house divided into three flats, surrounded by forest and shaded by an almost constantly overcast sky. While her parents assist the movers, Coraline goes exploring, taking a stick and using it as a dowsing rod. She lets it guide her along a trail beyond the house until she arrives at the top of the hill. A black cat emerges from the woods and studies her on its perch. Coraline asks if it knows where the old well is before she is startled by an air horn. A bicyclist wearing a skull-painted helmet appears and circles Coraline. After she knocks him off his bike, he removes his helmet and introduces himself as Wybie – short for Wyborne – Lovat (voice: Robert Bailey Jr.), grandson of the owner of the Pink Palace. He shows Coraline the location of the old well, right under her feet, and admits surprise that his grandmother would allow a family with a kid to move in; not even he is allowed near the Pink Palace, though he says he’s not supposed to explain why. He pets the cat and explains that he cares for it despite the fact that it’s feral before he hears his grandmother calling to him. He mounts his bike and informs Coraline that the stick she’s holding is actually poison oak.

Back at the house, as it starts to rain, Coraline attempts to gain the attention of her parents who are busy writing pieces for a gardening catalog (which Coraline finds absurdly ironic since her parents dislike handling dirt). Her mother gives Coraline a doll that looks just like her, telling her that it was left on their porch. Attached to the doll is a note from Wybie explaining that he found it in his grandmother’s trunk and thought she would like it since it looks like her. Coraline takes the doll and goes to see her father who tells her to explore the house and write down what she sees … as long as she will let him work. Doll in hand, Coraline takes note of everything in their flat, including a painting of a sullen-looking boy in blue clothes above the fireplace. Finishing her notes, she discovers that her doll, which she’d left on a nearby table in the drawing room, has mysteriously moved beneath a mattress leaning against the wall. Coraline moves the mattress to find the outline of a small door behind the wallpaper. Noticing a keyhole and no other way to open it, Coraline begs her mother to help her. They find a black skeleton key in a kitchen drawer with a button end and find that it fits the keyhole perfectly. However, when they open the door, they see nothing but a solid brick wall. Irritated, Coraline’s mother tells her to let her finish her work.

That evening, Coraline is sent to bed early after complaining about the grimy-looking dinner her father prepared. In the middle of the night, she is awoken by a squeaking sound and looks down to see a mouse in her room. She follows it out of her room and downstairs to the drawing room where it disappears behind the small door in the wall which has been cracked open. Coraline opens the door and discovers that a wide and colorful passage has opened up. She crawls through it and emerges out the other end to find herself in the drawing room again, however, this one is brighter and even the painting of the boy above the fireplace looks cheerful. She smells something from the kitchen and wanders over to find her mother cooking. When her mother turns to greet her, Coraline sees that she has black buttons for eyes. Coraline’s shock subsides when her ‘mother’ explains that she’s her Other Mother and that everyone has one. She tells Coraline to collect her Other Father in his study before dinner. Coraline obliges and finds her Other Father, looking lively and fun, playing piano with a pair of puppet hands protruding from it. He sings a song for Coraline, bringing a smile to her face, before they all sit down to dinner.

The Other World food is delightful and served with plenty of flair. Coraline can hardly contain her excitement at finding that her Other parents are more fun than her real ones, showing their enjoyment for mud and explaining that it’s a natural remedy for poison oak. When Other Mother offers to play a game, Coraline expresses concern that she’d better go back home and to bed. Other Mother takes Coraline up to her ‘other’ room, which is strewn with colored streamers and toys that speak, including a picture on her nightstand with her two best friends from Michigan (voices: Harry Selick and Marina Budovsky). Her Other Mother rubs mud on the poison oak on her hands before putting Coraline to bed. Coraline quickly falls asleep. She wakes up the next morning to find herself back in her old room. She is disappointed but sees that the poison oak has disappeared from her hands. When she tries to open the small door again, she finds that it’s bricked up as before.

She tries to tell her parents all about her adventures the previous night, but they dismiss it as a vivid dream. Her mother suggests she tell her dream to the actresses living downstairs, although she calls them ding-bats. Out on the porch, Coraline trips over a pile of mail addressed to a Mr. Bobinsky; the man who lives upstairs. She goes to his door but is prevented entry by the eccentric Bobinsky (voice: Ian McShane), a tall and acrobatic Russian man with a blue complexion; possibly due to his role in the Chernobyl cleanup which is indicated by the medal worn on his shirt. He accepts the packages which contain foul-smelling cheese. He tells Coraline (whom he misnames ‘Caroline’) that he is training circus mice and hopes the cheese will alleviate their apparent musical difficulties. Before Coraline leaves, he leaps down from his balcony to issue a warning from his mice: “They say, ‘do not go through little door’.”

Halfway accepting her experiences as nothing but a dream, Coraline dismisses the message and heads to the lower flat to visit Miss Spink and Miss Forcible (voices: Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French), two retired burlesque actresses who clearly have not gotten over their past days. Coraline is offered tea as the actresses reminisce and tend to their many Scottie dogs, some of which are dead and stuffed on shelves on the wall, dressed in angel outfits. Miss Spink reads Coraline’s tea leaves and predicts that she is in danger, seeing a gnarled hand in the leaves, while Miss Forcible sees a giraffe from her perspective.

Coraline goes outside, where a thick fog has covered the ground. She discovers Wybie spying on her with a three-turret lens, although he insists he’s hunting for banana slugs. The cat rests on Wybie’s shoulders as he skulks around, inspiring Coraline to call him a ‘wuss-puss’ which insults the cat, though Wybie says he just doesn’t like getting his feet wet. The two share laughs as Coraline takes pictures of Wybie holding a slug before he admits that he’s never been inside the Pink Palace because his grandmother thinks it’s dangerous. He says that his grandmother had a twin sister and, while they lived there as children, she disappeared. His grandmother seems to think she was stolen, but Coraline offers that maybe she just ran away. She asks Wybie about the doll’s resemblance to her, but Wybie says that he found it as is and that it must be as old as the house. Coraline is skeptical: why would it look just like her?

That night, Coraline leaves out bits of cheese in her bedroom and goes to sleep, hoping for another visit from the mice. Sure enough, she’s woken later by their squeaking and follows them through the open portal. She finds her Other Mother cooking in the kitchen, using the very cheese Coraline laid out. She tells Coraline to fetch her Other Father, who is in the garden. Coraline finds him planting colorful, fluorescent flowers and snapdragons, using a tractor shaped like a praying mantis. Other Father takes Coraline for a ride on the mantis as it sprouts propellors and flies them above the gardens. Overhead, Coraline sees that the entire garden has been fashioned into her likeness. After another bountiful dinner, Other Mother opens the front door to introduce Other Wybie. She explains that she made this one so that he doesn’t talk because she thought Coraline would like it. Coraline is pleased with her silent friend and they go to Mr. Bobinsky’s flat together for a surprise. Inside, pedal-controlled cannons shoot cotton candy and popcorn machines line the walls. A circus tent is erected in the center of the apartment and Coraline and Other Wybie go in to see Bobinsky’s mice put on a musical show, bouncing on circus balls. At the finale, Other Bobinsky appears, looking dapper in a ringmaster’s coat and hat, and thanks them for their applause. Coraline is later led to bed, happily satisfied with the night’s events, and falls asleep with Other Mother, Other Father, and Other Wybie sitting beside her.

The next morning, Coraline grunts as she finds herself in her own bed once more. Her mother takes her into town the next day to shop for school clothes. They drop off her father at the train station so that he can deliver the latest edition of the catalog to the editor. At the store, Coraline approaches her mother with a pair of colorful gloves which Mel refuses to buy, looking instead at drab and grey uniform pieces. Coraline shuns her mother on the ride home, especially when Mel reveals that she locked the small door after finding rat excrement near it. Seeing that the fridge is nearly devoid of food, Mel offers to buy some groceries and asks Coraline to accompany her. Coraline refuses and Mel leaves, looking slightly saddened. Taking opportunity of her solitude, Coraline takes the skeleton key from its perch and investigates the small door, finding the passage surprisingly open. She eagerly crawls through as the feral cat watches her disapprovingly from outside. In Other World, Coraline finds the house seemingly empty, though the kitchen table is laden with treats and different foods along with a gift box containing a new outfit for her to wear. A note next to it from Other Mother explains that Other Spink and Other Forcible have something to show Coraline after lunch.

Outside, Coraline comes upon the cat and remarks that he must be a copy but is missing the trademark button eyes. She is shocked when the cat speaks (voice: Keith David). He tells Coraline that he is the real world cat and has the ability to transverse the barriers between worlds, despite Other Mother’s attempts to keep him out; she hates cats. He admits it’s a type of game they play before warning Coraline of Other Mother’s true intentions. He claims Other Wybie told him of the dangers and, when Coraline doesn’t believe him, tells her that cats have superior senses. He then detects something in the distance and runs off. Coraline continues to Spink and Forcible’s apartment which has been turned into a large auditorium occupied by hundreds of Scottie dogs. She finds Other Wybie in the front row and sits beside him as the show starts. The Spink and Forcible that we know, albeit with painted button eyes, perform individual skits in rather unflattering outfits before their competition for the spotlight brings the stage props crashing down. The curtain closes and the second act starts; Spink and Forcible appear on either end of the stage, standing on diving boards while a bucket of water is pushed to center stage. Then, they literally jump out of their skins as their older facades unzip and their youthful, skinny selves effortlessly swing on trapeze wires. They include Coraline in the act, swinging her around the auditorium and catching her as they land on the bucket, to much applause and barking.

Coraline returns to Other Mother’s apartment, raving about the show while Other Wybie stays behind looking sullen. As Other Mother ushers Coraline inside, she motions to Other Wybie to smile. She takes Coraline into the dining room and tells her that, if she wants to, she can stay forever but needs to perform one little thing. She places a box in front of Coraline who opens it to see two black buttons with sewing thread and a needle. Other Mother cheerfully tells Coraline that buttons are available in any color but Coraline vehemently refuses to sew buttons into her eyes. She requests to go to bed early to think things over and goes to her room where she stuffs her talking toys away and hides the picture of her button-eyed friends. She lies in bed and prays to go to sleep.

When she wakes, she jumps out of bed, only to find that she’s still in Other World. She goes downstairs and finds Other Father morosely playing the piano with his puppet hands. Coraline demands to see Other Mother because she wants to go home, but Other Father tells her they mustn’t talk when ‘mother’s’ not around. When Coraline says that she’s going to look for Other Wybie, Other Father tells her there’s no point; “Wybie pulled a looooong face and ‘mother’ didn’t like it,” his own face elongating horribly as he says so before he is silenced by the puppet hands. Coraline runs outside and begins to walk away from the house. The cat approaches her and they walk together as the Other World begins to deteriorate into nothing. The cat tells Coraline that the Other Mother only created what she knew Coraline would like and soon they find themselves walking straight back towards the house. “Small world,” Coraline comments.

The cat reveals that the Other Mother wants her, possibly for something to love … or to eat. Suddenly, he lunges into a bush and comes out with a circus mouse in his mouth. As his jaws clamp down, the mouse transforms into an ugly sandbag rat. “I don’t like rats at the best of times, but this one was sounding an alarm,” the cat says before moving on. Coraline walks back into the house and enters the drawing room where the small door has been blocked by a beetle-shaped bureau. The other furniture comes to life, looking like insects, and seats Coraline in front of Other Mother, eating coco beetles. Coraline demands to be allowed to go home but Other Mother grows angry and tells Coraline to apologize as she counts to three. While she counts, her body begins to transform, growing grotesquely tall and elongated. (Eventually she is shown to be a spider.) At the count of three, the disfigured Other Mother grabs Coraline and throws her through a mirror into a dank room with a single bed. She tells Coraline she may come out when she ‘learns to be a loving daughter.’

Sensing someone in the room with her, Coraline turns to see three ghostly children, two girls and a boy (voices: Hannah Kaiser, Aankha Neal, and George Selick), who tell her to be quiet, for the Beldam might be listening. (Beldam means ugly old woman, but it has connotations of witchcraft and recalls characters from literature and folklore: the title character of John Keats’s poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, in which a knight is enthralled by a fairy; and the witch who entices and captures Hansel and Gretel.) The ghosts reveal that they don’t remember their names, but remember how the Beldam used dolls in their image to spy on them and see what made them unhappy. They tell how she lured them into Other World, giving them games and treats, telling them that she loved them. Wanting more, the children allowed the Beldam to sew the buttons into their eyes, but she ate up their lives and cast their souls aside, locking them inside the mirror. They say that their eyes were stolen and hidden and ask that, if Coraline escapes, she set their souls free by finding their eyes. Coraline says that she’ll try before she’s pulled through the mirror by Other Wybie, whose mouth has been sewn into a wide grin. Coraline pulls the thread out before Other Wybie brings her to the small door. He opens it and shoves her through. When she asks him to come with her, he pulls off one of his gloves, revealing that he’s nothing inside but sand. He then shuts the door as the Beldam calls for Coraline. She crawls back to the real world and calls out for her real parents.

However, she finds no one home. The groceries that her mother had gone out to get lie on the kitchen table, moldy and covered in flies. When a knock sounds at the door, Coraline eagerly opens it only to see the real Wybie, who tells her that he needs the doll back. His grandmother is angry because the doll once belonged to her missing sister, but Coraline tells him that the doll once looked like the three ghost children. She realizes that the third child, the girl with the braids and ribbons, was Grandma Lovat’s missing sister. She brings Wybie upstairs to give him the doll, explaining everything along the way. Coraline describes to an incredulous Wybie how the doll is meant to spy on everything that’s wrong with a child’s life before the Other Mother gives false promises to trap them. When she can’t find the doll, Wybie runs from the house screaming that Coraline is crazy. She throws her shoes at him and runs outside to see her parents’ car, but no one is there. A phone call to her father brings no answers either.

Coraline visits Spink and Forcible as Spink is sewing an angel outfit on her dog Angus, claiming that he hasn’t been feeling well lately. When Coraline worries about her missing parents, Spink and Forcible break a ball of hard taffy candy to reveal a small triangular seeing stone with a hole in it. They give it to Coraline, saying that it’s useful for bad or lost things (they can’t agree on which one specifically). Coraline then returns home and creates likenesses of her parents out of pillows in their bed before crying herself to sleep. She wakes up in the middle of the night to see the cat sitting on her chest, looking at her closely. She asks him if he knows where her parents are. He pulls Coraline’s doll out from under the bed but, instead of looking like her, the doll is two-faced, resembling each of her parents. In the hallway mirror, Coraline sees an image of her parents shivering in the cold and writing ‘help us’ on the frosted glass. She goes downstairs and lights a fire on the hearth, throwing the doll into the flames to curl up and burn. Knowing her parents can’t return on their own, she resolves to rescue them and dons her favorite army hat, a vest, and puts the triangle stone, some tools, and the skeleton key in her pockets.

As she and the cat go through the small door, the cat pipes up and tells her to challenge the Other Mother to a game; she never refuses games. Though the Beldam won’t play fair, this gives Coraline the best chance. When Coraline emerges, she hears her mother calling to her and finds her in the drawing room. She goes to hug her mother, but the figure transforms into the Beldam. She takes the skeleton key from Coraline and, after locking the small door, swallows it. Other Father, reduced to a squat, blubbering mess, puts Coraline into a chair before he is dragged away by the furniture after the Beldam inquires about tending to the garden. The Beldam then takes Coraline into the kitchen to serve her breakfast, asking her again to stay. Coraline proposes a game: if she is able to find her real parents and the eyes of the ghost children, the Beldam must let them all go. If Coraline is unsuccessful, she will stay and let the Beldam sew the buttons into her eyes. Coraline then demands a clue, which the Beldam relents to give: “In each of three wonders I’ve made just for you, a ghost’s eye is lost in plain sight.”

Coraline’s search begins in the garden, where some hummingbird plants attempt to steal the triangular stone. Finding this curious, Coraline looks through the hole in the stone to see that the world appears grey, except for one colorful ball of light: the first eye. It is disguised as the shift knob on the praying mantis tractor. Other Father starts the tractor and chases Coraline with it. He apologizes, claiming that ‘mother’ is making him do it. As the mantis chases Coraline across the garden pond’s bridge, it collapses, sending the tractor and Other Father into the water. Before he submerges, Other Father grabs the eye and hands it over to Coraline. With the eye in hand, the entire garden dies and turns to stone.

Meanwhile the moon overhead is beginning to eclipse – a time limit on Coraline’s search. She makes her way to Spink and Forcible’s place, which has deteriorated. The Scottie dogs now reside on the ceiling, looking more like bats, and the actresses have cocooned themselves in a taffy-like wrapper on the stage. Coraline sees one of them holding the second eye as a pearl ring and reaches into the wrapper to get it. However, she wakes the actresses, their tangled bodies resembling taffy, and they shriek and grab at her. Coraline shines her flashlight at the dogbats overhead, agitating them and inciting them to fly down at her. She ducks in time for the dogs to collide with the actresses and Coraline gains control of the eye. The auditorium turns to grey stone and Spink and Forcible disintegrate with the dogs.

Next, Coraline goes to Other Bobinsky’s apartment where she sees, dangling from a pole on the balcony, the empty clothes of Other Wybie. She shouts to the Beldam that she’s not scared before entering the apartment. Bobinsky emerges from the shadows, reduced to only his ringmaster coat and hat, asking why Coraline would want to leave a perfect world. She answers that he couldn’t understand since he’s merely a copy of the real Bobinsky. Using the stone, she finds the third eye inside Other Bobinsky’s hat. She removes his hat to retrieve it but his clothes fall away to reveal the circus rats within. The head rat shrieks at her and attempts to flee with the eye in its mouth. The others try to sabotage Coraline and, as a last resort, she throws the triangular seeing stone at the head rat as it exits the doggy door of Bobinsky’s apartment. She misses. She chases the rat onto the balcony which begins to fall apart and collapses. Coraline falls to the ground below and begins to cry when she realizes that she’s lost the rat, and the game. The eclipse of the moon completes, revealing the shadow to be that of a button.

The cat then appears with the rat in its mouth and relinquishes the last eye. Coraline thanks him and then, together, they go back inside to find her real parents, the paint on the walls thinning and peeling off. She meets the Beldam in the drawing room, darker and filled with webbing. The Beldam herself has been reduced to her true form; a large, spidery figure with spindly fingers and cracked, white skin. She sneers at the cat and holds up the triangular stone before throwing it into the fire. Without her tool, Coraline is forced to use her wit to guess the location of her parents. She announces that her parents are behind the small door in the wall. The Beldam coughs up the key and as she goes to open the door, Coraline sees her parents miniaturized and trapped within a snowglobe on the mantle. With the door open, the Beldam turns to Coraline, chuckling and saying that she’s now trapped in Other World forever. “No I’m not!” Coraline shouts, throwing the cat at the Beldam, grabbing the snowglobe and stuffing it in her pocket. The cat scratches out the Beldam’s button eyes and the room falls apart, leaving nothing but a low net of webbing. The cat howls and runs through the small door as Coraline struggles to avoid falling into the center of the net. As she climbs, the vibrations are felt by the sightless Beldam who climbs after her. Coraline manages to get through the small door just in time as the Beldam shrieks and wails that she will die without her. Coraline slams the small door shut in the real world and locks it.

Coraline’s parents ‘come home’ and she runs over to embrace them, though they scold her for breaking the snowglobe and cutting her knee. Despite the snow melting off their shoulders, they have no recollection of what happened and announce that they’re going out to eat that night in celebration of the published catalog. After discussing invitations for a garden party, Coraline’s parents put her to bed. Her mother leaves a box on her bed; it contains the pair of colorful gloves she’d wanted. Coraline goes to sleep, happy to be home at last.

She wakes in the middle of the night to see the cat outside her window. Though he is visibly upset with her, she apologizes for throwing him at the Beldam and he snuggles up beside her in bed as she places the three ghost children’s eyes under her pillow. She dreams that they are finally free spirits and they thank her but warn her that the Beldam lives and will never stop looking for her. Coraline awakes to find that the eyes are broken beneath her pillow but realizes that the skeleton key is what the Beldam is after and she must hide it. She dresses and leaves, resolving to dump the key inside the well at the top of the hill. However, the Beldam’s spindly hand, having escaped through the door, follows her. When it discovers her intent, it attacks her and attempts to take the key back. Coraline struggles with it until Wybie appears to help, riding his bike and blowing his air horn. He grabs at the key but the hand trips him up and he falls into the well, dangling as he holds onto some roots. Before the hand can stab at him, Coraline wraps it in her shawl which it quickly rips through. Before it can pounce again, Wybie, having gotten himself out of the well, drops a large rock on it, breaking it. He and Coraline wrap the hand and rock together in the shawl and tie it with the key string before dropping it into the well.

Wybie apologizes for not believing Coraline and shows her a picture of his grandmother as a child…with her twin sister holding an identical doll. He then hears his grandmother calling for him again and Coraline tells him to bring her to the garden party the next day where they will tell her everything together. At the party, everyone gathers to help plant flowers in the garden and Coraline distributes cold drinks. Wybie escorts his grandmother to the party and Coraline offers her a drink, saying that she has so much to tell her.

Two clownfish, Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his wife Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), admire the view from their new home within a sea anemone overlooking the drop off of a coral reef. Below them, their clutch of eggs lies hidden in a small hole. Excited to be first-time parents, they discuss names, Coral expressing her fondness for “Nemo.” They flirt playfully with each other until Coral’s attention is distracted by the appearance of a barracuda. Ignoring Marlin’s order to hide, Coral moves to protect her eggs and the barracuda lunges. Marlin rushes in but the barracuda knocks him out with a flick of its tail, sending him back into the anemone. When he comes to that night, he discovers that Coral and the eggs are gone but manages to find a single surviving egg with a scratch on its right side. Vowing to protect it, he names the codling Nemo.

Marlin raises Nemo (Alexander Gould) in a secure anemone further into the reef. On the morning of his first day of school, an excited Nemo wakes his father, flapping his tiny right fin wildly. Marlin helps him prepare for the day, showing to be overprotective and doubtful of Nemo’s ability to take care of himself. Marlin escorts Nemo to school – along the way, Nemo asks Marlin how old sea turtles live to be; Marlin doesn’t have an answer. Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson), the local teacher, takes the children on a field trip. When Marlin learns that they are going to the drop off, he swims after them in a panic. Upon arrival Nemo follows three of his peers (Jordan Ranft, Erica Beck, and Erik Per Sullivan), bored with Mr. Ray’s lesson, to the very edge of the reef where they see a boat (misnaming it a “butt”) anchored in the distance. They dare each other to swim out into open water to touch the “butt” as Marlin arrives and yells at Nemo for endangering himself. While talking to Mr. Ray, Marlin fails to notice Nemo swimming fiercely out to sea, stopping beneath the boat. In an act of defiance, Nemo touches the boat with his fin and starts to swim back before a diver suddenly appears behind him and traps him in a small bag. Marlin is prevented from swimming out after his son by another diver who takes a picture, disorienting him. Regaining his sight, Marlin swims after the divers as the boat departs the reef. The diver places Nemo in a cooler full of water and accidentally drops his mask into the water.

Marlin swims after the boat but eventually loses the trail. He swims to the sea floor, begging passing schools of fish for help until he bumps into a regal tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres). She claims to have seen the boat and leads a thankful Marlin in the direction it went but, as they swim along, she becomes lax and even tries to evade Marlin when she notices him behind her. When she confronts him, he questions her and she apologizes, telling Marlin she has short-term memory loss. Dumbfounded, Marlin turns to leave but is stopped by a great white shark who introduces himself as Bruce (Barry Humphries). He invites Marlin and Dory to a get-together he’s having and, despite Marlin’s objections, escorts them to his lair in a sunken submarine surrounded by live sea mines. They meet Bruce’s fellow sharks, hammerhead Anchor (Eric Bana) and mako Chum (Bruce Spence), before beginning an assembly where they pledge to abstain from eating fish.

The two are fairly terrified by the sharks until Marlin spots the diver’s mask stuck on a shard of metal. Inspecting it, he discovers markings on the strap that might provide a clue to Nemo’s whereabouts. Dory picks up the mask to see if the sharks can read but Marlin tries to take it back, engaging in a tug-of-war before the mask snaps into Dory’s face, causing a nosebleed. The smell of the blood excites Bruce’s inner carnivore and, though Anchor and Chum try to stage an intervention by holding him back, he mindlessly chases Marlin and Dory through the submarine, taking hold of the mask in his mouth in the process. During this time, Dory reveals that she can read human words before she and Marlin take refuge in a torpedo well. Dory releases the torpedo which wedges in Bruce’s mouth, giving Marlin enough time to grab the mask and flee back into the well. Bruce throws the torpedo away and Anchor and Chum are able to regain his attention in time before the torpedo sets off one of the mines, causing a violent chain reaction of explosions of the entire minefield.

Meanwhile, Nemo is placed into a new container revealed to be a fish tank in a dentist’s office. There he meets a few of the original inhabitants including Bloat the puffer fish (Brad Garrett), Bubbles the yellow tang (Stephen Root), Peach the ochre sea star (Allison Janney), Gurgle the royal gramma (Austin Pendleton), Jacques the French-accented Pacific cleaner shrimp (Joe Ranft), and Deb (Vicki Lewis), a black-tailed humbug who believes her reflection to be her twin sister, Flo. A pelican named Nigel (Geoffrey Rush) perches himself on the window near the tank and greets Nemo after briefly discussing dental procedures with the other fish. He’s shooed away by the dentist (Bill Hunter) who shows Nemo a picture of his niece, Darla, whom Nemo has been promised to. The other fish cringe and call her a fish killer (‘she wouldn’t stop shaking the bag’). Afraid and wanting to go home, Nemo backs away and gets stuck in the suction tube of the filter. The other fish go to help him but Gill (Willem Dafoe), a wise moorish idol with large scars on his right side, tells Nemo that he must escape himself, giving Nemo instructions and encouragement. Nemo manages to free himself and Peach relates his strength to his ocean origins, like Gill.

Marlin and Dory awake in the aftermath of the explosions to find the submarine hanging precariously over the edge of a deep ravine. Their movements cause the submarine to suddenly tip forward and collide with the rock wall of the far side. During the chaos and blinded temporarily by the dust, Dory accidentally drops the mask into the darkness below. Marlin gives it up for lost but Dory cheerfully takes him into the depths, telling him to just keep swimming. After a moment, they come upon a mysterious and alluring light which, unfortunately, belongs to a hungry anglerfish. During the chase, Marlin finds the mask and distracts the anglerfish long enough so that Dory can read the address written on it. Marlin then leads the anglerfish towards the mask and traps it using the masks strap as a tether. Dory recites the address ‘P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney’ and is ecstatic to find that she can remember it.

Back in the fish tank, Nemo is woken by Jacques who takes him to the tank’s toy volcano (Mt. Wannahockaloogie) where the other fish perform an initiation to include Nemo in their club, giving him the nickname “Shark Bait.” Gill then proposes a plan to escape the fish tank by jamming the gear in the filter which would cause the tank to become so dirty that the dentist will have to manually clean it and place the fish in baggies on the counter, allowing them to roll out the window to the street, cross it, and land in the harbor. Though the other fish are skeptical, Gill asserts that Nemo is small enough to fit into the filter and make it back through the tubing. Nemo agrees to do it.

Marlin and Dory continue their journey and request directions to Sydney from a school of moonfish (John Ratzenberger). They tell Marlin and Dory to take the East Australian Current (EAC), after an impressive display of their synchronized impressions. When they come to a rocky trench. Marlin resolves to swim over it to avoid the ominous enclosure. With the EAC in view, Dory becomes distracted and is stung by a tiny jellyfish. As Marlin tends to her, they are suddenly surrounded by a school of larger jellyfish. Finding that the tops don’t sting, Marlin and Dory bounce on them as they race out of the school. Marlin makes it out first and, when Dory doesn’t appear, goes back in to retrieve her. He finds her unconscious and scarred from the stinging and struggles to carry her out as he is repeatedly stung. He makes it but, stung and exhausted, blacks out as a large shadow descends on him.

Nemo waits in the fish tank with Gill who is keeping an eye on the dentist for an opportune moment to jam the filter. Noticing Nemo looking at his scars, Gill explains that during his first escape attempt he landed on dental tools, though he was aiming for the toilet. He says that all drains lead to the ocean and that fish weren’t meant to live in a tank. Peach cries out that the dentist is going for a bathroom break which cues Nemo to leap into the filter. Gill tosses him a pebble and gives instructions as Nemo wedges the fan, stopping the flow of water. However, as he is moving through the pipe back into the tank, the pebble unhinges and the fan turns on again, sucking Nemo backwards. The other fish hurry and send Nemo a toy kelp strand to grab onto and pull him out. Shaken, Peach asks Gill not to send Nemo in the filter again. Sullen and realizing his plan put Nemo in grave danger, Gill says they’re done.

Meanwhile, Marlin wakes up to find himself resting on the shell of a laid-back sea turtle with a surfer’s attitude who introduces himself as Crush (Andrew Stanton). Incredulous, he discovers that he’s also riding along the EAC with dozens of other sea turtles and large fish. Marlin is reunited with Dory who sports a scar on her side from the jellyfish stings and meets Crush’s son, Squirt (Nicholas Bird). Marlin also meets Crush’s spirited son, Squirt. While playing with the other sea turtles, Squirt is accidentally propelled outside the current. Marlin is panicky at first however Crush convinces him that Squirt can handle himself. Squirt is able to swim his way back into the current & gleefully joins his father. Marlin sees that even the youngest among the turtles can learn to survive in the ocean. Having been told some details of their journey and the encounter with the jellyfish, Squirt and the other hatchlings ask Marlin to tell them the rest of the story. Hesitant at first, Marlin relents and begins with when Nemo was abducted. His story is not ignored; it’s passed on from turtle to fish to dolphin to bird and onward until it reaches Nigel the pelican. Hearing Nemo’s name, he flies off to the dentist’s office. There, Nemo tries to apologize to Gill for the botched escape attempt but Gill says that his eagerness to escape almost cost Nemo his life and that nothing should be worth that. Nigel arrives, crashing into the closed window, but recovers and is able to tell Nemo the story of Marlin’s journey as it was told to him. When Nigel suggests that Nemo’s father took on three sharks and a school of jellyfish, Nemo is newly impressed with his father. Invigorated, Nemo takes it upon himself to try the filter attempt again and, this time, succeeds.

Marlin and Dory continue along the EAC until they come to their exit point where Crush and Squirt show them where to depart the main line. After a confusing instructional speech on “proper exiting technique” Squirt pushes them into the exit flume and back into open water. Thanking Crush, Marlin asks the turtle how old he is; Crush answers that’s he’s “150 years old & still young!” They are instructed to continue through a large purplish plume of plankton to Sydney. However, they soon become lost and Dory resolves to ask a distant fish for directions. Though Marlin is afraid at first, he decides to trust Dory and she calls out to the distant figure. When she sees its a minke whale, she starts speaking ‘whale’, asking for help. Marlin grows frustrated with her again just as a whale approaches from behind and pulls them into its mouth.

Back in the fish tank, a couple of days’ worth without a filter has rendered every surface covered in green algae. When the dentist sees this, he opts to clean the tank the following morning before Darla’s arrival. Nemo looks out the window to the harbor outside, wondering if his father is there already, waiting for him.

In the whale’s mouth, Marlin and Dory remain safe with enough water to swim in. Though Dory is complacent, Marlin futilely attempts to break out by ramming into the whale’s baleen. He yells at Dory for claiming to have spoken whale, calling her insane and lamenting over the fact that he’ll never see his son again. Dory tries to console him as the whale emits a call and the water in the mouth begins to drain. The whale then lifts his tongue to push Marlin and Dory to the back of its throat but Marlin refuses to let go until Dory assures him that, though she doesn’t know what will happen, everything will be all right. Marlin closes his eyes and releases his grip on the whale’s tongue. They fall to the back of the throat where they are then shot out of the whale’s blowhole, landing in Sydney Harbor. Overjoyed to have finally arrived, Marlin sends his thanks to the whale and encourages Dory to help him find the boat that took Nemo.

The following morning, Peach wakes up with the horrified realization that the tank is suddenly clean. The fish find that the dentist had installed a new high-tech filter the night before and, though they are impressed with the fluid functionality of the device, they worry about what they will do when Darla arrives. The dentist suddenly pulls Nemo up in a fish net but Gill and the other fish swim into it and instruct Nemo to swim down, pulling the net into the tank and away from the dentist’s grip. Despite their efforts, Nemo is quickly scooped up in a plastic bag and set on the counter. The other fish tell Nemo to roll out the window but, before he can get far, the dentist places the baggie in a tin to keep him from moving. Gill tries to assure Nemo that he’ll be OK but, at that moment, Darla (LuLu Ebeling) crashes into the office.

Marlin and Dory continue to search the harbor, both tired from looking at boats all night, when they are scooped up in the beak of a pelican. The pelican lands on a nearby dock and swallows them but Marlin refuses to have come this far just to be breakfast. He lodges himself and Dory in the pelican’s neck, causing it to start choking. Nearby, Nigel wakes from a nap to notice the pelican, Jerry, choking and flies down to assist. He hits Jerry in the back, expelling Marlin and Dory from his mouth onto the dock where Marlin shouts out that he needs to find Nemo. Recognizing the name, Nigel turns to Jerry excitedly and tells him this is the fish that they’ve been hearing about. When he turns back to Marlin, he sees that he and Dory have flopped their way towards the end of the dock. Nigel chases after them but they are all forced to freeze when they notice that they are surrounded by hungry seagulls. When Nigel tells Marlin that he knows his son, Nemo, Marlin flips in excitement, causing the seagulls to rush forward, but Nigel manages to take Dory and Marlin in his mouth and fly off.

Darla torments the fish in the tank before going in to see her uncle. As he picks up the baggie with Nemo inside, he notices Nemo floating upside down. The other fish quickly realize that Nemo is feigning death so that he can be flushed down the toilet but the dentist moves towards the trash can just as Nigel arrives in the window. Marlin forces Nigel into the office and the dentist drops the baggie. Marlin sees Nemo floating and believes him to be dead as the dentist grabs Nigel and forces him out the window again, Marlin calling out to Nemo. Hearing his name, Nemo pops upright but Darla takes the bag and starts shaking it, trying to ‘wake up the fishy’. Gill lodges himself into the top of Mt. Wannahockaloogie and the force of the bubbles propels him out of the tank. He lands on Darla’s head and she drops Nemo’s bag on a table full of tools, breaking the plastic. Gill falls off Darla’s head next to Nemo and flips him into the sink and down the drain using a magnifying scope as a catapult. The dentist quickly puts Gill back into the tank where he can breathe. Gill tells the others not to worry about Nemo; that all drains lead to the ocean. Darla is upset and receives a squirt of water in her face from the sink.

Nemo travels down the piping until he reaches a water treatment filtration, a series of piping that travels on the sea floor out of the harbor. Nigel flies out of the harbor with Marlin and Dory and releases them into the water, offering his condolences. Distraught, Marlin thanks Dory for helping him and begins to swim away. She asks him to stay with her and that her memory is better when he’s around, that she doesn’t want to forget. Marlin refuses and swims away, leaving her alone.

Nemo emerges from the piping and calls out for his father. He finds Dory swimming confusedly under a buoy, saying that she’s lost someone but can’t remember. Nemo offers to search with her and Dory happily complies, though she doesn’t recognize him. As they swim together, Dory comes upon a piece of piping and reads ‘Sydney’ on it. Suddenly, all of her memories come flooding back to her and she rushes at Nemo, hugging him fiercely, before leading him in the direction Marlin went. They find out that Marlin headed towards fishing grounds and reunite with him amongst a large school of fish. The school of fish then cries out in panic as a large net from a fishing boat above envelopes them. Dory is caught up in the netting and Nemo says that he must swim in and instruct the fish to swim down. Though Marlin fears for Nemo’s safety, he lets go and allows Nemo to do what he can. Marlin instructs the panicked fish from outside the net and they all soon start swimming in synch downwards, pulling the net with them until it finally snaps away from the boat, freeing all the fish. Marlin and Dory find Nemo under the heavy netting – Marlin is stricken with grief, believing Nemo is dead. Nemo regains consciousness & Marlin gently tells him that he found out that sea turtles live to be 150 years old.

Marlin and Nemo come to an understanding and all three go back to their home in the reef. Marlin’s demeanor has changed for the better and he is more upbeat and confident in his son’s abilities. He takes him to school where Dory is dropped off by Bruce, Anchor, and Chum who have included Dory in their vegetarian program. Nemo hugs his father before heading off on another field trip with Mr. Ray. Marlin watches them leave, knowing that his son will be all right.

Back at the dental office in Sydney, the dentist curses the high-tech filter which has suddenly stopped working. He complains about having to put all the fish in baggies but notices that they have mysteriously disappeared from the counter. Horns honk out the open window as Peach is the last to cross the street and land herself in the harbor with the other fish. As they float in their baggies, unable to escape confinement, Bloat wonders ‘Now what?’

Young Carl Fredricksen (Jeremy Leary), a quiet bespectacled boy wearing an old pilot’s cap and goggles, watches a film reel in a theater depicting his hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), a famous explorer. The reporter speaks of Muntz’s various accomplishments and discoveries before commenting that he was recently dishonored by scientists who believed his latest find, the large skeleton of a bird, was a hoax. Intent on proving them wrong, Muntz is seen boarding his zeppelin with his team of dogs and promises to return once he has brought back living proof of his find. After the show, Carl runs down the street with his balloon, named after Muntzs zeppelin The Spirit of Adventure. He passes an old, rundown house where he hears someone shout out Muntz’s famous slogan: Adventure is out there!

Carl goes inside to investigate and meets a young, outgoing tomboy who shares his passion for exploration and admiration of Charles Muntz. Startled by her loud, boyish demeanor at first, Carl loses his balloon in the rafters. The girl, Ellie (Elie Docter), helps him retrieve it, though Carl falls from a beam and breaks his arm. Ellie sneaks into his room that night and shows him her adventure book where she expresses a desire to one day move to the top of Paradise Falls in South America, showing him a picture that she ‘ripped right out of a library book’. She makes him promise that they will go together someday before leaving. A musical montage shows Carl and Ellie eventually getting married and moving into the old house where they first met. Their marriage is blissful and they get jobs as a balloon salesman and zookeeper, respectively. When they discover that Ellie is unable to have children, they make a pact to save money to travel to Paradise Falls. However, as the years pass, they are forced to dig into their Falls fund for other obligations. One day, an elderly Carl realizes that, despite living happily together, they never fulfilled their old promise and decides to surprise Ellie on a picnic with tickets to South America. However, Ellie’s declining health puts her in the hospital and she eventually passes away, leaving Carl alone.

Carl remains in his home, a retired and sour recluse, as the city grows around him. He is encouraged to move to a retirement home due to increased construction, but often argues with the foreman (John Ratzenberger) and refuses to leave. One day, he meets Russell (Jordan Nagai), a young wilderness explorer scout who attempts to assist Carl in order to earn his ‘assisting the elderly’ badge. Carl tricks Russell into ‘assisting’ him by telling him to find and get rid of a ‘snipe’ that invades his yard. When a construction worker accidentally breaks Carl’s mailbox, a part of the house and a part of Ellie that Carl cherishes, Carl hits him over the head with his walker. The assault lands him in court where he is forced to move out of his home by the next day. Workers from Shady Oaks retirement home arrive to pick him up the following morning but are shocked to find Carl releasing millions of helium balloons into the air which detach his house from its foundation, lifting it over the city and into the sky.

Comfortably away from the city, Carl sets a course for South America and rests in his chair until hes interrupted by a knock at the door. Upon answering, he discovers Russell hanging on to dear life on his porch; apparently, Russell had been snipe searching under Carls porch. Carl lets him in and decides to descend to return Russell home before a severe storm hits. The house is knocked around in the turbulence but Carl manages to tie most of his items down before falling asleep. He’s woken the next morning by Russell, who tells him that they’re over South America (thanks to a GPS device that he accidentally throws out the window), though the ground is hidden by a dense fog. Carl releases some balloons to descend but they hit ground early and are knocked out of the house. They manage to hold onto it using a hose attached to the porch while the fog lifts to reveal that they are standing on a high plateau opposite Paradise Falls. Unable to climb back into the house, they resolve to walk to the falls before the helium in the balloons lets out.

Meanwhile, a chase is progressing in the jungle. Three dogs with red lights on their collars are in hot pursuit of what appears to be a giant bird, but they lose the trail when their sensitive ears pick up the fine tuning of Carl’s hearing aid. Russell stops to go to the bathroom and happens upon a giant bird which he lures closer with a chocolate bar. He introduces the colorful creature to Carl and gives it the name Kevin. Kevin follows them as they continue their journey but runs off when they approach the silhouette of a man who calls out to them. However, they see that the man is nothing more than a trick of the eye caused by overlapping stones. They are then approached by a golden retriever with a red light on his collar. Russell tells him to sit and speak and is surprised when the dog answers, using the device on his collar. He tells them his name is Dug (Bob Peterson) and that he is a tracker looking for a bird, at which point Kevin tackles him. The foursome continue their journey, Carl begrudging the additional company. At one point, Kevin loudly calls out and is answered by smaller calls. Dug says that Kevin is calling to her babies and Russell realizes that Kevin is a girl.

Meanwhile, the three dogs seen chasing the bird earlier have picked up the scent of Carl and Russell, who they nickname the mailman. The leader Alpha (Bob Peterson), a doberman pinscher, tells Beta (Delroy Lindo), a rottweiler, and Gamma (Jerome Ranft), a bulldog, that they must be vigilant and continue their search. His speaking device appears to be damaged, causing him to talk in a high pitch. Using the device on Gamma’s collar, Alpha calls to Dug, who they’d sent on a false mission in order to get rid of him, but finds him in the company of the bird they’d been after. They soon track him down and come upon Carl and Russell, but Kevin has already run off. Instead, they choose to take Carl and Russell to their master. Entering a large gorge, Carl and Russell meet a large pack of dogs, all with high-tech collars on, before meeting their master – who turns out to be none other than an elderly Charles Muntz.

Muntz invites them into The Spirit of Adventure as guests, but his behavior soon turns hostile when he finds out that Russell has adopted a new pet bird. Carl is shocked to see that Muntz has spent all the past years hunting for the bird which he was deemed a fraud for and has gone mad as a result. Muntz reveals a table of head mannequins wearing various headgear and grimly knocks each one off with his cane as he describes the stories their wearers told him; claiming that each one was actually after his bird. Carl and Russell run away from the zeppelin just as Muntz discovers the bird calling out from the roof of Carl’s home. Riding on Kevin’s back and assisted by Dug, who calls Carl his new master, they barely escape capture by Muntz’s dogs, though Kevin is injured in the process. Carl agrees to help Kevin get back to her babies safely but, just before Kevin can re-enter her labyrinth home, a net flies out and captures her. Muntz and his dogs have arrived in the zeppelin, led to the spot by a tracking device on Dug’s collar. Muntz throws a lantern beneath Carl’s home, setting fire to it. Carl ignores Kevin and runs over to extinguish the flames as Muntz takes Kevin on board and leaves. Angry and disheartened, Carl yells at Dug and tells Russell that he’s taking his home to Paradise Falls if it kills him. He manages to set his house down on the Falls, but loses Russell’s respect for leaving Kevin.

Carl goes inside the house and sits down to look at Ellie’s adventure book. Saddened that she never got to see the Falls, he is about to close it when he discovers added pictures near the end, documenting their life together. On the last page is a note written by Ellie that says thanks for the adventure, now go have a new one! Enlightened and inspired, Carl goes outside in time to see Russell take off with a few balloons, using a leaf blower as propulsion. Carl empties his home of extra furniture, allowing it to become airborne once again, and follows Russell. He finds Dug on his porch and happily exclaims that Dug is his dog and he is his master. Russell manages to sneak aboard Muntz’s zeppelin but is quickly caught and tied to a chair. Muntz sits him on the ships bomb-bay doors and flips the switch for them to open. Carl flies in and manages to rescue Russell in time, setting him inside the house while he goes into the zeppelin with Dug to fetch Kevin. Hes able to distract the guard dogs with a tennis ball from his walker and frees Kevin but is confronted by Muntz. They engage in a sword fight (albeit Carl uses his extended walker) while Russell, freed of his ties, fights off a squadron of dogs in fighter planes. He regains control of the house and returns to help Carl, who has climbed to the top of the zeppelin with Kevin. Dug has, meanwhile, faced off against Alpha and outsmarted him, effectively becoming the new alpha, and runs off to meet the others topside.

Kevin, Dug, and Carl run for the house which Russell has landed on the wing of the zeppelin, but Muntz appears with a rifle and shoots at them, causing the house to slip and dangle in the air. Carl struggles to hold onto the house with the hose while Muntz goes in after Kevin. Carl lures Kevin, carrying Dug and Russell, out of the house with chocolate and Muntz attempts to jump out of the window after them. He doesn’t make the jump as his foot gets caught in some balloon strings and, weighing too much for the balloons to support him, he falls to his death. As Kevin, Dug, and Russell make it back to the zeppelin, Carl is forced to release his house, which slowly descends into the clouds, a loss which Carl accepts as being for the best.

Kevin is returned to her three chicks and Carl takes Russell and Dug home where Russell attends his senior explorer ceremony. When Russell’s father fails to present him with his final badge, Carl fulfills the role and gives Russell a grape soda badge that Ellie gave him when they first met, calling it the Ellie badge. Afterwards, they sit on a curb together in front of an ice cream shop, Carl acting as a surrogate grandfather to Russell, The Spirit of Adventure anchored above them.

The Walt Disney Pictures logo and the movie title appear to the Norwegian song “Vuelie”.

In a winter landscape, ice harvesters use saws and hooks to cut blocks of ice from a lake, chanting as they work about how ice is a powerful force that’s both beautiful and dangerous (“Frozen Heart”). They load the ice blocks onto their sled and ride off. A young eight year old boy named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) works alongside them (not very expertly), accompanied by his reindeer Sven (sounds: also Jonathan Groff). They try to imitate the ice harvesters with a single cubical block of ice and a small child’s sled, and follow them away as the Northern Lights fill the night sky.

The camera follows the Northern Lights through the sky, before panning down on a stave castle, located on the shores of a Scandinavian fjord, ringed in by cliffs. That night, Princess Elsa of Arendelle (Eva Bella) is fast asleep when her five year old sister Princess Anna (Livvy Stubenrauch) tries to wake her up, wanting Elsa to play with her. Elsa playfully brushes Anna off, until Anna asks, “do you wanna build a snowman?” to which Elsa delightfully agrees.

Fully awake, the two sisters run downstairs to the ballroom. At Anna’s urging, Elsa waves her hands, conjuring up a snow crystal, which she then shoots into the air. It explodes, raining snow down on them. To enhance the winter playground, she then stomps her foot, covering the entire floor with ice. They create a snowman that she nicknames Olaf, who likes warm hugs. The girls play gleefully with Olaf until Anna makes a leap Elsa wasn’t prepared for and the blast of power meant to create a pile of snow hits Anna in the head, knocking her out and turning several strands of her hair white. Their parents, King Agdar and Queen Idun rush in, responding to Elsa’s cries of anguish. They check on Anna and find her cold to the touch. Agdar and his wife hastily load both girls onto their horses and ride at full speed into the mountains.

As the royal family gallops through the forests at full speed, they pass by Kristoff, who is still being dragged on his sled by Sven. He becomes curious about the fact that one of the horses is leaving behind a trail of ice, in the middle of the summer.

Kristoff and Sven follow the ice trail to an empty clearing that appears to only be populated by a large assortment of moss-covered boulders. From the edge of the clearing, Kristoff watches as Agdar asks the motionless boulders to help him. Seconds later, all the boulders roll into a large circle around Agdar, Idun, Elsa, and the unconscious Anna. The rocks uncurl, revealing themselves to be trolls. The “boulder” Kristoff and Sven are watching the event from behind is another rock troll named Bulda, who immediately decides to adopt the visitors after Sven licks her.

Grand Pabbie (Ciarán Hinds), the leader of the trolls, shows up and asks Agdar if Elsa was born or cursed with her abilities. He observes that Anna is lucky she was hit in the head, as a hit to the heart would have been fatal. He advises the family that it might be best if Elsa doesn’t use her powers around Anna. He alters Anna’s memories so she has no knowledge of her sister’s powers, remembering only the fun they’ve had (for instance, Anna will remember her indoor castle ice rink as a mundane winter day). Grand Pabbie warns Elsa that her powers will grow, and although they are beautiful, they will be a great risk to her if she cannot learn to control them, as fear will be her greatest enemy.

So Agdar and Idun take measures into their own hands based on what Grand Pabbie has told them. The palace is closed to most visitors. Staffing is reduced to a minimum. Anna and Elsa are separated, and having no memory of what has occurred, Anna is unable to comprehend why Elsa is not allowed to play with her. She often comes to Elsa’s closed door and tries to coax her out by asking her if she wants to build a snowman (“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”). As a further precaution, the sisters are also kept from leaving the castle.

While Anna’s life is dull but normal, Elsa’s powers grow stronger as she matures. Her father cautions her to wear gloves to keep her icy magic in check, and to conceal her feelings, because strong emotions seem to cause her powers to manifest in unexpected ways.

Ten years after the accident, the now teenaged princesses become orphans when their parents’ ship capsizes in a storm, drowning them. After the burial, Anna goes again to Elsa’s door, pleading for consolation from her only remaining family member. But Elsa, though she sits sadly on the the other side of the door, refuses to communicate with Anna.

Three Years Later:

Elsa (now voiced by Idina Menzel) is now 21 years old, comes of age, and the castle prepares to crown her as the kingdom’s queen. Dignitaries from around Europe are coming to visit, including the Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk), who wants to run Arendelle’s profits dry.

Elsa is nervous about emerging from her seclusion and receiving the many guests. When Elsa gives the order to open the castle gates, Anna (now voiced by Kristen Bell) eagerly rushes out into the city (“For the First Time In Forever”).

As Anna strolls out onto the streets, she crashes into a horse belonging to a charming and handsome visitor, and falls into a rowboat. The visitor apologizes and introduces himself as Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana), in town for Elsa’s coronation. Though Anna is angered at first by Hans’s clumsiness (after inadvertently falling on top of her in the rowboat due to said rowboat teetering on the side of a dock and being balanced only by a leg from Hans’s horse), she seems smitten by him once she has a real good look at him. Anna runs off when she hears the church bells.

Elsa remains nervous during the coronation ceremony. The bishop (Robert Pine) has to remind her to remove her gloves before she takes up her golden orb and scepter. Holding them, she turns to face the congregation, but almost immediately panics when she sees the gold of the orb starting to frost while the bishop is bestowing her authority on her. She returns the orb and scepter hurriedly to the bishop and puts her gloves back on.

At the coronation reception a couple hours later, Kai introduces Elsa and Anna to the crowd. Anna’s first friendly interaction with Elsa in years brings quite the delightful feeling to Anna, flustered at first, as well as seeing Elsa so happy instead of serious and preserved boosts Anna’s confidence, prompting her to continue on with the conversation. They’re interrupted afterwards by Kai introducing to them the Duke of Weselton. The Duke is a buffoon (to the point that a running gag throughout the movie is people calling his home place “Weasel Town”), but an important trading partner. Elsa politely declines his offer to dance with her, but instead playfully volunteers Anna, much to the Duke’s delight nonetheless, and the two head off into a comical dance scene. Elsa can’t resist chuckling seeing Anna get innocently flustered by the Duke’s over-the-top (and incredibly terrible) dancing skills. This causes Anna to feel just as whimsical about the entire matter, for seeing Elsa in such a state hasn’t been a sight for years. Anna returns by Elsa’s side afterwards, commenting on how well things have been going through the day, and expresses her wishes to have things the way they were that night all the time. Elsa does agree, though her smile quickly fades away as memories of the night she froze Anna’s head come floating back to the surface, and she reluctantly denies Anna’s wishes all at once despite failing to explain why so.

Anna then takes to the floor with Hans. The two of them quickly sneak off to spend the evening together, quickly realizing the mutual attraction between them. The romantic dance eventually leads to an entire date (“Love is an Open Door”), with the entire night of the young couple being spent bonding. Hans, during their time together, learns of Anna’s longing of having someone special in her life, with her sister apparently developing a dislike of being around her by suddenly shutting Anna out one day when they were kids. Hans openly relates to this, only furthering Anna’s connection with him. Hans then promises to never shut Anna out unlike Elsa, much to the princess’ absolute joy.

By the end of their tour throughout the kingdom, Hans proposes right on the spot to which Anna immediately accepts. The two head back the ballroom, where Anna asks for Elsa’s blessing on the marriage. Elsa’s baffled by the shocking news, but Anna and Hans couldn’t appear more excited going on to ramble about the wedding arrangements. Elsa ceases the sudden rambling by denying them a marriage license, much to Anna’s dismay. Elsa asks to speak to Anna alone in private, likely to finally confess her abilities and why it’s not wise to marry someone she just met without causing a scene that would expose her powers, but Anna refuses any private conversation, stating whatever Elsa has to say can be said to both her and Hans. Elsa, becoming impatient and frustrated, outright refuses to let Anna marry someone she just met, indirectly telling Anna she knows nothing about true love. This causes Anna to hiss back, telling Elsa all she knows is how to shut people out. Although Elsa is visibly hurt by this, she continues to refuse, with the argument only worsening when she orders the guards to end the party early and close the gates.

Unable to contain her emotions, Elsa makes a violent sweep with her left arm, causing a barrier of sharp icicles to suddenly appear around her. Shocked at the room’s reaction to her powers, Elsa rushes from the room.

Panicking, Elsa flees with Anna in hot pursuit. As she bolts out the door, she finds a huge crowd waiting for her in the courtyard. She hastily rushes through as men applaud her. A concerned woman asks Elsa if she’s all right. She is frightened enough that she backs into an ornamental fountain and freezes it solid when she grabs it with her left hand. The Duke of Weselton comes out the same door moments later. Elsa pleads for people to step back, moments before another bolt of ice shoots from her hands, nearly hitting the Duke and his guards. She keeps running away, sprinting across the waters of the fjord, her feet forming an ice bridge, and vanishes into the forest on the other side of the fjord.

Anna calls after her sister, but as she, Hans, and the other guests watch, the waters of the fjord completely ice over and the air takes on an icy chill. Moments later, snow begins to fall.

The Duke of Weselton begins to panic, declaring they must take action and put an end to Elsa’s curse. Anna, however, refuses and volunteers to seek out Elsa herself and make things right, feeling that it’s her fault for pushing her. With Hans being left in charge of the kingdom, Anna sets out on horse to begin her search for Elsa.

Meanwhile, Elsa has found her way to a high precipice on the North Mountain, many miles from civilization. It is here she realizes that far away from what she was taught, being on her own, she can begin to control her powers (“Let it Go”). She constructs an elaborate ice palace, changes her confining wardrobe into a shimmering dress, and vows to stay in seclusion, where she feels she can be herself, and harm no one else.

The next morning, Anna is seen travelling slowly through knee-deep snow on horseback. Her journey is hindered when her horse is spooked by falling snow and runs off. She is forced to spend the rest of the day trudging through knee deep snow, all the while griping that she wishes Elsa had the ability to cover the fjords in a tropical paradise. She sighs with relief upon seeing a building with smoke coming from a chimney. Just then, Anna slips and falls into an ice-cold creek, which freezes her dress stiff. She staggers the rest of the way to the cabin with the chimney, a place known as Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna, run by its burly owner, Oaken (Chris Williams).

Anna quickly staggers into Oaken’s store. He doesn’t have much winter gear in stock (it’s supposed to be the off season), aside from one pair of boots and a single women’s mink coat. Anna inquires if Elsa has visited recently, but Oaken tells her that she’s the only person crazy enough to be out in a storm like this. As if on cue, Kristoff staggers in out of the storm, seeking to buy some rope, an ax, and carrots for Sven. Oaken can’t help but notice that Kristoff is bundled up tightly. Kristoff replies that there’s a real howler going on up on the North Mountain. As Anna waits for Oaken to return his attention to her, Kristoff argues with Oaken over the outrageous price gouging on the items he needs (due to Oaken claiming that there’s a supply and demand problem since Kristoff is buying from the almost-bare shelves of the winter department), which ends with Oaken roughly throwing Kristoff out into the snow after Kristoff makes the mistake of calling him a crook.

Kristoff and Sven take refuge in a barn on Oaken’s property, but are soon met by Anna, who has bought Kristoff’s supplies for him, on condition he take her up the North Mountain immediately. Kristoff eventually agrees.

Anna and Kristoff set off into the night with Sven driving. As the discussion turns to Elsa, Anna explains about her whirlwind engagement to Hans. Kristoff is incredulous at Anna’s foolhardiness in getting engaged to someone she just met that day, to the point that he quizzes her about Hans to see how little she really knows about him. Their conversation is interrupted when the sled is ambushed by a pack of wolves. Kristoff is initially reluctant to let Anna assist him, but Anna proves to be useful and manages to take out a few of the wolves by herself. There is a moment of panic when the two see a gaping ravine up ahead. Kristoff hurriedly throws Anna onto Sven’s back, then, just as they reach the cliff, he uses his knife to cut Sven’s harness. Anna and Sven successfully clear the chasm, and Kristoff does, just barely, but his sled falls to the bottom of the ravine and explodes. Kristoff is at first upset that his sled is gone (as he’d just paid it off), but after “arguing” with Sven (which consists of Kristoff speaking his own opinion in his own voice and then delivering Sven’s “counterargument” in a goofy voice), decides to help Anna keep going, worried for her safety. Anna promises she will replace the sled.

Early the next morning, Anna and Kristoff enter a frosted-over glen. They suddenly hear a new voice and meet a talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad). The introductions don’t go smoothly, as Anna screams and kicks Olaf’s head off upon first seeing him. Anna doesn’t recognize Olaf until he gives his name and adds, “and I like warm hugs.” This jogs Anna’s memories and she remembers building him with Elsa when they were young. Anna and Kristoff mention that they’re looking for Elsa so they can restore summertime, and Olaf suddenly grows excited; it’s his dream to see what summer is like, and he fantasizes about what he wants to do in the summertime in a Busby-Berkeley dance number (“In Summer”). Anna and Kristoff choose not to reveal that he will melt in the summer heat, but follow him as he leads them to Elsa’s ice palace.

In the late afternoon, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf arrive at Elsa’s ice palace. Sven waits at the bottom of the stairway leading up to the front doors, as his feet can’t get a grip on the icy steps. Meanwhile, when they get to the front door, Anna tells Kristoff and Olaf to wait outside, warning them that the last time she introduced Elsa to a guy, she froze everything (making Elsa look like an overprotective sister). The dejected Olaf and Kristoff wait outside and start counting to 60 while Anna heads inside.

Inside, Anna is stunned at the glorious interior of the palace and, even more amazed, to see the new ice dress Elsa has conjured for herself. Though Elsa is happy to see Anna and quickly forgives her for the argument that happened at the coronation party, she becomes nervous and suggests Anna leave so she can’t do any harm to her. The conversation is momentarily interrupted when Olaf crashes the meeting (having taken Anna’s request of “give us a minute” quite literally). Elsa is astonished to find that her powers include the ability to conjure up living snowmen.

As it turns out, Elsa is surprised to learn that her entire kingdom is frozen, and Anna is surprised in turn to learn that Elsa doesn’t know how to stop it. But Anna insists her sister’s powers are no reason why they should be so distant. However, having seen Olaf, Elsa flashes back to accidentally hitting Anna in the head with her snow abilities and grows scared, demanding Anna leave.

Elsa retreats to the upper portion of the palace, and Anna follows her, pleading with her sister that they can solve this problem together (“For the First Time In Forever (Reprise)”). But Elsa grows so upset that she unleashes an icy chill, of which a portion accidentally strikes Anna again but this time in her heart.

Elsa retreats to the upper portion of the palace, and Anna follows her, pleading with her sister that they can solve this problem together (“For the First Time In Forever (Reprise)”). But Anna’s promising to stand by her sister’s side and help her, Elsa only grows more agitated and nervous resulting in her magic flaring. Elsa, in desperation to get her sister to safety, creates a giant snow creature (that Olaf calls “Marshmallow”) to throw them out.

Marshmallow deposits Anna, Kristoff and Olaf on the front steps outside the ice palace. Though he initially leaves them alone, Anna is pissed off and quickly throws a snowball at him. Marshmallow is provoked, and chases Anna and Kristoff into the woods.

Marshmallow manages to corner them at the edge of a cliff, though Kristoff immediately begins digging a snow anchor by using a rope to safely guide himself and Anna down the mountain to safety. Marshmallow, however, catches up to them, though Olaf tries to stop him (to comically little success). Marshmallow, annoyed, kicks Olaf over the cliff, and continues his chase for Anna and Kristoff. He pulls them up to his face by the rope, and screams in their face “DON”T COME BACK!“. Anna then grabs Kristoff’s knife and cuts the rope. This sends the duo into free fall, onto a twenty foot deep pile of fresh snow. With his mission to drive them away complete, Marshmallow returns to the ice palace.

As they recover from the landing, Kristoff notices that Anna’s hair has started to turn white. Fearful that she may be injured, Kristoff takes her to his family…who happen to be a group of rock trolls – the same ones that saved Anna many years before. Kristoff explains that as he had no family at a young age, the trolls took him and Sven in.

The trolls are overjoyed to meet Anna, and at first they eagerly believe that she is Kristoff’s steady girlfriend, so they try to marry them in a dance number (“Fixer-Upper”), and almost get all the way through the vows before being stopped by the accidental participants and Anna faints. However, he tells them that she is injured and needs their assistance. Just as he did 13 years ago, Grand Pabbie comes forward and examines Anna, but concludes that this time her sister’s powers struck her in the heart. Pabbie cannot save her; Anna’s heart has begun to freeze. Grand Pabbie says “an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.” Anna collapses again and her hair turns more white. She weakly tells Kristoff that Hans can surely help, and they take off for Arendelle.

Meanwhile in the city, Hans has been providing shelter and help for Arendelle’s people. When Anna’s horse returns, riderless, Hans asks for volunteers to join him in bringing Anna back. The Duke of Weselton volunteers his two bodyguards, and secretly tells them to shoot Elsa if they should encounter her.

The next morning, Hans’s party arrives at Elsa’s ice castle. Shortly after they arrive, Hans orders that no harm is to come to Elsa. While everyone agrees, the Duke’s thugs quietly disagree, still following the Duke’s orders to kill her. The moment they come close enough, Marshmallow reveals himself from the form of snow boulders piled up by the base of the stairs, and jumps right into battle. The archer immediately attack the beast with their arrows, infuriating Marshmallow and causing his ultimate form to be unleashed. Marshmallow is able to hold most of the guards off. Hans, however, proves to be a fierce warrior himself, avoiding each of Marshmallow’s attacks and eventually using his sword to slice the snow monster’s leg off and cause him to lose balance and begin tumbling over to a large gorge. With Marshmallow wounded, Hans begins heading inside Elsa’s castle. Marshmallow, however, doesn’t give up, giving one last swing in attempt to drag Hans down with him. Marshmallow fails, and plummets down into the chasm below, apparently to his death.

While Hans has been battling Marshmallow, the Duke’s two men have managed to use the distraction to barge up the ice steps and into the castle, where they corner Elsa. Despite her pleading for them to not shoot, they shoot at her. She quickly forms walls of ice as shields to block their shots. Eventually, she has the beardless thug pinned to a wall by several icicles and is on the verge of using a wall of ice to shove the bearded thug off the balcony. Hans and his men show up just in time and Hans pleads for her to stop, so she doesn’t become the monster people accuse her of being. Elsa settles down a bit at Hans’ words, realizing what she’s doing. The guy pinned to the wall, still complying with the orders of the Duke, aims his crossbow at Elsa’s head and prepares to shoot her. Hans suddenly runs over and deflects the bow. The arrow is released and hits the bolt attaching an icy chandelier to the ceiling, which begins to fall straight for Elsa’s head. Elsa tries to run, but the falling chandelier fragments and knocks her unconscious.

When Elsa wakes up, she’s back at the castle in a dungeon cell, her hands chained and encased in steel mitts. As she looks out over the frozen kingdom, Hans appears, telling Elsa that Anna has not returned, and pleads with her to stop the winter. Elsa claims she can’t, and must be let go to keep others from being harmed.

Meanwhile, Kristoff and Sven arrive at the castle. Anna’s condition has grown worse Kristoff tries to keep her warm by giving her his hat. Several of the castle staff escort her in; she looks back as Kristoff and Sven leave. Anna is brought to Hans and tells him that he has to kiss her in order to save her.

The castle staff in the room quickly leave to give them privacy. She explains what happened and she collapses. Hans places Anna in a chair, leans in as if to kiss her… and says “Oh, Anna, if only there was someone here who loved you!” As Anna looks at him in shock, Hans explains that as the youngest of 13 brothers, he had no chance at claiming his family’s throne, so he went looking for a royal family he could marry into. Unable to get to Elsa, he made Anna’s acquaintance and played on her naivete. He intended to marry her before causing some form of “accident” for Elsa that would clear his path to the throne.

However, given Anna’s current condition, he plans to simply let her frozen heart overcome her, then stab Elsa, ending the eternal winter. Anna tries to stop Hans, but he extinguishes the fire in the nearby fireplace before locking her in the room. It is then that Anna collapses, her hair now completely turns white.

Hans goes to speak with the duke of Weselton and several other dignitaries. He claims that Elsa has caused Anna to freeze to death, but before she died he and Anna recited their wedding vows. This apparently is enough to give him full authority to declare Elsa guilty of treason and sentence her to death.

The palace guards go to Elsa’s cell, but are detained when a wall of the cell collapses. While they are held up, Elsa freezes her shackles to the point that they shatter, and then breaks through the wall to the outside.

Meanwhile, far from Arendelle, Kristoff and Sven are trekking away when Sven urges Kristoff to go back. Kristoff claims he has no need to, but as they look back at Arendelle, a mysterious swirling cloud of snow begins to engulf the kingdom. The two then take off towards the growing danger.

Olaf has managed to find Anna in the locked room, and seeing her freezing, quickly lights a fire in the fireplace. Anna explains that Hans wasn’t her true love, and that Olaf should leave or he’ll melt. However, the little snowman says he will not leave her side until he finds an act of true love that can save her. As they talk, Olaf recalls how Kristoff did so much to get her back to save her, when the wind blows a window open. Olaf goes to close it, but in the distance he sees Kristoff and Sven charging towards them.

This gives Anna hope. She realizes that they’re in love: maybe Kristoff can save her. Olaf helps her up, but in the hallway, ice springs up to block their path. Going out a window, the two slide down the castle’s steep roofs. Anna attempts to make her way across the icy fjord, with Olaf close behind. However, as the wind picks up, Olaf is blown away, and Anna finds her hands are turning to ice and her face is icy. Even so, she continues to move forward, calling out Kristoff’s name.

Meanwhile, Hans has found Elsa wandering the ice of the fjord. Thinking he’s come for her, Elsa tells him to leave her alone, and take care of Anna. Hans lies and says that Anna was killed by Elsa’s magic. The pain of this causes Elsa to collapse, the snow in tears and in the air the snowflakes are suddenly hanging in stillness.

The clearing of the whiteout enables Kristoff to see Anna, and he runs to her, but as Anna looks around, she sees Hans about to stab Elsa. Even with her own life at stake, Anna rushes in front of Hans, blocking the knife. As she does so, her frozen heart finally consumes her, turning her into a statue of ice, and shattering Hans’ blade.

Kristoff and Sven arrive seconds later. Seeing Anna turned to ice, Elsa breaks down in tears, hugging her sister. No one is sure what to say, when Anna’s icy form begins to change and gain color, and she returns to normal! Anna broke her own spell: saving Elsa was an act of true love. And her hair turns back to normal and her streak is gone.

It is then that Elsa realizes what can end the winter: love. And with this realization, she dissipates the ice and snow, and summer returns to the kingdom. Olaf is found, and before he can melt, Elsa creates a perpetual snow flurry above his head, which lets him survive the summer heat.

In the aftermath, Hans is taken back to his kingdom by a French ambassador, who promise to see he is punished for his attempted regicide. The duke is as hotheaded as ever and tries to play the innocent victim. But remembering that he sent two men to kill her, Elsa issues a decree to sever all trade with Weselton. To piss the duke off even further, she tells the messenger to call his duchy “Weasel Town.”

Meanwhile, Anna makes good on her promise and replaces Kristoff’s sled. She also tells him that Elsa has appointed him the castle’s official ice deliverer. Kristoff is so grateful that he kisses her. If he wonders why a queen who can conjure ice out of thin air needs ice deliveries, he keeps the question to himself.

Having come to grips with her powers and learning they can be a blessing and not a curse, Elsa uses them to create a wintry spectacle in the summer sky. She also turns the castle’s courtyard into an ice rink, where she informs Anna that the gates to the castle will never be closed again. With the city’s people in attendance, the sisters skate around the rink, happy that they are finally together again.

In Los Angeles, California, in a world of humans and anthropomorphic animals co-existing, The Bad Guys, a gang of notorious, criminal animals led by the cool-headed Mr. Wolf and known for their brazen thefts while eluding the authorities, attempt to steal the Golden Dolphin award from guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV after being insulted by Governor Diane Foxington on-air. During the heist, Wolf inadvertently helps an old woman he intended to pickpocket and is praised for the good deed, leading to Wolf finding himself affected by his wrongdoings and Marmalade’s speech about goodness. After the gang are exposed and arrested, Wolf then persuades Marmalade to instead attempt to reform them, planning to take advantage of the pretense to try to steal his award again. Marmalade invites the Bad Guys to his home, but his lessons prove a frustrating struggle with them seemingly unable to adapt to the concept of good behavior.

Eventually, Marmalade’s idea of having them go on a rescue mission, “a heist for good,” to save laboratory guinea pigs proves a fiasco from second-in-command Mr. Snake’s temptation with eating guinea pigs. Foxington decides to call off the experiment, but relents when Wolf confesses that he despairs being hated for his species. Foxington admits that she understands and confesses that she has hope for him. Wolf contemplates the matter and finds himself rescuing a cat from a tree, which Marmalade records and releases as a viral video. The resulting publicity turns the public image of the Bad Guys around, as the cynical Snake suspects he is losing touch with his friend.

When the Bad Guys execute a new heist at the grand gala, planned in celebration, Wolf cannot bring himself to finish the plan and betray the newfound trust he earned. However, a rare heart-shaped meteor is stolen framing the Bad Guys for its theft. When the gang is arrested once again, Marmalade meets them in private and tauntingly reveals that he stole the meteorite, and was disguised as the old lady Wolf saved earlier, to manipulate the gang into taking the blame. As the embittered Bad Guys are taken to the SUCM prison, Wolf explains to his gang that he doesn’t want to be a criminal anymore, but a notorious rival criminal, The Crimson Paw, rescues them, revealing herself to be Foxington, a reformed criminal herself.

Upon reaching safety, the Bad Guys bitterly abandon Wolf for betraying them, but are aghast when they return to their hideout and find it completely emptied of their loot, as Wolf revealed its location to Foxington as compensation for his crimes. The Bad Guys are despondent enough for Snake to give his last possession to the childish Mr. Shark, making the rest of the Bad Guys realize that they can change their ways and help Wolf, but Snake denies that it represented any change of heart before abandoning them himself. Meanwhile, Wolf and Foxington break into Marmalade’s home to steal the meteorite, only to be captured by Marmalade, who reveals that Snake has allied with him and brags how he intends to use the meteor’s power to control an army of guinea pigs to rob the city. However, the two are rescued by the remainder of the Bad Guys and take the meteorite in an attempt to stop Marmalade’s plan.

In the resulting battle, the Bad Guys managed to stop the robberies but they decide to get Snake back despite his betrayal. During the attempt, Marmalade turns on Snake and the Bad Guys risk their lives to save him, bargaining with Marmalade for his safety. After rescuing Snake, the Bad Guys foil Marmalade’s plan and surrenders themselves to the authorities. Marmalade attempts to take credit for recovering the meteorite, but the meteor is revealed to be a disguised lamp planted by a secretly-redeemed Snake, who pulls off the masterstroke of his undercover plan to help Wolf by destroying the actual meteorite, outsmarting a shocked Marmalade. Marmalade is also framed as the Crimson Paw, completely destroying his reputation, and leading him to be arrested for his crimes.

The city of Monstropolis in a world entirely populated by monsters is powered by energy from the screams of human children. At the Monsters, Inc., factory, skilled monsters employed as “scarers” venture into the human world to scare children and harvest their screams, through doors that activate portals to children’s bedroom closets.

The factory has a huge warehouse containing thousands of doors, work areas called “scare floors” where the doors are activated and the energy from the screams of human children are contained in energy containers, and a simulator room in which employees practice their scare skills in a simulator. Work at the factory is considered dangerous, as human children are believed to be toxic.

The story takes place in Monstropolis, a city populated entirely by monsters. Monstropolis is not part of the human world, but it can be connected to children’s bedrooms through their closet doors. When a door is properly activated, it becomes a portal between the monster world and the human world. The city’s power supply is provided by Monsters, Inc., a utility company that employs monsters to scare children and extract energy from their screams. The company has a huge warehouse full of doors, work areas called “scare floors” where the doors are activated, and a special training room in which employees practice their scare skills. The company’s best scarer is James P. “Sully” Sullivan (Goodman), whose assistant is his best friend, Michael “Mike” Wazowski (Crystal). Sulley’s main rival is Randall Boggs (Buscemi), and the company’s CEO is Henry J. Waternoose III (Coburn). Monstropolis is in the middle of an energy crisis because children are harder to scare than they used to be.

One day, Sully finds an activated door on his scare floor after the workday has ended. He finds no one in the room behind the door, but a little two-year-old girl (Gibbs) follows him back into the monster world. Far from being scared, she calls him “Kitty” and delights in playing with him. Since monsters believe humans are lethally toxic, Sully tries repeatedly to return the girl to her room, but she keeps following him back, and Randall eventually deactivates and stores the door, leaving the girl stuck in the monster world. The girl’s presence becomes public knowledge after Sully sneaks her into a restaurant to find Mike, so they hide her in Sully’s home while the Child Detection Agency (CDA) searches for her. Sully eventually names the girl “Boo”, and he slowly bonds with her after realizing that she is not poisonous. He also discovers that her laughter produces even more energy than her screams.

The next morning, Sully and Mike disguise Boo in a monster costume and sneak her into work. Randall agrees to help them return her to her bedroom, but when Mike enters the room, Randall captures him in a box, believing he is Boo. Randall intends to kidnap Boo and subject her to a device that extracts her screams.

What follows is a sequence of battles, chases, and mishaps in which Sully and Mike attempt to protect Boo from Randall and his scream machine. Waternoose reveals that he is in cahoots with Randall and banishes Sully and Mike to the Himalayas, where they meet the Abominable Snowman (John Ratzenberger), but Sully and Mike return to the monster world through a village at the foot of the mountain, where Randall chases them through the company’s roller-coaster-like door-moving system. When the energy in Boo’s laughter activates the doors in storage, the chase passes in and out of the human world. Finally, Sully and Boo defeat Randall. Sully throws Randall through the door of a trailer-park trailer, where a woman beats Randall with a shovel, and Mike destroys the door to make sure Randall never comes back.

Just as Sully and Mike attempt to return Boo to her home, Waternoose and the CDA call her door to the scare floor, ready to arrest them, but Mike leads the agents away by fleeing with Boo’s monster costume, and Sully escapes with Boo and the door. When Waternoose follows Sully and Boo, Sulley attempts to set up and activate the door, and when Waternoose follows them through the door, he tells Sully he is willing to kidnap children in order to save the company. However, Sully had not properly activated Boo’s door, causing the three to actually wind up in the adjacent Monsters, Inc. training room, which is equipped with a video monitoring system. Mike has recorded Waternoose’s confession, and after he replays the confession, CDA agents arrest Waternoose.

With the scream-machine plot foiled, the CDA agents call in their leader, who has been working undercover as Roz (Bob Peterson), the company’s bookkeeper. Mike says goodbye to Boo and Sully returns her to her bedroom, then Roz has the door shredded, preventing monsters from ever visiting Boo again. Sully keeps one of the wood splinters as a memento.

Some time later, Sully is the CEO of Monsters, Inc., and the company has ended the energy crisis with his policy of making children laugh instead of scaring them. Meanwhile, Mike has collected and reassembled the pieces of Boo’s shredded door. When Sully puts his piece in its place, the door is activated again, and when he peeks into Boo’s room, she greets him.

In Santa Cecilia, Mexico, Imelda Rivera was the wife of a musician who left her and their 3-year-old daughter Coco, to pursue a career in music. She banned music in the family and opened a shoe-making family business. Ninety-six years later, her great-great-grandson, 12-year-old Miguel, now lives with Coco and their family. He secretly dreams of becoming a musician like Ernesto de la Cruz, a popular actor and singer of Coco’s generation. One day, Miguel inadvertently damages the photo of Coco with her parents at the center of the family ofrenda and removes it, discovering that her father (whose face is torn out) was holding Ernesto’s famous guitar.

Concluding that Ernesto is his great-great-grandfather, Miguel ignores his grandmother Elena’s objections and leaves to enter a talent show for the Day of the Dead. He enters Ernesto’s mausoleum and steals his guitar to use in the show, but becomes invisible to everyone in the village plaza. However, he can see and be seen by his Xoloitzcuintli dog Dante and his skeletal dead relatives who are visiting from the Land of the Dead for the holiday. Taking him there, they realize that Imelda cannot visit as Miguel removed her photo from the ofrenda. Discovering that he is cursed for stealing from the dead, Miguel must return to the Land of the Living before sunrise or he will become one of the dead: to do so, he must receive a blessing from a member of his family using an Aztec marigold petal that can undo the curse placed upon him by stealing Ernesto’s guitar. Imelda offers Miguel a blessing but on the condition that he abandon his musical pursuits when he returns to the Land of the Living; Miguel refuses and attempts to seek Ernesto’s blessing.

Miguel encounters Héctor, a down-on-his-luck skeleton who once played with Ernesto and offers to help Miguel reach him. In return, Héctor asks Miguel to take his photo back to the Land of the Living so he can visit his daughter before she forgets him and he disappears completely. Héctor attempts to return Miguel to his relatives, but Miguel escapes and infiltrates Ernesto’s mansion, learning along the way that an old friendship between the two deteriorated before Héctor’s death. Ernesto welcomes Miguel as his descendant, but Héctor confronts them, imploring Miguel to take his photo. Miguel soon realizes that Ernesto murdered Héctor using a poisoned drink and stole the songs he had written, passing them off as his own to become famous. To maintain his legacy, Ernesto steals the photo and has Miguel and Héctor thrown into a cenote pit.

Miguel realizes that Héctor is his actual great-great-grandfather and that Coco is Héctor’s daughter, the only living person who still remembers him. With the help of Dante - who turns into an alebrije - the dead Riveras find and rescue them. Miguel reveals that Héctor’s decision to return home to her and Coco resulted in his death, and Imelda and Héctor reconcile. They infiltrate Ernesto’s sunrise concert to retrieve Héctor’s photo from Ernesto and expose his crimes. Ernesto is crushed by a falling church bell as in his previous life, but the photo falls into the water and disappears.

As the sun rises, Héctor is in danger of being forgotten by Coco and disappearing. Imelda blesses Miguel with no conditions attached so he can return to the Land of the Living, where he plays a song for Coco that Héctor wrote for her during her childhood. The song sparks her memory of Héctor and revitalizes her, and she gives Miguel the torn-out piece of the photo from the ofrenda, which shows Héctor’s face. Elena reconciles with Miguel, accepting both him and music back into the family.

In Italy during the the Great War, the carpenter Geppetto loses his son Carlo during an inadvertent aerial bomb. Geppetto honors his memory by planting a pine cone near his grave and spends the next twenty years mourning his loss. An anthropomorphic cricket named Sebastian takes up residence in the resulting pine tree. Geppetto subsequently cuts down the tree in a fit of drunken rage in order to make a new son out of its wood. He passes out drunk, leaving the puppet unfinished, and a bluish Wood Sprite brings it to life, christening him Pinocchio. The Sprite meets Sebastian and promises to grant him a wish, which he intends to use in order to become famous, in exchange for acting as Pinocchio’s guide.

Geppetto later discovers that Pinocchio is alive and locks him in a closet while he goes to church, but Pinocchio follows him and frightens the villagers. The next day, he sends Pinocchio to school, but the puppet is intercepted by the former aristocrat-turned-showman Count Volpe and his performing monkey Spazzatura. Volpe convices Pinocchio to join his circus and gets him to sign a contract. After Geppetto arrives to bring Pinocchio home, he and Volpe have a tug-of-war that results in Pinocchio being thrown to the road where he is hit by a car.

Pinocchio is sent to the afterlife where he meets Death, the sister of the Wood Sprite. She explains to Pinocchio that he is immortal and that he will return to the mortal realm once an hourglass has flowed, cautioning that the time he spends in the afterlife will increase each time he returns. Returning to the mortal realm, Pinocchio decides to join Volpe’s circus, both to earn cash for Geppetto and to avoid being drafted into the Royal Italian Army by the strict Podestà. When Sebastian and Geppetto search for him at sea, they are swallowed by a giant Dogfish. During one of his performances, Pinocchio sings a toilet-humour ladened parody of a previous patriotic song to Prime Minister Benito Mussolini as revenge for Volpe’s abuse and is shot, dying once more. He is again revived, but is taken by the Podestà to a training camp where other small boys train themselves to fight in the war. Pinocchio befriends the Podestà’s son, Candlewick, who is scared of disappointing his father and being seen as weak. On Pinocchio’s advice, Candlewick stands up to his father but the training camp gets bombed, killing the Podestà.

Pinocchio manages to escape and is captured by Volpe, wanting revenge against the puppet for humiliating him earlier, but Spazzatura intervenes and they are sent over a cliff, with Volpe meeting his demise. When Pinocchio rescues Spazzatura, they are swallowed by the Dogfish, where they soon reunite with Geppetto and Sebastian. Pinocchio tells some lies to make his nose grow in order to make a bridge leading out of the Dogfish’s blowhole. Just as they escape, the Dogfish tries to eat them again, forcing Pinocchio to sacrifice himself by detonating a naval mine. Upon meeting Death again, he demands to be sent back early so that he can save Gepetto from drowning, despite the fact that this will result in his death. After rescuing Gepetto, Pinocchio dies, prompting Sebastian to use his wish to make Pinocchio come back.

The film opens on a Wanted poster for Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) which is mounted to a tree. Flynn’s voice narrates: “This is the story of how I died. But don’t worry, this is actually a fun story and the truth is it isn’t even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel, and it starts with the sun.”

Centuries ago, a droplet of sunlight falls from the sky and lands on Earth. When it touches the ground, a radiant, yellow flower blossoms. This flower is said to be capable of great healing power. One day, an old crone named Gothel (Donna Murphy) finds the flower and discovers that, when she sings a certain song to it (“Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine, what once was mine”), it emits a power that restores her youth. Vain and possessive of the flower, Gothel hides it beneath a woven basket and regularly returns to it to keep herself young.

Time goes by and soon a prosperous kingdom is built up nearby. The ruling king and queen of Corona desperately wish for a child and, when the queen finally becomes pregnant, the entire kingdom celebrates. However, the queen soon falls deathly ill. Upon hearing a rumor that speaks of the legendary sun flower, the king spares no time and dispatches his soldiers to find it. Soon enough, the soldiers discover the flower that, in her haste to hide, Gothel forgot to cover. They bring it back to the castle and distill it into an elixir which is given to the queen. To everyone’s great relief, she recovers and soon gives birth to a beautiful baby girl who, unlike her brunette parents, has shining golden hair. The royal family marks the occasion by lighting a paper lantern decorated with the emblem of a sun and release it into the sky.

Gothel, however, is not pleased. She is determined not to lose the magical powers that gave her eternal youth, so she breaks into the castle late one night and finds the baby princess lying in her crib. She recites the old song and the baby’s hair glows just as the flower had. Gothel attempts to cut just enough hair to keep but the clipped hair turns brown in her hands, void of its power. Desperate, Gothel resolves to kidnap the princess and flee with her deep into the forest. She takes the baby to a secret tower hidden in an alcove where she gives her the name Rapunzel and raises her as her own daughter. She teaches the girl to sing the old song to make her hair glow and restore Gothel’s beauty and keeps her hidden from the world, telling her that it is for her own safety and that anyone on the outside wouldn’t hesitate to steal her magic hair. The only access to the world Rapunzel has is a wide window from which Mother Gothel comes and goes, using Rapunzel’s 70 foot long hair as a rope ladder. Despite playing the part as ‘mother’, Gothel often cruelly teases Rapunzel and guilt-trips her whenever she is upset or disappointed, dramatically proclaiming, “now I’m the bad guy”.

As the years pass, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) becomes fascinated by an annual event that seems to happen only on her birthday. That night, every year, she witnesses thousands of floating lights in the sky, brighter than the stars and beautiful in all their colors. Unknown to her, it is the releasing of the paper lanterns that her biological parents are making in tradition of their daughter who they hope will return to them one day. Eighteen years later, Rapunzel is a creative young woman, finding numerous ways to keep herself entertained during the day while Mother Gothel is away, including painting, cleaning, brushing, and playing hide and seek with her pet chameleon Pascal. Though she is happy with her life in the tower, she longs to someday explore the outside world and see the place where the lanterns in the sky come from.

Within the kingdom, standing on the roof of the castle, young thief Flynn Rider goes over the plans to his latest heist with his associates, the Stabbington brothers (Ron Perlman). They use a rope to lower Flynn into the throne room where the missing princess’s prized tiara sits on a guarded pedestal. Flynn steals the priceless artifact and is hoisted back to the roof with the palace guards hot in pursuit, led by the Captain of the Guard (M.C. Gainey) and his loyal horse, Maximus. The thieves make it outside the kingdom and seek refuge in the forest but soon come to a dead end in a ditch. The Stabbington brothers tell Flynn that, if he gives them the satchel with the tiara in it, they’ll hoist him up to the high ledge above. Once at the top, they then command that Flynn help them up. But Flynn reveals that he still has the tiara in a second satchel. Double crossing the brothers, he ditches them and runs into the forest.

Seeking refuge, Flynn comes to Rapunzel’s tower and climbs the vines to the open window above. Seemingly alone, he takes the tiara out of his satchel to admire it, but Rapunzel knocks him out with a frying pan. She and Pascal step forward cautiously to investigate the intruder. Pascal, using his color schemes, advises Rapunzel to be wary of the young man since Gothel has often told stories of men bearing sharp teeth. However, Rapunzel finds nothing outwardly menacing about Flynn and hides him in her closet as Mother Gothel comes home. Rapunzel decides that she will show Mother Gothel the young man, proving that she can take care of herself, in hopes that she will be let out of the tower for her approaching 18th birthday. However, when Rapunzel plucks up the courage to ask to leave the tower and see the floating lights, Mother Gothel spurns her request. She tells Rapunzel that the world is much too dangerous for someone as naïve as her and that she is never to leave the tower, singing that “Mother Knows Best”.

Rapunzel solemnly promises not to ask to leave the tower again and, thinking it pointless now, keeps from telling Mother Gothel that she has a stranger locked away in her closet. Instead, she asks if Mother Gothel could restore her white paint by collecting special white seashells for her birthday. Mother Gothel is hesitant about making the three day journey to the shore, but acquiesces and leaves. Once out of sight, Rapunzel takes Flynn out of the closet and uses her hair to tie him up to a chair. When he comes to, she proposes a deal. She will give him his satchel with the tiara back (which she has hidden) if he takes her to see the floating lights and brings her back to the tower before Mother Gothel returns. Flynn reluctantly agrees.

Outside the tower, Rapunzel digs her toes into grass for the first time and runs about the forest in bursts of elation and panic while Flynn can only watch. While excited to be out in the world for the first time, Rapunzel feels equally ashamed for having defied her mother. Despite her guilt and confusion, she assures Flynn that she is fine enough to continue the journey. Hoping to dissuade her, Flynn takes her to the nearby Snuggly Duckling Inn, a tavern which is frequented by an assortment of thugs and bandits. Flynn’s plan to scare Rapunzel into going back to the tower backfires when the thugs recognize him from wanted posters and attempt to hold him for a reward while one of their associates goes to tip off the guards. Rapunzel pleads with them to release Flynn and asks if any of them have ever had a dream. Her innocence melts their hearts and they all confess their dreams. When the guards arrive at the inn, they stage a distraction to help Rapunzel and Flynn escape through a secret tunnel and encourage her to live her dream.

As they make their way down the tunnel, the horse Maximus arrives at the inn and sniffs Flynn’s trail to the secret trapdoor. He leads the guards to a large quarry where they corner Rapunzel and Flynn. Maximus unhinges a large wooden beam to try and get to them but this renders the dam overlooking the quarry unstable. It collapses and a wave of water surges into the quarry. Rapunzel and Flynn become trapped inside a cave as falling rocks block the entrance. Water begins to flood into the cave and, realizing their doom, Rapunzel and Flynn each admit a secret to the other. Flynn confesses that his true name is Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel tells him that her hair glows when she sings. However, she realizes that she can use that to her advantage and begins singing. Her glowing hair illuminates a break in the rocks where water flows out and Flynn manages to dislodge the rocks, injuring his hand slightly, and break out the other side.

Meanwhile, Maximus the horse jumps out in front of Mother Gothel startling her, she immediately panics that his rider (a palace guard) has located Rapunzel and rescued her. She is shocked to discover Rapunzel gone and even more surprised when she finds the tiara hidden under the staircase with a satchel and a wanted poster of Flynn. Bent on retrieving Rapunzel, Gothel takes the satchel and tiara and sets out to search for her. She manages to track Rapunzel to the Snuggly Duckling, through the secret passage, into the quarry, and through the cave into the forest once more. There, she is confronted by the Stabbington brothers, but uses them to her advantage by bargaining their help for the tiara, revenge against Flynn for double-crossing them, and ‘something worth much more’.

That evening, Rapunzel and Eugene set up camp and Rapunzel reveals to Eugene that her hair does not just glow as she wraps it around his injured hand. She sings and, as her hair glows, it heals Eugene’s injury, to his shock. He asks her not to spread word of his true name for fear that it would ruin his reputation, explaining that he adopted his current pseudonym of ‘Flynn Rider’ as an orphan, inspired by stories of a thief named ‘Flynn’. Growing up, he dreamed of having enough money to travel the world and relished the freedom of it all. Even so, Rapunzel tells him that she actually prefers his real name.

When Eugene leaves to gather more firewood, Mother Gothel appears to Rapunzel from the nearby bushes and tells her that they must return to the tower. Rapunzel refuses to leave and tells Mother Gothel that she thinks Eugene likes her. Mother Gothel scoffs at the idea and tells Rapunzel that Flynn is only interested in one thing before revealing the satchel with the tiara. She tells Rapunzel to prove her wrong and test Eugene by giving him the satchel but not to come crying if he takes it and leaves. Unsure but fearful that Mother Gothel may be right, Rapunzel hides the satchel as Flynn returns. They settle down for the night while Gothel and the Stabbington brothers keep an eye on them nearby.

The next morning, Eugene wakes to see a soaking wet Maximus glaring angrily down at him. Maximus attempts to carry Eugene off but Rapunzel befriends the horse and convinces him to let Eugene stay with her until after she sees the floating lights. Maximus relents but accompanies the pair as they travel into the kingdom. The marketplace is alive with vendors and townsfolk preparing for the sky lantern festival and Rapunzel’s hair is tightly braided to prevent it from dragging. While she and Eugene tour the kingdom, she notices a large tile portrait of the Royal family, including a baby with golden hair. Eugene finds himself growing fond of Rapunzel and, as the time for the lanterns to be released approaches, takes her out on a boat to the middle of the lake surrounding the castle. There, they watch in awe as the lights are released and the sky is filled with a soft orange glow. One lantern with a sun emblem on it floats down and Rapunzel gently pushes it back skyward. She then reveals the satchel she had been hiding to Eugene but, unlike what Mother Gothel predicted, he puts it aside and takes Rapunzel’s hands in his.

Before they can kiss, Eugene spies the Stabbington brothers on the nearby shore. He rows the boat in, tells Rapunzel to wait, and goes to meet them with the satchel. Realizing that he cares more about Rapunzel than the tiara, he gives the satchel to the brothers but they reveal they’re no longer interested in the tiara. While she waits by the boat, Rapunzel is shocked to see the Stabbington brothers approach. They tell her that Eugene betrayed her trust and point to his silhouette in a boat on the lake before attempting to kidnap her for her hair’s power. Horrified, Rapunzel tries to run but her long hair gets caught on a tree log. Before the brothers can grab her, Mother Gothel appears and knocks both of them unconscious. In tears and promising to never disobey her again, Rapunzel leaves with Mother Gothel back to the tower.

Eugene’s boat, meanwhile, docks just outside the palace. Maximus watches from nearby as Flynn comes to, having been knocked out and tied to the mast of the boat with the tiara beside him. The guards on the dock immediately arrest him.

Back within the confines of the tower, Mother Gothel comforts Rapunzel and tells her that they shall put this whole experience behind them. As she walks up to her room, Rapunzel notices a recurring theme: all around her, painted on the walls and embroidered on her bed sheets, is the same sun emblem that she saw within the kingdom and on the very lantern she pushed skyward. She remembers the baby with golden blonde hair held by her brown-haired parents and suddenly realizes that she is the missing princess! She confronts Gothel about this who admits the truth but maintains that everything she did was for Rapunzel’s protection. When Rapunzel asks what’s to become of Eugene, Gothel tells her that he is to be executed. Enraged, Rapunzel goes to leave but Gothel resolves to ‘be the bad guy’ and approaches her menacingly.

As he is led to the gallows, Eugene sees the Stabbington brothers incarcerated in their own cell. He demands to know what has happened to Rapunzel and they admit that they were acting under the promises of Mother Gothel to get Rapunzel back. Eugene struggles to escape, knowing that Rapunzel is in danger, but is unable to. Maximus then arrives with a few of the thugs from the Snuggly Duckling (Jeffrey Tambor, Brad Garrett, Paul F. Tompkins, and Richard Kiel) and they help Eugene break out so that he can ride out to Rapunzel’s tower.

Beneath the tower, he calls out to Rapunzel and her hair is let down for him to climb. When he reaches the top, however, he finds Rapunzel bound and gagged in a chair. Before she can warn him, Gothel emerges from the shadows and stabs Eugene in the side with her dagger. He reels back, falling against a vanity mirror and breaking the glass. Gothel then tells Rapunzel that she will take her far away where no one will ever find her. Struggling against her gag, Rapunzel promises that she will go with Gothel willingly if she is allowed to heal Eugene. Gothel agrees and Rapunzel goes to the dying Eugene. Before she can begin singing he pulls her close and cuts her hair with shard of glass. With the enchantment broken, Rapunzel’s hair turns into its normal brown and Gothel staggers back as her skin begins to wrinkle. Horrified by her reflection, she trips over some of Rapunzel’s cut hair and falls out the window. By the time her cloak hits the ground, she’s rapidly aged into a pile of ashes.

A Dystopia in the Future

Approximately seven hundred years in the future, the Earth is over-run with garbage and devoid of plant and animal life, the consequence of years of environmental degradation and thoughtless consumerism. The surviving humans are living on the spaceship Axiom after vacating Earth centuries earlier. Axiom is operated by a large corporation called Buy N Large, whose BnL logo appears even on the artificial sun visible from the ship’s main concourse. The original plan was for humans to live in outer space for 5 years while cleaning robots (“WALL-Es” invented by Professor Simon) prepared Earth for recolonization. However, after seven hundred years, only one WALL-E (voice: Ben Burtt) remains.

WALL-E spends his days compacting debris into solid blocks and building structures with them. He also collects some of the more interesting artifacts and keeps them in the garage he shares with a cockroach, his only friend. At night he watches Hello Dolly on VHS and dreams of having a hand to hold. Most of his finds are spare parts and electronics but one day he discovers a lonely plant. Not sure what it is, but recognizing that it needs soil and care, he picks it up and puts it in a dirt-filled old shoe.

The next day, an enormous spaceship lands and deposits another robot, EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, voice: Elissa Knight). WALL-E is immediately smitten and hopes to hold her hand, but EVE is quick to use her plasma cannon, which can blast a hole through anything. EVE flies around Earth looking for vegetation but becomes distraught upon not finding any. WALL-E is finally able to approach her and takes her back to his garage where he shows her his collection of human artifacts. She still resists holding his hand, however, so he shows her the plant he found. This activates her prime directive: she takes the plant into a special containment capsule within her body, sends a signal to the mother ship, and goes into hibernation mode. Confused, WALL-E tries to make her safe and comfortable. He shelters her from thunderstorms and takes her to a park where he can watch the sunset next to her.

Several days later, the mother ship returns and collects EVE. WALL-E hitches a ride on the ship, which returns to the Axiom several light years away from Earth. EVE and WALL-E are examined in the landing bay. EVE, still in hibernation mode, is taken away to the ship’s commander. WALL-E pursues her, followed by M-O (voice: Ben Burtt), a cleaning robot who is intent on scrubbing the filthy WALL-E to remove foreign contaminants (i.e. dirt or earth). On the way, WALL-E sees humans for the first time. Obese and largely unable to move on their own, they are carted around the Axiom in hover chairs with video screens that allow them to communicate with one another and see a variety of advertisements for drinkable food products. When WALL-E accidentally knocks one of the humans, John (voice: John Ratzenberger), off his hover chair, WALL-E helps the man back into the chair and introduces himself. Confused but grateful, John introduces himself in return.

WALL-E tracks EVE to the chambers of Captain McCrea (voice: Jeff Garlin), who is just as inert and catered to as the other humans. McCrea is confused but excited about Operation Recolonize, which is triggered by EVE’s find. But when McCrea reactivates EVE and orders her to produce the plant, it is missing. McCrea orders EVE and WALL-E to be taken for repairs but, after they’ve left, decides to educate himself about Earth. In the repair bay, WALL-E mistakenly thinks EVE is being harmed by the repair crew and uses her plasma cannon to save her, inadvertently releasing other robots who had been taken in for service. During the breakout, security robots take photos of them; the ship’s computer announces to humans that EVE and WALL-E are renegade robots. Angry, EVE takes WALL-E to an escape pod to send him back to Earth. Before she can put him in the pod, they see Gopher putting the plant in the escape pod. After Gopher leaves, WALL-E goes to rescue the plant but is blasted into space. Before the pod self-destructs, WALL-E uses the emergency escape hatch and a fire extinguisher to exit the pod with the plant. A joyous EVE plays in space with WALL-E and even gives him an appreciative electric kiss.

Using the garbage chute, EVE and WALL-E sneak into McCrea’s cabin to give him the plant. But Auto (voice: MacInTalk), the ship’s auto pilot system, reveals it was the one who stole the plant earlier. It has no intention of allowing a return to Earth because of a centuries-old directive that was issued when the Earth was believed to be permanently uninhabitable. Auto blasts WALL-E, EVE and the plant back down the garbage chute and confines McCrea to his cabin. WALL-E and EVE barely escape being shot into space with the rest of the refuse but WALL-E is badly damaged. Meanwhile, McCrea has figured out how to hack into the ship’s communication system and tells EVE and WALL-E to head to the ship’s central deck, where a special machine will return the ship to earth when the plant is placed inside it. With the help of the robots they liberated earlier, WALL-E and EVE make it to the central deck where the special machine has risen from a platform. Auto tries to force the machine back into the platform but is prevented by WALL-E. McCrea manages to stand up on his own and shuts off AUTO. EVE puts the plant in the special machine and the Axiom is whisked back to Earth.

Agent Rick Dicker (Jonathan Banks) is interviewing a boy named Tony Rydinger. Tony tells him how he met up with a classmate named Violet Parr (Sarah Vowell) at a track meet, and they agreed to go on a date together. Later, in the parking lot, a supervillain who called himself the Underminer (John Ratzenberger) burrowed up through the ground and said he was declaring war on peace and happiness. Everyone else scattered, but Tony found himself with no easy escape route, so he ducked behind a car and watched what unfolded. He saw a family of superheroes in matching suits, and the mother told one of the kids to patrol the perimeter and keep people away, and the other one to watch the baby, Jack-Jack. As the parents went after the Underminer, Tony saw an opportunity to escape, but then he recognized the voice of the girl. The boy ran off with super speed to do perimeter duty, leaving her alone with the baby. Frustrated, she ripped off her mask and threw it on the ground. Then Tony saw that she was Violet. Seeing him looking at her, she walked up to him and tried to explain, but he just ran away. He tells Rick that he feels bad about what he did, and he wishes he could just forget ever seeing Violet in her super suit.

The Underminer bored back into the ground, setting off an underground explosion that caused bank buildings to collapse into the ground. Drilling through the vaults, he used a tube with vacuum suction to grab cash from the vaults. Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) confronts him, and the Underminer turns toward him, sucking him into the tube. He landed in the tunneler’s storage vault and banged his way out with super strength. The Underminer puts the borer on autopilot, and the two of them fought. Mr. Incredible pushed the Underminer into the borer’s control panel, smashing it. The Underminer jumped into the vault and escaped, leaving Mr. Incredible to deal with the now out-of-control drill. It burst through the surface into the street. Dash (Huck Milner) saw a dust cloud in the distance and ran toward it, with Violet pushing Jack-Jack in his stroller and running after Dash. Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) stretched herself from one building to another, catching up to the careening drill. It slammed into a support column, destroying the monorail track right as a vehicle approached. Suddenly, their friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) glided in and made a track that guided the monorail safely to the ground. The borer was still running down the street, scraping the sides of buildings along the way. The drill hit a car and flung it into the air, and Dash ran up to an old woman and pulled her out of the way just before the car crashed down. Violet caught up to him and handed off Jack-Jack in the stroller. Elastigirl stretched herself out across an overpass, stopping cars from getting on a bridge as the drill destroyed the supports. Mr. Incredible grabbed a fallen streetlamp and threw it into the treads, but it soon snapped. Dash ran up to him and put Jack-Jack in his hands. Violet threw up force fields to protect bystanders from the machine. Mr. Incredible ran past her and handed Jack-Jack back to her. Elastigirl jumped into the open hatch of the borer, with the rest of the family chasing after it. They saw that it was heading straight for City Hall. Elastigirl stretched out through the engine, trying to spill the coolant so it would overheat. Mr. Incredible jumped in and helped her, and they stopped the drill just short of City Hall. Violet and Dash jumped in, and she put a force field around the whole family just before the engine blew. Looking out the hatch, they saw themselves surrounded by cops with their guns drawn.

Rick Dicker gives the family a ride, and Violet tells them that Tony had seen her without her mask. Rick brings them to the hotel room where they’ve been staying since their house had been destroyed. Rick tells them that the Super Relocation Program has been shut down, and he can only let them stay in the hotel for two more weeks, after which they’ll be on their own. They say goodbye to him, and sit down at the table to eat Chinese takeout. Violet asks them if they’re going to talk about the day’s events. Helen tells them that things are different now, with supers being forbidden to do hero work. Violet asks if that means they’re going to go back to never using their powers. After going back and forth, Helen slams her hand down on the table, ending the conversation. Later that night, after the kids fell asleep, Bob and Helen are sitting at the hotel pool, wondering what they’re going to do. Helen tells him that one of them will have to get a regular job. Suddenly, Lucius shows up, and he offers to let the family move in with himself and his wife, Honey (Kimberly Adair Clark) after their time in the hotel is up. Then he tells them that during the Underminer attack, a man who represents the business tycoon Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) handed him a business card, and said that Winston wanted to talk to Lucius, Bob and Helen. With no other options, they agree to the meeting.

The three of them show up outside a huge building, the headquarters of DevTech. They get security badges and take the elevator to the top floor, and are greeted by Winston. A woman also walks up and Winston introduces her as his sister, Evelyn (Catherine Keener). He tells them he saw what they did with their kids earlier, and they shoot each other a look, realizing he knows their secret identities. He says he used to work for Rick years ago, before the Supers were forced into hiding, and he explains that Rick was a huge fan of them. Rick had a direct phone line installed in the Deavor house, so they could call the Supers any time they needed them. Winston tells them that one night thieves broke into their house, and his father tried to call Gazerbeam and Fironic, but since Supers had been outlawed, neither one of them answered. The thieves found his dad and shot him. A few months later, Winston’s mom died from heartbreak. He says that if the Supers hadn’t been in hiding, it never would have happened. Evelyn counters that her dad should’ve hidden himself at the first sign of trouble, and Winston explains that they’ve had that argument forever. Since then, Winston and Evelyn built DevTech, a telecommunications company, with the goal of righting some wrongs. Winston and Evelyn explain that the Supers have been in hiding because of the people’s perception. All they see is the destruction the Supers cause, not the hard decisions they make or the lives they save. To change that, Evelyn shows them that there are cameras in their badges, and says their new super suits will have cameras as well. Winston says they just need to be super, and he’ll make sure they’ll all be legal again some day. Enthusiastically, Bob asks what their first assignment will be, but Winston says that Elastigirl should be the first Super that the public sees in action. Bob reluctantly agrees, but Helen is still unsure.

Back at the hotel, Bob asks Helen why she wouldn’t want to take the opportunity, and she explains that the children will need her. Dash is struggling with math, and Violet is nervous about her upcoming date with Tony. Jack-Jack, being a baby, will naturally need lots of attention, whether he has powers or not. Neither of them knew that he had used his powers once before, to escape from being kidnapped by Syndrome, since at the time they were on the ground and he was high in the air, beyond their sight. Bob tells her that the choice is to change the world to allow their children to be who they are, or to possibly soon be homeless. She asks if he’ll be okay watching the kids, and he says he can handle it with no problem. Lying down to sleep, they knew tomorrow they’d tell Winston that Elastigirl was in.

Winston sends a limo to pick up the family and take them to a huge house that he owns, and he says they can stay as long as they need. Later, Elastigirl comes out of the bathroom wearing her new super suit, one that was designed by Alexander Galbaki. Bob teases her that when Edna Mode (Brad Bird) finds out, she won’t be happy. Helen finds a note from Evelyn saying there’s something in the garage for her. She goes out and finds a motorcycle that can split into two parts. Bob watches as she takes off down the street. The next morning, Bob fixes breakfast for the kids, and Violet asks him if Helen is breaking the law by doing hero work. Bob is relieved to see the school bus pull up, and sends the kids off.

That night, Violet gets ready for her date with Tony. Bob reads Jack-Jack a bedtime story, and the baby falls asleep. Bob then tries to help Dash with his math homework, but Dash tells him they want the problems done a certain way, and then says he’ll just wait until Helen comes home. The TV turns on, and Bob is surprised to see Jack-Jack sitting on the couch. He takes him back up to his room and reads another story.

In the city, Elastigirl is in attendance at the unveiling ceremony of a new hovertrain. The mayor gives a speech as the Deavors watch in a studio through Helen’s bodycam. The mayor cut the ribbon, and the train got its first group of passengers. It lifts up and suddenly takes off in the wrong direction. Elastigirl jumps on her cycle and takes off after it. Riding through tunnels and on rooftops, she is able to land on top of the train. Before she can plan her next move, the train goes into a tunnel. She ditches the bike and flattens herself on the roof. She reaches the engineer and finds him staring straight ahead. Coming out of the tunnel, Elastigirl makes herself into a parachute and slows the train to a stop. Going back to the engineer, she notices a pulsing light in his cabin. A message appears on a monitor saying “Welcome back, Elastigirl–The Screenslaver”

Bob keeps trying to get Jack-Jack to stay in his bed, with no luck. Going downstairs, he finds Violet, who never left for her date, and she tells him not to say anything. Bob goes back to the living room and sits Jack-Jack down next to him and falls asleep. On the TV, a movie is playing with a masked robber holding a man at gunpoint. Jack-Jack sees the masked man, and then looks out the window and sees a raccoon rummaging through the trash. He walks up to the window and is able to pass through it with his powers. Grabbing a half-eaten chicken leg away from the raccoon, he throws it back in the garbage can and uses another power to lift the lid with his mind and slam it down on the can. Then laser beams come out of his eyes, just missing the raccoon. Bob wakes up from the commotion and goes outside to grab Jack-Jack. Just then, the baby split into six separate copies of himself. Bob realizes that Jack-Jack has multiple superpowers. Taking Jack-Jack back inside, Bob gets a call from Helen. She asks him how things are going, and he lies and says the kids are just fine. She tells him about saving the runaway train, and he turns on the TV to see news reports about the dramatic rescue. She thanks him for taking care of the kids, and they hang up. Bob puts Dash and Jack-Jack to bed, and then cracks open Dash’s math book. Later, he wakes up Dash and tells him that he understands the math problems and can help Dash before school starts.

Elastigirl is getting ready to be interviewed by a news anchor named Chad Brentley. Chad is interviewing a foreign ambassador as Helen sits in a green room, nervously waiting for her turn. A stage hand comes in and walks her toward the stage. The ambassador sees Helen and greets her enthusiastically. Chad introduces Elastigirl to the audience, and she walks out to the stage. Suddenly, Chad’s eyes glaze over and he starts talking in a robotic monotone. Following his eyes, Helen notices a blinking light on a screen. She looks away just in time to avoid being hypnotized herself. Chad says that everyone is being controlled by screens. Helen makes her way to the control room, where she finds everyone staring ahead blankly. The robotic voice continues, saying that the screens are being controlled by the Screenslaver. The voice says the Screenslaver will hijack the ambassador’s aerocade, and Helen runs and smashes a window. Stretching herself out of the building, she climbs on a rooftop and sees three helicopters airborne. Launching herself like a slingshot, she crashes through one of the helicopters’ windows, but the ambassador isn’t there. She tells the pilot to get her close to another copter, and she makes the jump. Finding the ambassador in the back, she breaks open the door to the cockpit and sees the pilots in a trance. She smashes the screen with the blinking light to bring them back. Just then, the third chopper smashes into them. Struggling to gain control, she asks the pilots if they can swim, then pushes them out so they land in the river below. Then she grabs the ambassador and slings herself into the air, making a parachute to bring the ambassador safely to the ground.

The next morning, Bob is getting the kids ready for school. Violet looks awful and tells him that yesterday at school, she asked Tony why he stood her up, and he acted like he didn’t know her at all. Bob tells her that Rick has had to erase many people’s memories after they found out his or Helen’s secret identity. Violet realizes that Rick had erased Tony’s memory, after Bob told him to. Stomping off, she grabs her super suit and stuffs it in the garbage disposal and turns it on. But since the suit is indestructible, nothing happens to it. Angrily, she grabs it and throws it against the wall, vowing never to be a hero again.

Helen is in a limousine, being given a ride back to the DevTech building. There, a group of people cheer for her, making her feel proud, but she knows the Screenslaver is still out there. Inside, Winston hands her a newspaper that has a headline about the ambassador giving a pro-Super speech, and he tells her their plan is working. She tries to be enthusiastic, but she’s still worried about the Screenslaver. He leads her into a room filled with other superheroes in costume. One of the women introduces herself as Voyd (Sophia Bush), and demonstrates her power to make portals that can instantly transport people or things anywhere. Other supers come up and introduce themselves as Screech, Brick, Reflux and He-lectric. They all chatted a while, and Helen is proud of the positive effect she’s had on them. Talking with Evelyn, Helen hits upon a plan to lure the Screenslaver out. Evelyn will make a tracking device, and while Chad interviews Helen remotely, they’ll track the signal.

Bob calls Rick and asks him if he remembers wiping Tony’s memory, then explains that he went too far, erasing all memory of Violet from his mind. Rick replies that memory wiping isn’t an exact science. Bob asks Rick for any information he has about Tony, and Rick tells him that Tony’s parents own a restaurant where he works after school. That night, Bob takes the kids out to dinner. Violet wonders why he’s taking them across town to one specific restaurant. Sitting down at the table, they’re greeted by their waiter, Tony. Startled, Violet shoots water out of her nose, and Tony offers her napkins to clean herself up. Bob tries to push Violet into chatting with Tony, but she just gets more embarrassed and angry. She pushes herself away from the table and walks out of the restaurant.

At the station, Chad is talking with Helen through a monitor, and she tells him that she’s at a secure, undisclosed location. She’s actually on top of the building, on a transmission tower. Chad shows footage from the hovertrain rescue, when the Screenslaver appears on the monitors. Activating her tracker, Helen locates the source of the signal. The Screenslaver rants about how people are controlled by screens because they’re lazy. Meanwhile, Elastigirl vaults from one building to another, zeroing in on the source. Finally, she arrives at an apartment building. Snaking her arm under the door, she unlocks it and runs in. The Screenslaver appears behind her and pushes her and himself into a giant cage, then zaps her with a taser. He turns on blinking lights to hypnotize her, but she manages to push him out of the cage and slither out herself. They fight around the room, then he runs out the door, activating a timer on the way out. She runs after him, and he activates a fire alarm, causing others to come running out. He slips down an elevator shaft and onto a rooftop, with Helen in pursuit. Suddenly, he leaps off the roof. Helen jumps after him, grabs him and makes a parachute. As the timer hits zero, the building blows up, and she reaches up and grabs the mask off his face. On the ground, he’s led away in handcuffs by the police, acting confused. Helen thanks Evelyn for setting up the tracker.

Back at the house, Dash asks Bob for help with his new math lesson. Watching TV, Bob sees a story about how a car called the Incredible, a car he once owned when he was a public superhero, had been bought by a billionaire at an auction. Thinking the car had been destroyed along with his house, Bob angrily rummages through some boxes and finds the old remote control for the car. Pressing a button, he makes the car start on the screen. Dash snatches the remote and starts pressing buttons. Everyone in the studio takes cover from the seemingly live car. Bob grabs the remote back and powers it down. Suddenly Jack-Jack sneezes and teleports himself into Violet’s room. She runs down the stairs screaming, as Jack-Jack now has turned into a red monster, chasing after her. Jack-Jack turns back into his normal self, and Dash and Violet realize he has powers, and Bob hadn’t told them. Violet asks if he told Helen, and he says no. When she asks why, he angrily tells them that he’s Mr. Incredible, and he’s trying to hold the house together through everything. Taken aback, Violet says that she’s going to call Lucius.

Lucius comes over, and he sees Jack-Jack suddenly turn invisible. Weary, Bob grabs cookies and holds one up to lure Jack-Jack out. He reappears, grabs the cookie and munches on it. Bob tells Lucius that he can’t keep giving Jack-Jack cookies, but when he stops, the red monster appears and starts biting Bob’s arm. Desperate for some relief, Bob takes Jack-Jack and drives up to Edna’s house. Seeing him looking like he hadn’t slept in days, she invites him in. He tells her that he needs some alone time, and asks if he can leave Jack-Jack with her. Jack-Jack looks at her face and transforms his own nose to look like hers. Bit by bit, he transforms the rest of his face to match her. Fascinated by his powers, she agrees to take him and quickly shoves Bob out the door. Bob goes back to the house and collapses on the sofa. He apologizes to Violet for having Rick erase Tony’s memory, then making things worse at the restaurant. He says he’s just trying to be a good dad, and Violet replies that he’s not good, he’s super. She hugs him, before realizing that he fell asleep sitting up.

At the Deavors’ house, a party was going with video playing of Elastigirl catching the Screenslaver. Winston announces that Supers will be legal again, and he triumphantly holds up the Screenslaver’s suit and goggles, saying that Elastigirl is the one who made it all possible. He says they’ll sign an agreement on his ship, the Everjust, and it will be televised around the world. Helen rewatches the footage of the Screenslaver capture, and she realizes that something isn’t quite right. She slips away to the control room and watches some of the raw footage. Evelyn comes in behind her with drinks, happy to be away from the crowd. She tells Helen that her brother knows how to handle people, but she herself never knows what they want. Helen asks her what she thinks they want, and she replies that people value ease more than anything. Helen tells her that she thinks catching the Screenslaver was too easy, then she notices that one of the Screenslaver’s monitors is tuned into her suit camera. Evelyn says that he must have hacked into the closed circuit, but Helen replies that if he was able to do that, he wouldn’t just have simple locks on his door. She realizes that he himself must have been hypnotized by the goggles he was wearing, and she grabs the goggles to inspect them. With a swift move, Evelyn forces the goggles onto Helen’s head.

Bob wakes up groggy, and realizes he had been sleeping on the couch. Violet took off his shoes and gave him a blanket and pillow. Later, he goes to Edna’s house and thanks her for watching Jack-Jack. She says that she stayed up all night, working on a suit that will control all of his powers. Putting Jack-Jack into the testing chamber, she shows Bob how Jack-Jack’s suit can anticipate which of his powers he’s about to use. When Jack-Jack turns into a flame, the suit activates an extinguisher with blackberry-flavored fire retardant spraying all over him, and he happily licks it up. Relieved at finally having some control, Bob takes Jack-Jack and puts him in the car.

As the blinking lights in the goggles go out, Helen wakes from her trance, finding herself strapped to a chair. Trying to move, she lets out a scream of pain. Evelyn comes on the intercom and tells her that the temperature around her is below freezing, and that if she tries to stretch, she’ll break. Helen realizes that Evelyn is the real Screenslaver, and the person she locked away was an innocent victim. Helen tells Evelyn that she counted on her, and Evelyn asks her why, because she built her a bike? Evelyn says that they didn’t really know each other. Helen asks about her brother, and Evelyn replies that he’s weak, depending on the Supers to always save him, just like his father did. Helen asks if she’s going to kill her, and Evelyn says that she plans to use her instead.

Back at the house, the kids see Jack-Jack in his new suit. Bob demonstrates how he can now control the baby, with Jack-Jack using his laser eyes on command. Then Jack-Jack uses his warp power to disappear, and Bob shows them a device to scan for his location. Seeing him in the corner, Dash holds out a cookie, which Jack-Jack reappears to grab and chomp down. The phone rings, and Evelyn tells Bob that Helen is in trouble. She says she doesn’t want to say what happened on the phone, and it’s best if he meets her at DevTech, where the ship is docked. Bob immediately calls Lucius and tells him to watch the kids, and to bring his super suit, since things might get weird. Suspicious at Bob’s sudden leaving, Dash runs and grabs the car’s remote control, and Violet gets out the super suits and has them all put the suits on. The doorbell rings, and they open it to see the other supers from the party, all being controlled with a pair of goggles.

Voyd tells them that they’re not safe, and the Deavors sent them for protection. Just then, Frozone runs up and stands between them and the kids, telling them they’re not needed. He tries to shut the door, but they block him. Dash presses a button on the remote, activating the Incredible, which blasts out of its garage and flies toward the house. Frozone blasts the Supers with an ice wall and slams the door. Dash grabs Jack-Jack as the Supers force their way in. Dash tries to run outside, but he keeps finding himself still inside the house, thanks to Voyd’s portals. As Frozone is fighting Screech, Violet creates a force field around herself and her brothers to shield them from He-lectrix’s zapping blasts. As Krushauer tries to crush the force field, the Incredible flies in and stops just before them. Dash and Violet get in and escape, but the other Supers grab Frozone and put a pair of goggles on his head.

Evelyn takes Bob to see Helen on the ship, and as soon as he walks in, Helen starts punching him in the face. Stunned at first, Bob tries to fight back, but he can’t bring himself to attack his wife. As she comes at him with more punches and kicks, he grabs her and tries to break her trance. She kisses him, and with surprise, he kisses back. Then she stretches and grabs a pair of goggles from Evelyn and puts them on his head.

Evelyn tells Winston that the heroes are on the ship, resting, and he orders the ship to head out. In the Incredible, Dash and Violet take a moment to decide what to do. They realize they have only themselves, the car and Jack-Jack. They get to the DevTech building and see the ship take off. Dash wishes the car could follow the ship, and it drives itself off the dock and into the water. Jetting itself along, the car quickly catches up to the ship. Violet asks how they’ll get on the ship, and Dash replies that it would be great if the car had ejector seats. A message flashes across the dashboard, “Ejector seats activated.” Suddenly they find themselves flying through the air toward the ship. Violet surrounds them with a force field, allowing them to land safely on deck. Just then, Winston activates the ship’s hydrofoil, causing it to float out of the water. Evelyn has Winston gather the supers in a room for the signing ceremony. Violet sees them go into the room, then comes back to Dash to find that Jack-Jack had gone missing. Using the tracker, they find him going up in an elevator. They go to follow, but are cut off by Voyd, who attacks Violet. She tries to fight back by using force fields, but Voyd keeps opening portals to deflect them. Dash takes off after Jack-Jack, but he realizes Violet isn’t behind him, so he runs back and speed-punches Voyd before she can put goggles on Violet.

The kids find Jack-Jack in a hall and grab him. With the other Supers coming behind, they hide in a vent. Trying to keep Jack-Jack quiet, they give him the tracker to play with. Hearing Jack-Jack coo, Krushauer uses his power to crush the vent. Getting angry, Jack-Jack transforms into a giant baby and bursts out of the vent, knocking out Krushauer and destroying the tracker. Violet uses a cookie to calm Jack-Jack, who grabs it and goes smashing through the walls, heading toward the room where the Supers are gathered. Turning back to his normal size, he teleports through the last wall. Dash and Violet look for another way in. As the signing ceremony goes live, Evelyn takes control of all of the Supers, having them tell the world that they don’t serve the people anymore, only themselves. They reach toward the camera, and the feed goes dead.

Back at the studio, Chad awkwardly tells the audience to stand by as they sort out their technical issues. On the ship, Evelyn watches as Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone lock the delegates in the room with the other Supers. They head up to the bridge and quickly disarm a guard, who gets on his radio and exclaims that Supers have taken the ship. Elastigirl turns the steering wheel, guiding the ship on a path toward the city. Mr. Incredible crushes the wheel, rendering the ship unsteerable. Dash and Violet follow Jack-Jack to the bridge, and without hesitation, their parents and Frozone attack them. Violet throws up a force field for protection, and Jack-Jack floats through the air, landing in Elastigirl’s arms. With her momentarily confused, Jack-Jack reaches up and rips off her goggles. Evelyn orders Mr. Incredible and Frozone to grab her, but she rips off their goggles.

The other Supers burst in and attack, and Jack-Jack transforms into a monster. Elastigirl is surprised to see that he has powers. He-lectrix tries to attack Violet, but monster Jack-Jack rips off his goggles. Soon, all the goggles are off and the Supers stop fighting, but the ship is still heading for the city. Evelyn grabs Winston and heads for a jet. Bob tells Helen to go after her, to finish the mission, while they handle the ship. Bob goes for the engine compartment, but is confronted by Krushauer, still wearing a pair of goggles. He tries to crush Bob with the walls, but he quickly jumps out of the way and hurls a piece of debris at Krushauer, knocking off his goggles. Krushauer is free from his trance, but now the room is filled with debris, blocking his entrance to the engine room. Winston is coming out of his camera-induced trance, and he realizes his sister is the Screenslaver. She pulls him into the jet, but he jumps out before she takes off. Running back to the room, he turns off the screen that was keeping everyone hypnotized, and orders them all to the back of the ship. Elastigirl and Voyd go to the deck and see Evelyn taking off. Voyd opens a portal for Elastigirl to use, and she lands on top of the jet. She forces her way in, and Evelyn starts flying wildly, flinging Elastigirl all around the cabin. Elastigirl makes her way to the pilot’s chair and is about to punch Evelyn, but she puts an oxygen mask on herself and starts climbing rapidly. With the air getting thinner, Elastigirl starts to feel weak.

On the ship, Mr. Incredible tells the others that he can’t stop the ship, and Dash suggests turning it from the outside. Frozone freezes one of the foils, causing it to break and sending the ship back down to the water. Mr. Incredible lowers the anchor, wrapping himself in the chain. He gets plunged into the water, with Dash waiting for him to turn the rudder. As time passes, Dash gets increasingly worried. But then, the ship starts to turn, and Dash presses the button to lift the anchor.

On the jet, Evelyn kicks Elastigirl in the face. Spotting a flare gun, Elastigirl fires it at Evelyn’s oxygen tank, creating an explosion that sends Evelyn flying out the window. Elastigirl puts the jet on autopilot, swings out the window, grabs Evelyn and makes a parachute. Refusing to be saved by a Super, Evelyn kicks herself free and starts falling again, but Elastigirl grabs her again and Voyd opens a portal over the water, depositing them both safely on the ship’s deck.

With the ship turning away from the city, a large wave gets kicked up. Frozone freezes it to create a cushion for the side of the ship to run into. As such, even though the ship runs aground into the city on a sideways trajectory, it is otherwise brought safely to a stop without significant injury or property damage. Helen turns to Bob and asks if she missed Jack-Jack’s first power, and he says more like the first seventeen. Evelyn is led into a police car in handcuffs, and she tells Helen that saving her life doesn’t make them right, but Helen is unfazed at her enemy’s remark. Bob tells Violet that she should try introducing herself to Tony again. Days later, a judge rules that Supers should be made legal again. At school, Violet walks up to Tony and introduces herself. They chat for a while, getting to know each other again.

“Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend…” A mysterious panda donning a flowing cape and sedge hat walks through the Chinese landscape. Reputed to be a grand master of kung fu, he enters a tavern where he is immediately attacked by the local ruffians. However, they are no match for his skill and even the legendary kung fu masters, the Furious Five, bow down to the panda’s skill, requesting to hang out with him and fight alongside him as…

…Po the giant panda (Jack Black) wakes up from his dream in his room. His goose father, Mr. Ping (James Hong) calls to him from the noodle restaurant below to help serve tables. Po admires his Furious Five action figures before going downstairs. An extreme fan of Kung Fu, Po dreams of one day becoming a master worthy of fighting alongside the Five but his girth and clumsiness makes this dream simply a dream and his kung fu talents reside only within his knowledge of moves and artifacts. He is hesitant to express his desires to his dad who is more interested in running his restaurant and advertising his famous ‘secret ingredient soup’.

Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), a red panda who resides at the Jade Palace temple, practices kung fu in the courtyard with his students, the Furious Five; Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Mantis (Seth Rogen), before he is summoned to see tortoise Grand Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim). Fearing something is wrong, Shifu rushes to find him meditating in the grand hall. Oogway doesn’t deny bad news but calmly tells Shifu he’s predicted that the snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will escape prison and return to the Valley of Peace to wreak destruction once again. Intent on never letting this happen, Shifu sends his goose messenger, Zeng (Dan Fogler), to fly to Chor-Gom Prison to ensure that security is increased. Oogway then proclaims that it is time to choose the Dragon Warrior; a master of great skill who will be granted the secrets of the universe by reading the Dragon Scroll, kept delicately out of reach on the temple ceiling. Assuming that one of the Furious Five will be chosen, Shifu prepares a competition to determine which one will qualify.

Flyers for the competition are spread throughout town and the villagers flock to the temple. Excited to have the opportunity to see his idols in person, Po follows with his noodle cart in tow but struggles on the long staircase to the temple. He is the last to arrive at the gates and finds that they’ve shut him out. In a desperate bid to see the competition before it’s over, Po fashions fireworks to his cart and blasts himself high into the air, only to come crashing down in the arena just as Oogway is preparing to choose out of the Five. Po opens his eyes to see Oogway’s finger pointed right at him and is shocked, along with everyone else, when he is proclaimed to be the Dragon Warrior. Oogway’s decision is final, despite Shifu’s protests, and Po is carried (unsuccessfully) into the temple leaving Tigress greatly disappointed since it seemed Oogway would have chosen her if Po hadn’t arrived.

Inside the temple, Po examines, with awe, the many weaponry and valuable artifacts before Shifu approaches him and berates him for his obvious lack of skill. He deflates Po’s excitement by grabbing his finger in what Po recognizes as the Wuxi Finger Hold, reputed to be extremely powerful. Shifu promises that Po will regret ever being chosen before taking him to the Fives training room where Po is promptly put to the test. Nervous, but excited to try some kung fu moves, Po accepts the challenge but is hurtled, flung, and beaten down to a now-existing Level 0.

On the way to the dormitories, Po overhears the Five poke fun at his incompetence. He has an awkward conversation with Crane, opening up to his own doubts of being the Dragon Warrior. Tigress assures his doubts, calling him a disgrace to kung fu and tells him that, if he is wise, he will leave by morning. Disheartened, Po retreats to a secluded spot. Oogway finds him sitting beneath the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom with peaches stuffed into his mouth. Sensing his distress, and noting that he finds comfort in food, Oogway tells Po that he worries too much about what was or what could be. He should instead focus on the present moment rather than doubting himself.

Renewed with a sense of determination, Po rises the next morning before anyone else and announces that he will stay to train. He spars with each of the Furious Five, receiving swift beatings despite his undeterred enthusiasm. Frustrated by Po’s perseverance, Shifu is at a loss. However, the Five become impressed by Po’s fortitude and eventually start to warm up to him, with the exception of Tigress. During an acupuncture session with Mantis, the Five reveal that Shifu was not always as stern as he currently is. Tigress explains that Tai Lung himself was the reason for Shifu’s shift in personality. Having found him as a newborn on the steps of the temple, Shifu raised Tai Lung as his own and began to hope that he was the fabled Dragon Warrior when the cub displayed a natural talent in kung fu. However, when the time came to stand before Oogway, the grand master sensed darkness in Tai Lung and denied him the honor of receiving the Dragon Scroll. Enraged, Tai Lung went on a rampage through the village and attempted to take the scroll by force. Caring for him too much, Shifu was unable to fight Tai Lung and Oogway was forced to defeat him by blocking his chi. Tigress then says that Shifu never cared for anything or anyone since, not even her; his own foster daughter.

Meanwhile, Zeng arrives at Chor-Gom Prison and is escorted to Tai Lung’s hold by the over-confident Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), a rhinoceros. Vachir assures Zeng that the prison is inescapable as one of Zeng’s feathers falls within reach of Tai Lung. Using his tail, he uses the feather to remove the chi-blockers in the turtle-shell contraption on his back and break free. Tai Lung escapes the prison in an explosive display of his fierce kung fu abilities and grabs Zeng, instructing him to fly back to Shifu to announce that the real Dragon Warrior is coming home.

Back at the temple, Po entertains the Five with some noodle soup he prepared, imitating Shifu using a noodle as a mustache. Outside, Shifu is met by a disheveled Zeng who relays the news. Panicked, Shifu finds Oogway beside the Sacred Peach Tree and tells him that Tai Lung is on his way. Oogway is shocked, but assures Shifu that, if he finds faith in the panda and trains him, Tai Lung will be defeated and Shifu will finally find inner peace. He then gives Shifu his wooden staff and claims that his time has come. He walks near the edge of the cliff side and vanishes in a haze of peach blossoms. Shifu returns to the temple, disconsolate, and informs the Five of Oogway’s passing and how Po is their last chance to defeat Tai Lung. Horrified, Po flees from the temple but is soon stopped by Shifu. Po confronts Shifu, saying that he tried to kick him out of the temple. When Shifu asks Po why he then stayed knowing that his teacher wanted him to quit, Po confesses a deep self-loathing as a fat failure how he held out a faint hope that Shifu could change him. As Shifu realizes how spiritually burdened the giant panda is, Po asks how he will train him to become the Dragon Warrior. Facing such an challenge with a student so encumbered in multiple respects, Shifu admits that he doesn’t know.

Overhearing this from the temple roof, Tigress leaves the Jade Palace and runs out to the countryside, soon followed by the rest of the Five, to meet Tai Lung head on. They find him crossing the Thread of Hope, a series of bridges through the mountains. They attempt to stop him on the last bridge. After an epic battle, the Five gain the upper hand and appear to have defeated Tai Lung, tying him to the remains of the severed bridge and sending him into the mist below. However, Tai Lung’s skills prove superior, and he surprises them by flinging himself onto the cliff and overpowering them with a chi block.

Rising that morning, Shifu finds Po in the temple kitchen, surrounded by cabinets with perfect hole punches in the doors and boards broken clean in two. Shifu entertains an idea and tells Po where Monkey keeps his cookies before hiding behind the doorway. He reenters and sees Po performing a perfect split near the ceiling, chowing down on the cookies. Realizing Po’s latent talent, Shifu takes him high into the Wu Dan Mountains to the Pool of Sacred Tears where Oogway founded the origins of kung fu. With a dramatic flourish, Shifu proclaims to be Po’s master, with full faith in his student at last. With that emotional support, Shifu begins his rigorous training Po, using food as a reward. Po’s unique training proves to be successful and he grows stronger and more coordinated while Shifu’s own spirits rises and advances at Po’s rapid improvement. Shifu’s faith in Po is vindicated in an increasingly energetic duel over a dumpling that becomes a wild spar in which the Giant Panda fights with powerful and innovative skill to win. However, it is when Po throws back the dumpling he won that Shifu has truly advanced, with a newfound emotional strength and serenity.

They return to the temple as Crane flies in, carrying the rest of the Five, who have been paralyzed by Tai Lung’s attacks. Shifu rejuvenates them but Po is discouraged by the fact that five masters could not overpower Tai Lung; how could he? Shifu assures him that he will have what no one else has; the Dragon Scroll. Shifu retrieves it for Po and instructs him to read it, but Po exclaims in surprise to find nothing but a blank, reflective glaze on the scroll. Terribly disappointed, Shifu relents to have the Five evacuate the village while he remains at the temple to hold Tai Lung off. The Five reluctantly agree and Po returns to his father who is packing up the noodle shop. Ping tries to console Po, but Po admits that hes not sure of who he is and can’t believe he’s Ping’s son. Taken aback, Ping whispers to Po something he should have told him long ago; the secret ingredient to his famous secret ingredient soup. The secret is… nothing. He explains that something becomes special if people truly believe that it is. Po opens the scroll to see his reflection on its glazed surface and realizes the secret before turning back to the temple.

Shifu waits at the top of the steps until Tai Lung arrives. Refusing to give his old student the scroll, Shifu battles Tai Lung. Tai Lung demands his birthright to have the scroll and blames Shifu for planting dreams in his head of what he thought was his destiny and not standing up to Oogway when the turtle disagreed. Shifu, while fending off his adoptive sons’ attacks, justifies that he is obeying his master’s judgment and it was Oogway’s decision to make alone. However, when Tai Lung see Master Oogway’s memorial, the snow leopard sneeringly counters that Shifu has obviously replaced the late Master and thus the red panda now has the authority to arbitrarily overrule Oogway’s decision. Infuriated at the idea of disrespecting his teacher’s legacy like that, Shifu goes on the attack.

In the battlle, Tai Lung wails, with a subtle undertone of grief and abandonment, at Shifu to tell him how proud he is and Shifu admits that he was proud from the first moment, but it was his pride that blinded him from seeing what Tai Lung was becoming. Tai Lung is momentarily moved by this confession, but his vindictive ambition spitefully reasserts. Denying any interest in apologies or any reconciliation with his foster father, Tai Lung demands only the scroll. He is stopped from dealing a deadly blow to Shifu by Po, who appears, exhausted, at the doorway of the temple. Baffled by the Dragon Warrior’s pudgy exterior, Tai Lung nonetheless attacks Po when he reveals the Dragon Scroll in hand. Their battle takes them into the village, each one vying for possession of the scroll. At one point, Po imagines the scroll as a bowl of dumplings to encourage him to climb a high precipice to get it, but Tai Lung is convinced that the scroll is giving him power.

After a protracted battle, Tai Lung finally wins the scroll and triumphantly opens it for the supposed power within. However, upon seeing the golden reflection within, he completely fails to understand its symbolic meaning. When Po rises to explain it, Tai Lung refuses to accept the panda’s words or the fact that everything the snow leopard has betrayed and sacrificed in his eyes has been for apparently nothing.

Now consumed with such enraged despair, Tai Lung attacks Po again, but without discipline or real purpose behind it. Using ingenuity and his rebounding stomach, Po manages to render Tai Lung helpless. Tai Lung spews out a slur of insults before Po takes his finger in the Wuxi Finger Hold. Tai Lung calls Pos bluff and Po admits that Shifu never taught him the move - he figured it out on his own. With a triumphant “Skadoosh!”, Po flexes his pinky, resulting in a magnificent wave of raw energy that resonates throughout the valley and is felt by the Five leading the refugees into the hills. Having presumably killed Tai Lung, Po is cheered on by the returning villagers. Tigress and the rest of the Five bow down to Po, calling him master, before Po runs back to the temple to check on Shifu. He finds Shifu lying still, but alive, on the floor of the temple and tells him he defeated Tai Lung. Shifu thanks him and tells Po that he’s brought him peace before closing his eyes. Po calls out to him and Shifu reprimands him, saying that he’s merely resting. Po lies down beside him and, after a quiet, meditative moment, asks if he wants to get something to eat. Shifu says, Ok.

Eep (Emma Stone) is a girl in a family of cavemen living and hunting in pre-historic times. Her family is one of the few to survive, mainly due to the strict rules of her overprotective father, Grug (Nicolas Cage). In their cave home, Grug tells a story to the family, which includes his wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), his daughter Sandy, his son Thunk (Clark Duke), and his mother-in-law Gran (Cloris Leachman). He uses the story of a character who mirrors Eep’s curious nature to warn the family that exploration and ‘new things’ pose a threat to their survival, and says to never not be afraid. This irritates the bored and adventurous Eep, and after the family falls asleep, she leaves the cave, against her father’s advice, when she sees a light moving outside.

Seeking the light’s source, she meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a clever and inventive caveboy. She at first attacks him but then becomes fascinated with the fire he creates and is eager to learn more. He tells her about his theory that the world is reaching its ‘end’ and asks her to join him. She refuses and Guy leaves, but not before giving her a noise-making shell to call him if she needs help. Eep is then caught by Grug (who had been searching for her), and is later grounded for what she had done. Grug brings Eep home and is joined by the rest of the family. Eep tells them about Guy and shows them the shell given to her, only for them to destroy it in fear of ‘new things’. An earthquake then occurs, sending everyone running for the cave, only to be stopped by Grug moments before the cave is destroyed by falling rocks. They climb over the wreckage to discover a land with lush vegetation, much different from their usual surroundings of rocky terrain. Grug takes his family into the forest to find a new cave.

The family is chased by a “Macawnivore” (a large, macaw-colored machairodont later called “Chunky”) and attacked by a swarm of “Piranhakeets” (deadly red-feathered, piranha-like birds). In panic, Eep finds and sounds a horn similar to that which Guy gave her. Guy hears this and rushes to her. Thinking quickly, he creates a torch of fire, which scares the birds away. The other Croods are captivated by the fire, having never seen it before. They steal Guy’s torch and accidentally set the land around them in flames. Some giant corn is also lit, which rockets up to the sky, prompting a display of “fireworks” as the kernels explode. After feeling impressed by Guy’s intelligence and ‘ideas’, Grug bottles him in a hollow log to carry him in, then suggests that they take solitude in the cave of a nearby mountain mentioned by Guy. Guy is forcibly persuaded to lead the way and learns of the Croods’ way of living, which he thinks of as unusual.

After an unsuccessful hunting attempt, Guy, his “pet” sloth Belt (Chris Sanders), and Eep build a puppet to fool and lure nearby Turkey-Fish. After they make their capture, the family greedily devours everything they caught. Grug then tells another of his morale-lowering tales, this time mirroring the events of their day. Guy then tells a story of his own about a paradise he calls “Tomorrow”.

The next day, the family reaches a path coated in spiked rock which Grug, Thunk, and Gran get pricked upon trying to cross them. A freed Guy tries to flee but then presents one of his inventions called shoes making some out of all the resources he can find for each family member. This gains him some respect from the others except for Grug, who feels jealous of Guy’s cleverness. After Guy’s ideas help the Croods on their journey, the family members gain something. Ugga, Gran, and Sandy have their first idea to get past carnivorous plants by hiding under flower heads as they pass, Thunk encounters and befriends a crocodile-like dog he calls Douglas, and Eep and Guy grow closer while Grug is stranded in a ravine forcing Ugga to go back for him. The next day, Grug shows the others some of his ideas (like a see-saw, shades made out of wood, and a snapshot that involves the family being slammed with a flat rock) which fail and humiliate him. They soon reach the mountain where Grug is unable to convince the family that settling in a nearby cave is a better option. Angry, he attacks Guy. The two become stuck in tar and Guy reveals his family died drowning in a tar pool and their last words inspired his traditions of “Tomorrow.” Grug has a change of heart; he and Guy trick Chunky into freeing them by pretending to be a female “Macawnivore” in trouble.

As they are about to reach their destination, an earthquake opens a deep ravine in their path. Grug throws each of them across the gap and reconciles with Eep while creating the first hug with her. Grug then throws her across the ravine and is left behind. He takes shelter in a cave and makes a torch. After seeing a blank rock face, he paints a large cave-drawing of the Croods and Guy together. He then encounters Chunky, who attacks him until Grug’s torch is accidentally blown out, panicking them both. The frightened Chunky lies near Grug for comfort, who then has his first good idea. Using a bigger torch and a large skeletal rib cage, Grug manages to lure the Piranhakeets into transporting himself, Chunky, Douglas, and several other animals across the ravine, barely escaping the oncoming destruction. Afterwards, Grug shares the “hug” when he embraces his daughter again, followed by the Croods inventing the group hug.

On a small island with a large tree, a colony of ants is preparing food for the arrival of a band of grasshoppers. Of the ants that are working, one of them that stands out is an industrious one named Flik. Flik is constantly inventing new things for the colony to reduce labor, but his ideas are often shouted down and shunned by the colony, who feel the old-fashioned way of preparing the grasshoppers’ “offering” is the only way to do things. The only one who seems to believe in Flik is the young Princess of the colony named Dot. Secretly, Flik is attracted to her older sister, Atta, who is next in line for the throne.

As the time for the grasshoppers to arrive approach, the colony heads down into the anthill, intent to wait for the grasshoppers to eat the offering, and leave. Unfortunately, Flik is the last one to put his items on the offering stone, and ends up causing the platform to collapse with his piece of machinery. All the food they’ve gathered spills into the stream.

When the grasshoppers finally arrive and find nothing, they break into the anthill to terrorize the ants. The leader of the grasshoppers, Hopper, demands that the offering be replenished by the Fall season, and terrorizes Dot, before Flik comes forward to try and defend her. Hopper then commands that the offering be doubled, due to Flik’s speaking up against them. During the meeting, Hopper’s dimwitted brother, Molt, lets it slip that Hopper is afraid of birds. Hopper silences his brother and the grasshoppers leave, promising to return when the last leaf of Autumn falls.

The colony is now in trouble, as there isn’t enough food to fulfill Hopper’s request and provide sustenance for the colony. Flik is brought before a tribunal in regards to his causing the trouble. As the group convenes, Flik then thinks up a new idea: if the colony could find bigger bugs to help them defend the colony, they could be instrumental in scaring off the grasshoppers from ever returning. The others think this is a bad idea, until Flik volunteers to look. Thinking that his search will take a long time, the council decides to accept Flik’s request, figuring he’ll be away from them long enough to keep from causing further trouble.

In another part of the region, a motley crew of bugs are performing in a circus led by a flea, PT Flea. The circus isn’t well-attended, most of the audience being flies who jeer and cajole the performers, especially when their acts fail. PT, desperate to keep the flies from leaving, announces a new act call “Flaming Death” where his crew will work together to keep him from being burned. The act fails miserable because the bugs can’t coordinate their efforts and PT is burned anyway. He fires them all on the spot.

Flik sets off the next day to head for the big city, eventually finding his way into a ‘bug bar,’ asking around for tough ‘warrior bugs.’ His attention is suddenly drawn to a group of bugs in a corner, who it seems are preparing to take on a small gang of flies and their huge member, Thud. They make a valiant effort, posing as medieval knights but their ruse fails and the ‘bug bar’ ends up being wrecked, and Flik misses much of the fight. However, in the aftermath, Flik thinks he’s found the perfect guardians to help his colony.

He pleads his case to the group, saying how he’s been looking for bugs with their talent, and asking for their help regarding the incoming group of grasshoppers. The group eagerly accepts, thinking Flik wants them to perform at a dinner theatre and, hoping to avoid trouble from the bar’s owner & the flies they fought with, they head off for Ant Island.

When Flik returns, Atta and the elders are shocked that Flik actually found ‘warrior bugs.’ Atta is at first unsure, but the ladybug of the group. Francis (Dennis Leary), promises that they will knock the grasshoppers ‘dead’ when they come.

A party is then held in honor of the group, including a tribute and art showing the warriors fighting off the grasshoppers. The group then grows leery, realizing they’re meant to fight a war for the ants instead of merely performing. Rosie whispers to Flik that they’re actually just circus bugs and Flik is horrified, accusing the group of tricking them. When Atta appears, Flik convinces her that the circus bugs will fight for them.

Discovering their mutual misunderstanding, the circus bugs attempt to leave, but are forced back by a bird. They work together to save Princess Dot, the Queen’s daughter and Atta’s sister, from the bird as they flee, gaining the ants’ trust in the process. They continue the ruse of being “warriors” so the troupe can continue to enjoy the attention and hospitality of the ants. The bird encounter inspires Flik into creating an artificial bird to scare away Hopper, leader of the grasshoppers. The bird is constructed from sticks and leaves, but the circus bugs are exposed by their former ringmaster, P.T. Flea, when he arrives searching for them. Angered at Flik’s deception, the ants exile him and desperately try to pull together enough food for a new offering to the grasshoppers, but fail to do so.

When the grasshoppers discover a meager offering upon their arrival, they take control of the entire colony and begin eating the ants’ winter store of food. After overhearing Hopper’s plan to kill the queen, Dot leaves in search of Flik and the warrior bugs and convinces them to return and save the colony with his original plan. The plan nearly works, but P.T. Flea lights the artificial bird on fire, causing it to crash and be revealed as a fake. Hopper has Flik beaten by his thug, Thumper, in retaliation, but Flik defies Hopper and inspires the entire colony and the warriors to stand up to the grasshoppers and drive them out of the colony.

Before Hopper can be disposed of, it begins to rain where the drops of water are like large bombs. In the chaos, Hopper viciously pursues Flik, who leads him to the actual bird’s nest. Hopper mistakes the real bird for another fake bird, and taunts it, attracting its attention. The grasshopper is eaten by the bird and its chicks.

Based on both the legend of Hercules and Heracles.

On Mt Olympus, Zeus and his wife are celebrating the birth of their son, Hercules. The Lord of the Underworld, Hades, is also invited, though is not at all pleased with the birth of Hercules.

Returning to the Underworld, Hades meets up with the 3 Fates, who tell Hades that in 18 years, when the planets align, if he unleashes the Titans (who were imprisoned by Zeus), he will defeat Zeus and rule over all. However, there is a possibility that Hercules could stop him.

Hades assigns his minions, Pain and Panic, to turn Hercules mortal, and kill him. Armed with a potion, the two kidnap Hercules, and take him to Earth. Hercules drinks almost every drop except one, when a childless couple disturbs the two minions’ plan. The two decide to tell Hades that they killed Hercules, but figure leaving him on Earth as a mortal will keep him from interfering in Hades’ eventual plot.

As Hercules is almost completely mortal, he cannot return to Mt Olympus. However, the childless couple have taken him in, and raise him as their own. However, not being completely mortal, Hercules is ostracized from the rest of society by his immense strength. As he approaches his teenage years, his father tells of how they found him, with a medallion bearing the symbol of the gods.

Hercules sets off for the Temple of Zeus to find answers. Once inside the temple, the enormous statue of Zeus comes to life, first scaring Hercules, but then explaining how he is the young boy’s father. Zeus then explains that if Hercules can become a True Hero, he’ll be able to return to Mt Olympus and rejoin them. Zeus then provides Hercules with a winged horse named Pegasus, and sends them off to find Philoctetes.

Hercules and Pegasus find Philoctetes (who is nicknamed ‘Phil’) on a deserted island. Having become a grouchy, old satyr, Phil is at first reluctant, but finally relents. After an intense period of training, Hercules grows from a scrawny teenager to a buff young man. At Hercules’ insistence to try what he has learned, Phil, Hercules and Pegasus head for the city of Thebes, which is plagued by a number of disasters and problems.

On the way there, they are sidetracked by Meg, who appears to be menaced by a centaur. Hercules grows somewhat enchanted with her, before Phil gets them back on track to Thebes. After they leave, Meg meets with Hades, and his assistants, Pain and Panic. Meg was actually trying to get the centaur to side with Hades, but claims Hercules spoiled her plans. Upon hearing this, Hades angrily grabs his assistants, realizing they have lied to him. Pain and Panic manage to convince Hades that since Hercules is mortal, they can still kill him.

In Thebes, Hercules tries to convince the citizens that he is a hero, but no one is willing to believe him. Suddenly, Meg appears, and tells of two small boys trapped under a rock in a nearby canyon. Hercules saves the little boys (actually Pain and Panic in disguise), but then has to contend with the 3-headed beast called the Hydra. After finding out that cutting off one head produces 3 more, Hercules ends up crushing the beast with a rock slide. The defeat of the Hydra causes the citizens of Thebes to acknowledge Hercules as a hero, and further anger Hades.

Hades continues to send beasts and creature against Hercules, but each and everyone is defeated, further making Hercules a hero in the eyes of the citizens. Statues and merchandise are soon rampant with Hercules’ face, and Hercules thinks that his fame will allow him to return to Mt Olympus. However, upon visiting the Temple of Zeus again, Zeus explains to Hercules that fame does not equal heroism. When Hercules asks to know what he can do, Zeus refuses to explain further.

Back in Thebes, the conversation has upset Hercules, who wonders if he even has what it takes to be a hero. While in his home, Meg appears, and gets Hercules to come with her for an evening rendezvous. However, Meg’s intentions are to secretly find Hercules’ weakness, but as the night goes on, she begins to find him charming. The mood is broken when Phil and Pegasus show up to take Hercules home. During the flight away, Phil ends up getting hit by a tree, and falls off Pegasus. When he comes to, he sees Meg talking to Hades, with their conversation sounding as if Meg has been two-timing Hercules. In truth, Meg refuses to go along with Hades plan, claiming that Hercules has no weakness…which leads Hades to believe that she IS that weakness.

Back at Thebes Stadium, Phil tries to convince Hercules of what he saw, but Hercules angrily hits Phil. Phil, hurt by his protege’s backlash, gets up and leaves. Once Phil is gone, Hades appears, and offers Hercules an ultimatum: if Hercules gives up his powers for 24 hours, Hades will allow Meg to go free, with the provision that the deal will be voided if any harm comes to her. Hercules goes through with the deal, only to have Hades then tell Hercules how Meg was working for him. Now drained of his strength, Hercules can only watch as Hades lets loose the Titans that Zeus had imprisoned years earlier.

Hades sends a giant cyclops to Thebes to destroy the City. Even though Hercules is drained of his strength, he still tries to stop the creature. Fearing that he’ll be killed, Meg and Pegasus find Phil, who they convince to return and help his student. With Phil’s help and some ingenuity, Hercules ends up blinding and finishing off the cyclops, but in the process, Meg is gravely injured.

Her injury causes Hades’ deal to expire, and Hercules receives his strength back. With Phil watching over Meg, Hercules and Pegasus fly to Mt Olympus, where the Titans have all but over-powered Zeus and the other gods. Hercules helps turn the tide of battle, and ends up taking care of the Titans, and Hades angrily retreats to the Underworld.

When Hercules returns to Thebes, Phil reveals that Meg has died. Upset by this, Hercues descends into the Underworld to get her back. Hercules makes a deal with Hades, that he will take Meg’s place if he rescues her from the River of Death. Hades accepts the deal, sure that Hercules will die before he can save her.

It seems Hercules will die, but upon reaching Meg, he suddenly begins to glow yellow, having achieved god status by risking his life to save her. Hercules manages to get Meg out of the River of Death, much to Hades ranting and protestations, several of which cause Hercules to send him flying into the river, where the dead attempt to drown him.

Hercules, Pegasus, Phil and Meg then fly to Mt Olympus where the gods are waiting to welcome Hercules back, now that he has become a ‘True Hero.’ However, Hercules chooses to stay on Earth, but still be able to visit his family.

Set in an animated world controlled by animals, the film starts with a young koala bear named Buster Moon (voice of Matthew McConaughey) going to see his very first musical production as a child. He is utterly enthralled by the show and quickly forms the dream to work in theater. As an adult, Buster has taken over the same theater where he saw that play. However, business hasn’t been going so well, and the theater is in trouble. Buster’s assistant Ms. Crawley (voice of Garth Jennings) informs him that angry stage crew workers are outside because their checks have bounced. Buster gets away on his bike as he rushes to the bank.

As Buster rides through town, we meet some of the other main characters - Johnny the gorilla (voice of Taron Egerton) is singing to himself in an alley, but he ducks when he sees some cops. He speaks into a radio to tell a group of guys to stay put, but his father, gang leader Big Daddy (voice of Peter Serafinowicz), and his goons break out and grab Johnny as they have just robbed some valuables. Next we meet Rosita the pig (voice of Reese Witherspoon), an overworked mother of 25 piglets and wife to Norman (voice of Nick Offerman), who doesn’t notice just how much work she does, or that she likes to sing. Then we see porcupines Ash (voice of Scarlett Johansson) and her boyfriend Lance (voice of Beck Bennett), a punk rock duo with Lance singing lead. He doesn’t like it when Ash steps in to sing on her own. Somewhere else across town we meet Meena the elephant (voice of Tori Kelly), singing to her grandfather (voice of Jay Pharaoh) for his birthday. He loves her voice and encourages her to get out and show others what she’s got. Finally we meet Mike the mouse (voice of Seth MacFarlane), a sax player who is also greedy and selfish. He calls out a guy who gives him only a coin and forces him to give up whatever else he’s got in his pockets.

Buster shows up at a restaurant to meet with his sheep friend Eddie (voice of John C. Reilly), whose family has invested a lot in Buster’s theater, and they have not been happy with the results. Buster thinks he’s come up with the answer to all his problems - he wants to hold a singing competition at his theater. Eddie isn’t keen on the idea, and soon, he and Buster get kicked out of the restaurant when Buster takes out some sandwiches.

Buster has Ms. Crawley make flyers for the competition. Since he doesn’t have a lot of money to offer as a reward, he tells her to advertise a $1,000 reward, with a bunch of junk stuffed into a treasure chest to make it look like it holds prize money. Ms. Crawley’s glass eye pops out and bounces on the keyboard, causing the ad to say the reward is $100,000. She prints out hundreds of flyers, but she stands next to the fan, causing it to blow every single flyer into town. Many animals find the flyers and think they have a shot at something big.

The next day, Buster is surprised to see a whole line of animals going down the block outside the theater. Over a hundred animals, including Johnny, Rosita, Mike, and Ash all audition. Meena goes to audition, but she has a severe case of stage fright and she bails. When all is said and done, Buster selects Johnny, Mike, and Ash (without Lance) as the solo acts, while Rosita is paired up with another pig named Gunter (voice of Nick Kroll). Buster then learns that Ms. Crawley advertised a $100,000 reward, and he panics while trying to maintain the illusion that there is a lot of money in that chest.

The animals start rehearsing for the show. Buster gives them a list of songs they can go with. Johnny learns he has to play the piano, and Ash is none too pleased to be given a list of cheesy pop songs since she is a teenage girl. Meena returns after having been pressured by her grandfather to re-audition. She brings Buster a cake and finds him as he is trying to connect an extension cord to a nearby building after the electric company shuts off the power. Since Meena is too nervous to ask for a second chance, Buster assumes she wants to be part of the stage crew. She accepts, and Meena returns home to find that her mother (voice of Leslie Jones) told all their friends that Meena got in the show.

A bank rep named Judith goes by the theater to tell Buster to get his accounts sorted or else the bank will take the theater. Buster approaches Eddie and asks if he can get his grandmother, legendary performer Nana Noodleman (voice of Jennifer Saunders), to give the theater some funding. Eddie is nervous about talking to Nana, but Buster tags along to convince her to invest in the theater. Nana thinks Buster ruined the theater with the shows he’s put on, but he never gives up with trying to change her mind.

Outside of rehearsals, the other animals deal with issues of their own. Ash wants to write an original song, but Lance isn’t supportive of her making her own music. Ash later finds Lance working with another girl porcupine named Becky, prompting Ash to kick Lance out of her apartment.

Mike becomes so confident that he will win the reward that he takes out a loan so he can buy a fancy car to impress a lady mouse. They enter a nightclub where Mike plays against three big bears. One of the bears sees that Mike cheated, and he chases after the mouse, only to lose him as he escapes the club.

During rehearsal, Johnny is supposed to be a getaway driver for Big Daddy and his gang as they are trying to steal some gold. Johnny tries to take his spare time to go to rehearsal, but when he needs to get back, he gets stuck in a traffic jam as a result of a car accident that he caused when rushing back to the theater. Big Daddy and his boys are arrested. Johnny later visits his dad in jail and admits that he was rehearsing for the show and that he would rather be a singer than to be in his dad’s gang. Big Daddy is furious and he disowns Johnny.

At night, Johnny sneaks into the theater and tries to steal the treasure chest, thinking he can use the supposed money in there to bail out his dad. However, he stops when he sees his own audition sheet and sees that Buster wrote him down as a natural-born singer. Ms. Crawley appears, and Johnny plays it off as though he just needed more piano lessons. She happily sits down to help him.

Buster gets Meena to help him organize a set-up for a preview that he will put on for Nana. They get water from a water tower and use krill to come up with a lights display. Nana arrives and is impressed by the show so far, but the three bears find Mike in the theater and threaten to eat him unless he gives them their money. Mike tells the bears that the money is in the treasure chest. The main bear smashes the chest, revealing all of Buster’s junk and no money. His ruse is exposed to the other animals, but things get worse when the water tank cracks, causing the whole theater to get flooded and eventually completely destroyed.

The bank now owns what’s left of the theater. Buster sinks into despair and hopelessness. The animal cast heads over to Eddie’s home where Buster is staying to try and cheer him up, but he has given up and declares himself a failure.

Buster and Ms. Crawley start a car wash business like his father used to do. Eddie steps in to help him out. A while later, Buster overhears Meena singing “Hallelujah” by herself where the theater used to be. Impressed and reinvigorated by her singing, Buster comes up with a new plan.

Buster calls the animals so that the show may go on. Mike bails when he learns that it’s no longer a competition and there won’t be any prize money. They set up a stage in the middle of the theater ruins and get some of the animals’ families to come by, except it’s just Rosita and Meena’s families that show up. The show begins with Rosita and Gunter performing “Shake It Off” with a dance in sparkly outfits. Rosita’s kids are all excited, and Norman is so astonished that he runs up on the stage to kiss his wife.

Next, with more people arriving, Johnny plays the piano and sings “I’m Still Standing”. Big Daddy watches from prison and is amazed by his son’s singing. He immediately breaks out to go see Johnny, leading to a citywide manhunt for Big Daddy.

Ash gets on to play her original song, but Judith comes by to unplug the music and tell everyone to leave. Ash continues to play the song, “Set It All Free”, which even Lance is watching from home. Ash gets so into it that she accidentally shoots out quills into the audience. Regardless, the audience, after reemerging from cover, goes wild for this new rock star and even Judith is moved to allow the show to proceed for now.

Mike sees the show on TV and sets out to prove to viewers that he’s better than the rest. He rushes to the theater and puts on a soulful rendition of “My Way”, right as the police helicopters fly overhead, nearly pulling Mike into the sky. He manages to finish the song with a spectacular flourish as he swings on the microphone cord, but the bears see the show and head to the theater to get him. Meanwhile, Big Daddy has made it to the theater and sees Johnny. He hugs his son and apologizes for what he said to him, then praises his musical talent. Big Daddy then willingly goes back to prison.

Meena is the last performer. She is very nervous until Buster convinces her to get out there. She starts a slow and shy version of “Don’t You Worry About a Thing” before belting out her voice, which even leaves Mike with his jaw on the floor. Eventually, Meena concludes the song by literally bringing down the house when her energetic finish causes a partial collapse of the surrounding remaining structure. The bears show up and snatch Mike, nearly eating him until the lady mouse shows up to save Mike.

Nana, having been in the audience the whole time, sees Buster and applauds with the rest of the audience. She finally gives Buster her funding so that they can re-purchase the theater and rebuild it into an even bigger and better theater.

In 2002, Meilin “Mei” Lee is a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl living in Toronto. She helps take care of the family’s temple dedicated to their ancestor, Sun Yee, and works to make her strict, overprotective mother Ming proud. Mei hides her personal interests from Ming, such as the fact that she and her best friends Miriam, Priya, and Abby are fans of the boy band 4*Town. When Ming discovers Mei’s crush on the local convenience store clerk, she unintentionally embarrasses Mei in public, including in front of school bully Tyler.

Mei has a vivid nightmare involving red pandas; when she wakes up in the morning, Mei has transformed into a large red panda. She hides from her parents and discovers that she only transforms when she is in a state of high emotion, though her hair remains red. Ming initially believes Mei is experiencing her first period, but finds out the truth when she further embarrasses Mei at school, causing Mei to transform and run home.

Ming and Mei’s father Jin explain that Sun Yee was granted this transformation to protect her daughters, and every female family member since then has also transformed when they came of age. This has become inconvenient and dangerous in the modern age, so the red panda spirit must be sealed in a talisman by a ritual on the night of the Red Moon; the next being in a month’s time. Mei’s friends discover her transformation but take a liking to it, and Mei finds that concentrating on them helps control the red panda within her.

Ming allows Mei to resume her normal life but refuses to let Mei attend 4*Town’s upcoming concert. Instead, the girls secretly raise money for the tickets at school, exploiting the popularity of Mei’s red panda form, while lying to Ming. To cover the last ticket, Mei agrees to attend Tyler’s birthday party as the red panda. At the party, Mei is upset to discover that the concert will be held on her ritual night. In the midst of her rage, she attacks Tyler when he insults her family, frightening the other children. Ming discovers Mei’s activities and accuses her friends of corrupting and taking advantage of her. Ashamed and afraid to stand up to her mother, Mei fails to come to her friends’ defense.

Mei’s grandmother Wu and Mei’s aunts come to assist in her ritual, to Ming’s dismay. As Mei prepares herself, Jin finds videos she took of herself as the red panda with her friends and tells her she should not be ashamed of this side of her. During the ritual, as Mei’s red panda form is about to be sealed, she decides to keep her powers and abandons the ritual to attend the concert at the SkyDome. Her friends forgive her for her actions at the party, and they discover Tyler is also a 4*Town fan. However, during Mei’s escape from the temple, Ming becomes so enraged that her amulet breaks and she transforms into a kaiju-sized red panda and disrupts the concert, intending to take Mei back by force.

A Viking boy called Hiccup (voice: Jay Baruchel) introduces his village of Berk (“it’s been here for seven generations, but every single building is new”). The village is attacked by dragons, who steal food (mostly sheep) and set things on fire (hence all the new buildings). The villagers grab weapons and try to fight the dragons off. Despite being told by every adult in sight to go indoors, Hiccup hauls out a bolas-shooting cannon he made himself and shoots a dragon out of the night sky. (As assistant to the village blacksmith, Gobber (voice: Craig Ferguson), Hiccup has access to tools and materials and knows how to use them.) The dragon lands in the woods some distance form the village and no one believes that he hit anything, so it’s the next day before Hiccup can go looking for it. It turns out to be a rare and deadly Night Fury, but Hiccup can’t make himself kill it. Instead he releases it – whereupon it also refrains from killing Hiccup – and it flies off through the trees.

Hiccup discovers that the dragon (which he eventually calls Toothless because of its retractable teeth) has holed up in a steep-sided valley because it can no longer fly more than a few feet at a time. While sketching the dragon, Hiccup realizes that it’s missing a tail fin. He makes a prosthetic tail fin out of leather. The new fin helps, but Toothless can’t control it and inadvertently takes Hiccup for a ride, giving him a clear idea of what’s needed to help the dragon fly right. In a series of workshop and test flight scenes, Hiccup builds and perfects a saddle, a control mechanism for the tail fin, and a safety harness.

Meanwhile, Hiccup’s father Stoick (voice: Gerard Butler) has signed him up for dragon training with Gobber, which is very different from the training he’s already doing with Toothless: he’s going to learn to fight dragons. At first, he’s the worst student in the class. Since Hiccup has always been an accident-prone klutz, this comes as no surprise to his classmates Astrid (voice: America Ferrera), Snotlout (voice: Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (voice: Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Ruffnut (voice: Kristen Wiig), and her twin brother Tuffnut (voice: T.J. Miller). (Hiccup’s a little sweet on Astrid.) Before long, Hiccup is able to use some things he’s learned while working with Toothless to soothe and manage the school’s practice dragons. (It turns out dragons are just big kitty-cats: they like to be petted, there’s a kind of grass that’s like cat-nip to them, and they love fish (but hate eels).) When Stoick returns from a failed search for the fabled nest of the dragons, he’s surprised but thrilled to hear that his son is doing brilliantly at dragon training. He gives Hiccup a horned helmet made from one of his dead mother’s breastplates. But Hiccup, as usual, is unable to get around his father’s expectations and speak frankly, so he can’t explain that his success at dragon school is unlikely to lead to the slaying of any dragons.

When Hiccup subdues a practice dragon, unintentionally earning the privilege of killing it before the entire village, he’s horrified and decides to flee with Toothless. However Astrid, having noticed Hiccup’s frequent disappearances and secretive behavior, is suspicious. She follows him to the hidden valley and sees Toothless. Unable to explain his relationship with the dragon, Hiccup takes her flying, and she’s captivated. But they get caught up in a flock of dragons returning to their nest carrying food. The dragons fly inside a mountainous island and drop the food into a pit, which turns out to contain a huge, terrifying, and very hungry dragon that eats the smaller ones if they don’t bring it enough food. Hiccup and Astrid and shocked to realize that the dragons have been stealing their sheep to keep from being eaten themselves. When they get home, Hiccup convinces Astrid not to reveal the location of the dragon nest. Before she goes, she punches him in the arm and says “That’s for kidnapping me.” Then she kisses him and says “That’s for everything else.”

Everything goes wrong at the dragon-killing ceremony. Hiccup discards his weapons in an attempt to show the Vikings that dragons only fight to defend themselves, but Stoick and others intervene and the dragon attacks. Toothless comes to the rescue and is on the verge of killing Stoick when Hiccup calls Toothless off. Despite Hiccup’s protests, the angry Vikings chain Toothless up. When he ineptly tries to explain, Hiccup lets it slip that Toothless took him to the nest of the dragons, and Stoick resolves to use Toothless to find the nest again. He won’t listen to Hiccup’s warnings about the giant dragon. He loads Toothless on his ship and the Viking fleet sails off with all the warriors in the village, disowning Hiccup and leaving him behind. When Hiccup wonders aloud why he didn’t kill Toothless when he had the chance since it would have avoided all of this, Astrid challenges him to explain why. In doing so, Hiccup comes to an epiphany about his moral character, his personal strength and Astrid’s faith in him. Inspired, Hiccup and his classmates mount the practice dragons and fly off in pursuit of the fleet.

At the dragons’ island, the Vikings use catapults to break open the side of the mountain in which the giant dragon is trapped. When it comes out, Stoick realizes that he’s made a mistake. He resolves to fight it himself to buy the other Vikings time to escape; Gobber volunteers to join him. While Stoick and Gobber prepare to sacrifice themselves to distract the dragon, the kids arrive to join the battle. They do manage to distract the giant dragon a little, but it sets the Vikings’ ships on fire. While his comrades keep the giant dragon occupied, Hiccup tries to rescue Toothless (who’s still in chains) from the burning ship, but they end up under water and Stoick rescues both of them. Then Toothless and Hiccup go after the giant dragon together. They draw it up into the clouds and away from the Vikings, trying to get it to crash on the island. In the end Toothless releases a blast into the giant dragon’s open mouth and it crashes and burns, apparently taking our heroes down with it – we see Hiccup fall toward the fire as Toothless tries desperately to catch him. On the ground, a heartbroken Stoick approaches the wounded Toothless wondering what has become of his son; Toothless opens his wings to show that he saved Hiccup. (“Well, most of him,” Gobber remarks cryptically.)

The wizard Vitruvius attempts to protect the “Kragle”, a superweapon, from the evil Lord Business. He fails to do so, but warns Lord Business of a prophecy where a person called the “Special” will find the Piece of Resistance capable of stopping the Kragle.

8 and a half years later, Emmet Joe Brickowski, an ordinary construction worker with no special qualities, comes across a woman, Wyldstyle, who is searching for something after hours at Emmet’s construction site. When he investigates, Emmet falls into a hole and finds the Piece of Resistance. Compelled to touch it, Emmet experiences vivid visions and passes out. He awakens elsewhere, with the Piece of Resistance attached to his back, in the custody of Bad Cop, Lord Business’ lieutenant (whose head sometimes turns around to reveal his other side, Good Cop). There, Emmet learns Business’ plans to destroy the world with the Kragle. Wyldstyle rescues Emmet and takes him to Vitruvius, who explains that he and Wyldstyle are “Master Builders” capable of building anything they need, both with great speed and without instruction manuals. Years ago, Lord Business rose to power, his disapproval of such anarchic creativity resulting in him capturing many of them. As the “Special”, Emmet is destined to defeat him, yet Wyldstyle and Vitruvius are disappointed to find Emmet displays no creativity.

Lord Business plans to use the Kragle (a tube of Krazy Glue with some of the logo’s letters rubbed out) to freeze the universe perfectly in place. Bad Cop tracks down Emmet and Wyldstyle, who are rescued by her boyfriend, Batman. He takes them to a meeting of the remaining Master Builders. Unimpressed with Emmet, they refuse to fight Lord Business. Bad Cop and his forces attack and capture all the Master Builders except for Emmet and a few others. Emmet believes the Master Builders’ weakness is that their individual creativity prevents them from working together. He devises a team plan to infiltrate Lord Business’ headquarters. As Emmet and his allies are captured and imprisoned, Vitruvius attempts to fight back but is killed; with his dying words he admits the prophecy was made up. Business throws the Piece of Resistance off the edge of the universe, sets his headquarters to self-destruct, and leaves with the Kragle while leaving Bad Cop behind. Vitruvius’ ghost tells Emmet that even if the prophecy isn’t real, Emmet can still save the world. Emmet, tied to the self-destruct mechanism’s battery, sacrifices himself for his friends, flinging himself off the edge of the universe.

Inspired, the Master Builders escape and rally with the help of Bad Cop. Soon, Lego people across the universe are building their own creative weapons. The Master Builders lead the charge against Business.

Emmet finds himself in the real world, where the events of the story are being played out within the imagination of a boy, Finn. His father “The Man Upstairs” chastises his son for ruining his father’s Lego set by mixing characters with the wrong playsets, and originating hodgepodge creations. Finn argues that Lego are for children, but his father prefers to Krazy Glue his perceived perfect creations together permanently, as this is how adults play with Lego. In the Lego world, Lord Business’ forces gain the upper hand. Realizing the father will glue all the Lego in place, Emmet wills himself to move and falls off the table, gaining Finn’s attention. Finn returns Emmet to the Lego set, where Emmet builds a massive robot to assist his friends before confronting Lord Business. In the real world, Finn’s father looks at his son’s creations again and finds himself impressed. Realizing his son based the evil Lord Business on him, the father has a change of heart and allows his son to play with his Lego however he sees fit. In the Lego world, Emmet convinces Lord Business that Business, too, is special, as is everyone. Moved by Emmet’s speech, Business destroys the Kragle and unfreezes his victims.

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, birds sing and dance happily. Among all of them, a young blue macaw sees the other birds fly freely, but when it is about to take flight, several birds are captured and caged, causing the little macaw to fall from a tree and be captured along with it. to all the other birds, which are taken to Moose Lake, Minnesota, USA. There, the box that was carrying the blue macaw falls by accident from the truck in which it was transported. He is then found by a girl named Linda, who adopts him and names him Blu.

After 15 years, Linda owns a bookstore and Blu behaves like a human, so much so that he has not yet developed his ability to fly, but he has learned many human skills not very common in a bird and was by his side during his birthday parties. birthdays, spelling bees and even at your high school graduation party. One day, an ornithologist named Tulio Monteiro arrives at Linda’s bookstore and tells her that he has traveled thousands of kilometers looking for Blu, since as far as he knows, he is the last male of his species, so he must travel to Rio. de Janeiro to mate with the last female, who is there. Linda and Blu are not convinced by Tulio’s proposal, since they don’t like traveling, but Tulio asks Linda to think about it and gives her her number. In the night, Blu makes an attempt to fly, but fails out of fear of him. Linda decides in the end to go to Rio with Blu, thinking that it would be the best thing for him.

Already in Brazil, Blu meets a canary named Nico and a red-crested cardinal named Pedro, who give him love advice to conquer a girl. Some dancers are passing through the streets and Tulio tells Linda that it is the Rio carnival, one of the most famous parties in the world. In the laboratory where Tulio works, Blu is locked in an aviary, where he meets Jewel, a beautiful blue macaw and instantly falls in love with her, but Jewel is not impressed to meet him, since all he thinks about is escape from the aviary Blu, following Nico and Pedro’s advice, tries to kiss Jewel thinking that’s what she wanted, but this causes him to get angry and attack him. Then they both end up fighting.

Linda and Tulio go out to dinner and leave the birds in charge of a guard named Silvio. Later, Nigel, a cockatoo posing as a sick bird in Tulio’s lab, attacks Silvio with a tissue containing formalin, knocking him unconscious. Then Nigel opens the door and lets in a poor boy named Fernando and kidnaps Blu and Jewel and leaves with Nigel. Linda and Tulio are notified of the theft of the birds while they were having dinner, so they start looking for them all over the city. Fernando takes Blu and Jewel to the lair of Marcel and his henchmen, Armando and Tipa, some bird traffickers who pay Fernando for stealing the blue macaws, which they plan to sell outside the country, so they chain them up. legs and locked in a room with many other stolen birds. Marcel leaves and leaves his henchmen in charge of the birds, but they are attentive on television watching a soccer match between the Brazilian and Argentine teams. Nigel explains to Blu and Jewel that years ago, a parrot took his place on a TV show and because of it, he turned bad and started stealing exotic birds. Jewel desperately tries to escape from the cage, until Blu, being so used to them by now, opens it effortlessly. Jewel flies away, but being chained to Blu, who confesses that he doesn’t know how to fly yet, they are both forced to escape on foot. Armando, Tipa and Nigel chase Blu and Jewel through the streets, during the escape Blu scares a cat and it jumps on the bird dealers, then Blu and Jewel are chased by Nigel and jump from roof to roof, just when Nigel had them cornered, just as the last goal was passed, Blu and Jewel spin and Nigel crashes into a transformer, causing a blackout and the game is suspended until the power is restored. Nigel survives the crash, falling into a Chicken Coop and ending up with electrocuted feathers, while Blu and Jewel manage to escape and get lost in the jungle.

The next day, Fernando, regretting having stolen the birds, meets Linda and Tulio, deciding to help them find the macaws. Blu and Jewel try to break the chain they carry on their legs, but they can’t, then they meet some toucan chicks, who attack them thinking they are intruders, until their father, a toucan named Rafael stops them. Rafael offers Blu and Jewel to help them go with Luis, a friend of theirs who could take the chain off the macaws, but his irritating wife Eva forbids it, but Rafael manages to convince her by seducing her, however, going with Luis would be impossible since Blu’s not knowing how to fly would prevent them from reaching him, so Rafael tries to teach Blu to fly, but the attempt turns out terribly wrong, so the group gets on a van that will take them with Luis. Meanwhile, Linda, Tulio and Fernando are running out of time to find the birds, since the streets are closing due to carnival.

Nigel hires some robber marmoset monkeys to help him find Blu and Jewel, threatening to give them all flying lessons. Meanwhile, the group of birds arrive at their destination and meet Nico and Pedro, who tell them that Luis left on a tram and that to get there they would have to take the next one, so in the meantime, they go with Blu and Jewel. to a samba club, where Nico and Pedro sing ‘Hot wings’ and Blu starts to dance but with a little push from Rafael, which impresses Jewel and they both end up dancing a duet, then Jewel discovers that she is in love with Blu and Just as the two are about to kiss, the marmoset monkeys crash the party and force Blu and Jewel to go with them, but it all ends in a bird vs. monkey fight. Blu and Jewel manage to escape with the help of a Roseate Spoonbill to the tram accompanied by Rafael, Nico and Pedro.

Linda, Tulio and Fernando arrive at the smugglers’ den, only to see that the birds are not there, then Fernando confesses to Tulio and Linda that he was the one who stole the macaws. The smugglers arrive and meet Fernando and tell him that they are building an allegorical car to be able to infiltrate the carnival and get to the airport with the birds, since it was impossible for them to get through other streets since they will all be closed. then Fernando accompanies the smugglers and Linda and Tulio, who heard the smugglers’ plans while in hiding, go to the parade to stop them. Meanwhile, Nigel sees that the monkeys he hired weren’t much help in capturing the birds and decides to catch them himself.

On the tram, Rafael tells Blu to go over to Jewel and express her feelings for her, but Blu’s attempts to do so only causes a few awkward moments with her, even though Jewel knew what he was trying to do. Arriving at Luis’s shop, Jewel is surprised to learn that he is an English Bulldog with a saliva problem. Luis tries to break Blu and Jewel’s chain with a saw, but this doesn’t work, in fact, he almost ends up killing Blu. But the chain gets stuck in Luis’s mouth and his saliva lubricates the macaws’ legs, freeing them. Jewel is happy to be free and able to fly again, but on the other hand, Blu is a little sad knowing that they would have to part ways. Jewel, to whom Blu had taken quite a lot of affection, tries to convince him to stay with her in the jungle, but Blu thinks that not knowing how to fly prevents him from being with Jewel, Rafael tells them to be honest and Blu, somewhat annoyed, confesses that he hates Samba, which impresses everyone, a saddened Jewel gives him a cold goodbye and they both part ways. As Perla walks away from her crying for her, Nico and Pedro follow her to later see that Nigel captures her and takes her to the carnival. Rafael follows Blu and tells him that he is not going to the carnival because he loves her family more, just after Nico and Pedro arrive, who inform Blu that Jewel was captured. So Blu decides to go rescue her along with Nico, Pedro and Rafael, riding Luis to the carnival.

At the carnival, the smugglers came in a chicken float, which turns out to be hideous, to the airport with all the birds on it, including Jewel, who Nigel says is using her as bait to lure Blu out, which worries Blu. Jewel. Linda and Tulio arrive on the motorcycle at the carnival and dress up as dancers to foil the smugglers’ plans, but a parade organizer thinks Linda is a real dancer and puts her on a float, so she can dance in full view of everyone. the public. Blu and the others arrive at the parade and look for the smugglers’ car. Luis gets distracted and Blu is forced to continue alone on his skateboard until he reaches the car, where he tries to free Jewel, but Nigel catches him and cages him, as well as Rafael, Nico and Pedro. The smugglers arrive at the airport, Linda and Tulio follow them in a macaw float and almost collide with the smugglers’ plane, but are late as the smugglers manage to take off and escape in a Short SC.7 Skyvan plane.

On the plane, Blu manages to escape from his cage, frees Jewel and the other birds together. Blu opens the hatch of the plane, the smugglers notice, then Marcel tries to open the door but it is blocked with the cages, at that moment, all the birds escape, except Jewel, who knows that Blu is still afraid of flying and stays to calm him down. However, Nigel suddenly appears and attacks Blu, trying to suffocate him, but Jewel quickly jumps on him in an attempt to help him, however Nigel pushes her against the wall, causing a cage to fall on her left wing, hurting her. . However, Blu quickly manages to hook a fire extinguisher to Nigel’s leg and causes him to be ejected out of the plane and subsequently be hit by one of the propellers and is almost without feathers. Seeing that the plane is about to crash Marcel, Armando and Tipa quickly see that there is only one parachute available, so Armando and Tipa start arguing about who will use it, but Marcel beats them and jumps out of the plane, but These, not wanting to stay, also decide to launch themselves after Marcel, on the other hand Jewel, unable to fly due to her wound, falls from the plane, which due to the failure of an engine thanks to Nigel’s impact with the propeller, is about to crash. Blu drops down to rescue Jewel who is shocked to see what he did. Blu realizes that his love for Jewel is greater than his fear of flying and Jewel, touched, kisses him as they fall, giving Blu enough motivation to spread his wings, feel his heart beat. , and manage to fly, saving Jewel’s life and himself at the same time.

『火垂るの墓』

The date is September 25th, 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. A young boy sits against a pillar at Sannomiya Station, dying of starvation. Later that night, a janitor removes his body and digs through his possessions, finding nothing but a candy tin containing ashes and a few fragments of bone which he throws away into a nearby field. From the tin springs the spirit of the young boy followed by his little sister along with a cloud of fireflies. The spirit of the young boy, Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi, English: J. Robert Spencer), narrates the story of how he and his sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi, English: Rhoda Chrosite), fared in the wake of the firebombings of Kobe during the war.

14-year-old Seita and 4-year-old Setsuko live with their mother (Yoshiko Shinohara), English: Veronica Taylor) comfortably in Kobe while their father serves as a captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy. One day, air raid sirens go off as a fleet of American B-29 Superfortress bombers flies overhead. The children’s mother, who suffers from a heart condition, puts Setsuko in the care of her older brother and instructs him to secure the home while she goes ahead to a bomb shelter. Hundreds of incendiary bombs are dropped on the city and most of the civilians are caught off-guard. Seita and Setsuko manage to survive the bombing unscathed and go in search of their mother. They find her at a makeshift clinic set up within a school, horribly burnt and covered head to foot with bloody bandages. She dies a short time later and is cremated in a mass grave with other casualties.

Despite their loss, Seita is determined to care for Setsuko and protect her at all costs. They travel to the home of their aunt (Akemi Yamaguchi, English: Amy Jones) who allows them to stay but convinces Seita to sell his mother’s kimonos for rice. While living there, Seita goes out to retrieve leftover supplies he had buried in the ground before the bombing and gives them all to his aunt, however, he keeps one tin of fruit drops for himself. The children’s aunt becomes increasingly bitter due to the hardships brought on by the war. She becomes resentful of the children as food rations shrink and she accuses Seita on having done nothing to earn the food she cooks. Tired of his aunt’s insults, Seita decides to leave with Setsuko and care for her on his own. They find refuge inside an abandoned bomb shelter and release fireflies within for light. Come morning, Setsuko is horrified to find that all the fireflies have died. She creates a grave for them in the dirt and Seita realizes the depth of her understanding when she asks him why their mother had to die too.

The children soon run out of rice and food and, unable to find work or other means, Seita is forced to steal from local farmers’ homes during air raids. When he is caught, he comes to terms with his desperation and takes an increasingly ill Setsuko to a doctor. The doctor informs Seita that his sister is suffering from malnutrition but offers no help. Desperate, Seita withdraws all of the money remaining in his mother’s bank account, hoping that it will be enough to treat Setsuko or buy food. As he leaves the bank he becomes distraught when he learns from a nearby crowd that Japan has surrendered to the Allied Forces. Not only that, but he finds that the ship his father captained has been sunk along with most of the Imperial Navy. His father, who had once promised him that Japan could never be defeated. Seita returns to the bomb shelter with a heavy heart and large quantities of food only to find Setsuko lying on the ground, hallucinating and trying to encourage Seita to eat little rocks that she thinks are rice balls. Seita hurries to prepare some food and gets Setsuko to try a bit of watermelon. She thanks him and, exhausted, closes her eyes. She never wakes up.

Somewhere on a distant planet, a court is called to order by the Grand Councilwoman (Zoe Caldwell) who oversees the charges read by Captain Gantu (Kevin Michael Richardson) against Doctor Jumba (David Ogden Stiers) for illegal genetic experimentation. Jumba is adamant about his innocence until his latest experiment is brought into the room. The tiny, six-limbed, blue creature snarls and jumps against his glass cage while Jumba proudly explains all of the amazing powers his Experiment 626 possesses before collapsing in a fit of maniacal laughter. The Grand Councilwoman offers 626 a moment to prove that he is good, but he shocks the council with a slew of alien profanity. Convinced that the experiment is nothing more than the product of a deranged mind, the Councilwoman condemns Jumba to life in prison and sentences 626 to expulsion on a far away planet. Captain Gantu takes charge of 626 and confines him within the master ship of his armada. However, 626s cunning, and some projectile spit, allows him to quickly escape and commandeer a small patrol cruiser. The armada gives chase and disables the craft, but not before 626 engages the hyper-drive and blasts off into the regions of space.

In a world of robots, the Copperbottom family has a son, named Rodney. Growing up, Rodney becomes infatuated by famous robotics inventor Big Weld, and decides that he wants to be an inventor and work for Big Weld industries one day.

Rodney spends his youth and teenage years trying to perfect his own helper robot. He attempts to show his Dad that the robot can help him wash dishes, but helper ends up causing more damage than help.

Determined to make something of himself and pay off the damages the helper bot caused, Rodney decides to head to Robot City to fulfill his dream and work for Big Weld Industries.

Upon reaching Robot City, Rodney finds the gates to Big Weld Industries shut, with no new ideas coming in. The company, now led by a robot named Ratchet, has also scrapped the business model of supplying spare parts for older robot models, and going with pricier upgrades for robots, with a new slogan titled, “Why be you, when you can be new.”

After being kicked out of Big Weld Industries, Rodney finds himself in a darker side of town, where a strange robot named Fender attempts to make off with his foot. Rodney chases after him, and finds a small collective of older robots scrounging for spare parts. In the ensuing chaos, Fender loses a part for his neck, and when the group goes to find a replacement part, finds this item has been discontinued. Even though Fender attempted to cannibalize him, Rodney helps Fender and manages to make a suitable neck replacement out of additional spare parts.

Fender’s sister, Piper, explains that many robots in Robot City are in desperate need of spare parts that Big Weld Industries used to make. However, in recent months, Big Weld has disappeared; the streets are now patrolled by motorized vehicles, known as Sweepers, that take obsolete models to a dark side of town known as the Chop Shop, run by Madam Gasket (Ratchet’s mother). Any collected models never come back.

Rodney bunks with the group and another robot named Aunt Fanny, but is surprised the next day when the local parts shop closes its doors, claiming that all spare parts orders from Big Weld Industries have officially dried up. All sorts of robot citizens are up in arms, but Rodney comes forward, and using what spare parts are left, helps those less fortunate.

Soon, the parts loss is felt at home, as Rodney receives a letter from his parents, saying that without spare parts, his father will not survive. Word soon reaches Rodney about an annual company ball held by Big Weld Industries. Rodney and Fender break into the festivities in hopes to talk to Big Weld and convince him to help, since Big Weld always attends this function.

However, Ratchet appears claiming that Big Weld couldn’t attend. Rodney then comes forward, demanding to know where Big Weld is, and brings to the company’s attention the plight of the average bot, of whom Rodney has spent several days trying to repair countless numbers of.

Ratchet orders Rodney be captured, but he, Fender, and a female employee named Cappy manage to escape the party. Fender parts ways with the group, while Rodney and Cappy head to Big Weld’s mansion to investigate. Rodney is at first excited to meet his childhood hero, but soon grows disillusioned when Big Weld tells him to give up his fight to fix the outmoded robots. Big Weld claims that in the face of change for Big Weld Industries, Ratchet took over, turning the company into an entity that was more about profits than helping others.

Rodney then heads to the train station intent on going home, when the other robots and Fender appear. Fender, having just survived almost being destroyed in the Chop Shop, has overheard of the Sweepers being deployed in full force the next day by Madame Gasket and Ratchet to collect all the outmoded robots in Robot City.

Big Weld also shows up, and inspires the group not to give up; they all return to Big Weld Industries to confront Ratchet; Big Weld (inspired by the bots still believing in him) fires Ratchet, who weeps and begs for another chance; caught off-guard, Big Weld succumbs to a knockout punch from Ratchet, who then realizes he’s become as crazy as his own mother!

Security arrives to remove Big Weld just as Rodney and Cappy turn up; between them they help Big Weld escape the building and end up being chased across Robot City, eventually ending up outside Madam Gasket’s Chop Shop (although Big Weld goes shooting through the gates to the inside).

The group all tool up and enter the Chop Shop to rescue Big Weld from a certain melting down, but are faced with Madam Gasket, Ratchet and the army of new-fangled Sweepers. Piper turns up with all of the city’s outmoded robots; working together, they attack Madam Gasket’s outfit and rescue Big Weld. Madam Gasket gets melted down and Ratchet gets strung up in chains (next to his poor hen-pecked father) simultaneously losing his flashy upgrades! Big Weld, Piper, Fender and the others all celebrate a victory.

In the prologue, told through stained glass windows, an old beggar woman arrives at the castle of a French prince. The woman asks for shelter from the cold, and in return, offers the young prince a rose. Repulsed by her appearance, the prince turns her away. The beggar warns him not to judge by appearances, but the Prince ignores her and shuts the door on her. The woman then throws off her disguise, revealing that she is a beautiful enchantress. The Prince tries to apologize, but she has already seen the lack of kindness in his heart. She conjures a powerful curse, transforming him into a hideous beast, his servants into anthropomorphic household items, and the entire castle and all its surroundings into a dark, forbidding place, so that he will learn not to judge by appearances. The curse can only be broken if the Beast learns to love another and receives the other’s love in return before the last petal of the enchantress’s rose withers and falls; if not, he will be doomed to remain a beast forever. As the years pass, the Beast sits in his castle wallowing in despair, convinced that no one could ever love him.

Years later, a beautiful young peasant woman named Belle (Paige O’hara) lives in a nearby village with her father, Maurice (Rex Everhart), who is an inventor. Belle is seen as “odd” by the other townsfolk due to her preference for reading books (“Belle”). She is the object of unwanted attention from the local hunter, Gaston (Richard White), whom she perceives as an egomaniac and ‘positively primeval’, barbarian-brained, lunkhead. He and his sidekick, LeFou (Jesse Corti), openly mock her father’s inventions and her love of books. Belle reveals her feelings of loneliness to her father, who promises her that his next invention, a wood-chopping machine, will be the start of a new life for them both.

Maurice rides off to a fair with his invention, but gets lost and loses his horse as night falls. He escapes from some wolves and desperately seeks shelter from a storm. Cold and tired, he stumbles upon a mysterious castle and enters. There, he meets the enchanted household items - Cogsworth (David Ogden Steirs) the mantel clock/majordomo, Lumière the candelabra/maître d’ (Jerry Orbach), Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) the teapot/cook, and her son Chip the tea cup (Bradley Pierce). The Beast (Robby Benson), however, is enraged when he discovers Maurice and is about to throw him out, not caring that the wolves would eat him, when Maurice says he needs a place to stay. The Beast then decides to lock him in a dungeon in the castle tower (against Maurice’s wishes).

The next day, Gaston arranges a wedding ceremony right outside of Belle’s house and invites the entire town. He invites himself in to propose to her and gives her an image of their life together – “A rustic hunting lodge, my little wife massaging my feet, while the little ones play on the floor with the dogs; oh, we’ll have six or seven [strapping boys, like me]”. Belle attempts to politely decline when Gaston corners her against her front door and tries to kiss her. As she opens the door to move out of the way, he falls through the door frame and into the mud in front of the entire town. This serves as a hard blow to Gaston’s ego. (“Belle reprise”)

Belle, who worries when her father’s horse returns home without him, decides to seek out her father. Eventually, she winds up at the Beast’s castle. The objects, their hope renewed with the arrival of Belle, show her the way to the dungeon while keeping themselves concealed from her sight. Belle finds Maurice in the tower dungeon, but the Beast catches her. She offers herself in exchange for her father’s life, against his wishes, giving her word to remain in the castle forever. The Beast reveals himself to her, and although Belle is clearly terrified, she bravely refuses to back down from her offer. The Beast agrees and releases Maurice, who is taken back to the village in an walking coach before they can say goodbye. Moved by Belle’s sadness, the Beast decides to give Belle a room in the castle instead of keeping her in the dungeon. The Beast gives Belle permission to go anywhere in the castle except the West Wing, refusing to explain why. He shows Belle her room and tells her that they must meet for dinner (at Lumiere’s suggestion).

Back in the village, the citizens attempt to cheer up Gaston in the local tavern after Belle’s rejection by reminding him how in awe they are of him (Gaston”). Maurice bursts in and asks for help to rescue Belle from “a beast”, but no one believes him. When one of the villagers calls him crazy, Gaston thinks of a plan to get Belle to marry him. Maurice goes off to search for Belle alone, unaware of Gaston’s plan. Gaston and the others arrive at the house shortly after Maurice leaves. Finding the house empty, Gaston orders LeFou to wait by the porch until Belle and Maurice return.

Belle meets the enchanted objects and the Wardrobe (Joanne Worrley) and Fifi the Featherduster (Kath Soucie) who cheer her up, but she refuses to have dinner with the Beast. Enraged, he tells the servants that if Belle does not eat with him, she will have to starve, then shuts himself away in the West Wing. He sees Belle through the magic mirror, who angrily cries that she will have nothing to do with the Beast. Melancholy, he watches one more petal fall from the rose. Ignoring the Beast’s orders, Lumiere, along with the other servants, welcomes Belle warmly and entertains her with an elaborate dinner and a show (“Be Our Guest”). After dinner, Belle asks the servants for a tour of the castle. Lumiere and Cogsworth happily oblige, but Belle manages to sneak away from them and penetrate into the forbidden West Wing, where she discovers an extremely disarrayed and desolate room, a slashed portrait of a handsome man with strangely familiar blue eyes, and the enchanted rose. The Beast finds her there and frightens her with a terrifying display of temper. Belle flees the castle, disregarding her promise to the Beast, and, in the dark forest, is attacked by wolves. The Beast appears and fights off the vicious creatures, but is wounded during the fight and weakly collapses; a grateful Belle returns to the castle and, while nursing the Beast’s wounds, thanks him for saving her life. Over some time, the two start to become friends. The Beast even gives Belle “ownership” of his immense library. (“Something There”) The household items are excited and optimistic that Belle may fall in love with the Beast and cause them to become human again. The relationship reaches its climax with an elegant dinner and ballroom dance. (“Beauty and the Beast”)

After the romantic evening, The Beast notices that Belle seems melancholy. She tells him that she wishes to see Maurice again, just for a moment. The Beast takes her to the West Wing and gives her the magic mirror, explaining that it will allow her to see anything she might desire to see. Belle asks if she can see her father and the magic mirror reveals that Maurice is lost and sick in the forest. The Beast, having fallen in love with Belle, releases her to rescue her father and also gives her the mirror so that she may look back and remember him. Belle hurries off, finds Maurice and takes him back to the village, where a mob gathers to take him to the asylum. Gaston offers to have Maurice spared if Belle agrees to marry him but she still refuses. Belle uses the magic mirror to show the Beast to the villagers, who become frightened at his hideous visage. Belle assures them that the Beast is kind and gentle, and that he’s her friend. Out of jealousy and anger, Gaston tells the mob that Belle is as crazy as her father. Belle disagrees and calls him the real beast for wanting to kill him. She tells him off that she sees him as nothing more than a sexist, narcissistic, rude, obnoxious and selfish jerk. Insulted, Gaston rallies the villagers to storm the castle and “kill the beast,” (“Mob song”) convincing them that he is dangerous to the entire town. To prevent Belle and Maurice from warning the Beast, Gaston has his men lock them in the cellar of their home.

With the help of Chip the teacup, who has stowed away in Belle’s satchel, Belle and Maurice escape from the cellar using the invention and rush back to the castle. The villagers force open the door, but Cogsworth and Lumiere leads the servants in defense of the castle. Gaston deserts the battle to search for the Beast. The servants eventually manage to drive the villagers out of the castle.

Meanwhile, Gaston finds the Beast alone in the West Wing and attacks him, throwing both of them outside on the balcony and rooftops. The Beast does not defend himself because he has given up hope of being able to see Belle again. As soon as he sees Belle arriving at the castle, calling out for him, the Beast gains the will to fight Gaston. A heated battle ensues between the two, culminating when the Beast grabs Gaston by the neck and threatens to throw him off the roof. Gaston begs for his life, and the Beast relents, softened by his love for Belle. He tells Gaston to leave and never come back, and then throws him aside. When the Beast climbs back up to the balcony where Belle is waiting for him, Gaston stabs him in the back, then loses his footing and falls into the deep chasm far below, signaling his death.

A street peddler (Robin Williams) is guiding the audience through the streets of the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah. After trying to sell all kinds of wares, he pulls out an old oil lamp, claiming it “once changed the course of a young man’s life. A young man who like this lamp was more than what he seemed; a diamond, in the rough.”

The peddler then begins to tell the tale, beginning on a dark night, where the Sultan’s grand vizier, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), has a secret meeting with a thief named Kassim. Kassim hands over half a golden scarab beetle, of which Jafar already possess the other half. Putting both halves together, the golden scarab beetle comes to life and flies off into the night, followed by Jafar and Kassim. The golden bug then settles on a sand dune which turns into a giant sand tiger with its mouth wide opened; the Cave of Wonders.

Jafar orders Kassim to enter the cave and retrieve a lamp. However, upon approaching the cave, the tiger’s head speaks that only one may enter: “One whose worth lies far within; the diamond in the rough!” Kassim still attempts to enter but as soon as he takes one step inside the tiger’s mouth, it bites down on the thief, killing him instantly and closing off the entrance way. The golden scarab beetle then turns back into both halves which Jafar collects. It is then that Jafar understands he needs to find this diamond in the rough in order to enter.

The next day, on the streets of Agrabah, a young street urchin named Aladdin (Scott Weinger) is struggling to steal a loaf of bread, along with his pet monkey, Abu. After outwitting some of the city guards, the two settle down to eat their spoils, but ends up giving it away to a couple of hungry kids struggling to find any food. They are then distracted when a Royal Prince marches through the streets, en route to the Sultan’s palace to claim the Princess’s hand. Aladdin gets into a confrontation with the prince when he tries to punish two kids who mistakenly walked in front of his horse, causing it to stop abruptly. The prince kicks Alladin into a puddle of dirt and declares Aladdin to be nothing but “a worthless street rat.” Aladdin and Abu then retire to their abode, with Aladdin promising his monkey friend that someday, things will be better.

The next day, the prince leaves the palace, angered that Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin) has fended off his advances, allowing her pet tiger Raja to rip out the suitor’s pant.The Sultan (Douglas Seale) talks to his daughter, who says she is tired of living her life being cooped up behind walls. The Sultan consults with his adviser, Jafar, who claims he can help the Sultan, if the Sultan will give him his blue diamond ring. Using hypnosis on the Sultan, Jafar gets the ring, and retreats to his private quarters.

Later on that evening, Jasmine escapes from the palace, and wanders the streets of Agrabah the next day. However, her act of giving an apple to a hungry little boy lands her in trouble with the street merchant she took if from, not realizing she would’ve to pay for it. Luckily, Aladdin interferes and cons the merchant into believing he got his apple back. He then leads Jasmine away from the market and away from further trouble.

Meanwhile, Jafar has used the blue diamond ring he stole from the Sultan to consult the Sands of Time, which revealed just who he needs to enter the Cave of Wonders: Aladdin.

Aladdin has retreated with Jasmine to his and Abu’s place, and she is rather taken by his kindness. However, Aladdin is suddenly attacked and captured by the city Guards. Jasmine reveals herself to them, demanding Aladdin be released but the head of the Royal Guards, Razoul, tells her he is acting under orders from Jafar.

Returning to the Palace, Jasmine confronts Jafar, who explains that Aladdin was captured because he kidnapped her. When Jasmine reveals she escaped the palace on her own and Aladdin had nothing to do with it, Jafar shockingly claims that Aladdin has already been executed, sending her away in tears.

In actuality, Aladdin has been imprisoned in the Royal dungeons. Abu manages to free Aladdin, but they are interrupted by an older prisoner, claiming he needs Aladdin’s help to locate the Cave of Wonders. In truth the prisoner is actually Jafar in disguise, who manages to help Aladdin escape the dungeons.

After the small group arrives at the Cave of Wonders, Aladdin is allowed to enter, with the cave warning him not to touch anything but the lamp. Aladdin and Abu venture deep into the cavern which is filled with many treasures of gold, jewelries, gems and all kind of luxuries, where they first encounter a sentient magic carpet that leads them to the lamp’s location. Aladdin is able to retrieve the lamp, but Abu breaks the rule, and picks up a large ruby, causing the cave to begin to collapse on them. Using the magic carpet, Aladdin and Abu manage to get to the entrance of the cave, where the old beggar pleads for Aladdin to give him the lamp. Aladdin does so, and the beggar then reveals a dagger, intending to kill him. Luckily, Abu bites the beggar, and both Aladdin and Abu fall back into the cavern, as the giant Tiger’s Head disappears under the sand once again.

Jafar then laughingly reaches for the lamp, only to find it is gone. Abu managed to steal it off the beggar before he fell back into the cave with Aladdin. Deep within the cave, Aladdin begins to examine the lamp, finding a worn inscription on the side of it. Rubbing it, the lamp then produces a large blue genie. The genie (Robin Williams) tells Aladdin that for rubbing the lamp, he is entitled to three wishes (and that wishing for more wishes is also not an option), but warns that they come with the following exceptions:

1. He can’t kill anyone. 2) He can’t make anyone fall in love with someone else. 3) He can’t bring people back from the dead.

Using his street-smarts, Aladdin manages to con Genie into getting them out of the cave without using a wish. Landing in a small oasis, Aladdin contemplates what to wish for, and asks the Genie what he would wish for. The Genie mentions how he’d wish to be free of the lamp, prompting Aladdin to promise to free the Genie with his last wish.

As the topic turns to Aladdin’s wishes, he thinks of wanting to be with Jasmine, and though he cannot make her fall in love with him, he decides to wish to become a prince, as she is a princess, thus allowing him to at least try to be with her. Aladdin uses his first wish; the genie will turn him into a fabulously rich prince. Abu is transformed into a large elephant and will be Aladdin’s mount.

Meanwhile, back in Agrabah, Jafar is still upset that he didn’t get the lamp. Wanting to find some way to attain power, Jafar attempts to convince the Sultan that there is a clause in the Royal rules that if Jasmine has not been suitably wed by a certain time, she is to marry the great vizier to save faces. The Sultan is reluctant to proceed so Jafar attempts to hypnotize him but he is interrupted by loud music coming from outside.

Outside, a large and noisy Royal procession enters the Kingdom, announcing the arrival of Prince Ali Ababwa (aka Aladdin). The procession is huge, with riches, exotic animals, hundreds of servants and Aladdin himself riding an elephant (Abu). Aladdin’s entourage makes its way into the palace, impressing the Sultan. Jafar is suspicious and cold toward the new suitor. Aladdin is the taken to Jasmine, who is unimpressed and rebuffs Aladdin’s pompous ways. However, when Aladdin removes his hat to shoo away Raja, Jasmine is reminded of the street urchin. Aladdin tries to gain Jasmine’s interest again by telling her how rich and powerful he is but she remains steadfastly ambivalent. Aladdin decides to leave Jasmine and steps off on his magic carpet which definitely gets her attention. Jasmine wishes to ride with him and the two take a long trip around the world. Aladdin drops his pompous facade during the trip which eventually wins her over.

Returning Jasmine to the palace, Aladdin is roughly seized by palace guards who tie him up and dump him in a nearby lake under orders from Jafar. When he accidentally rubs the lamp, Genie appears and coaxes Aladdin into using his second wish to save the boy’s life. Aladdin returns to the palace to find that Jafar is using his cobra-shaped staff to once again to hypnotize the Sultan, demanding that he order his daughter to marry the treacherous vizier. Aladdin figures out Jafar’s schemes and smashes the staff. Jafar vanishes before the palace guards can arrest him, but not before spotting the lamp hidden inside Prince Ali’s hat. After he’s gone, the Sultan sees that Jasmine has accepted Aladdin and wishes to marry him.

However, Aladdin is still troubled by the fact that he’s not a real prince and has been lying to the princess. Genie appears and tries to coax Aladdin into using his last wish to free him. Aladdin tells him he can’t free the Genie as he wouldn’t be the prince that he is without him, convinced he would lose Jasmine if he’s proven not to be a prince. The Genie suddenly retreats into the lamp, feeling angry and betrayed.

Jafar returns to his secret lair beneath the palace, seemingly defeated but laughing hysterically when he realizes who Prince Ali really is. He then sends his pet parrot Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) to steal the lamp which he does rather easily. Jafar summons the Genie. Genie is forced to do Jafar’s bidding and appears in a gigantic form, grabbing the palace and taking it to a remote mountain. Jafar uses his first wish to become the world’s most powerful sorcerer and reveals to everyone that Aladdin is nothing but a street urchin. He launches him out of the palace in a makeshift rocket which lands in a snowy cold mountain region. Jafar then uses his second wish to become Sultan and imprisons the Sultan and the princess until she agrees to marry him.

Trapped in the mountains, Aladdin finds Abu and the magic carpet and is able to return to Agrabah, sneaking into the palace. He finds the Genie, who warns him he can’t help him since Jafar holds the lamp. Aladdin tries to sneak up on Jafar to steal back the lamp. Jasmine sees Aladdin’s plan and uses Jafar’s wish for her to be in love with him as an excuse to pretend being suddenly enraptured with Jafar to distract him. However, Jafar sees Aladdin’s reflection in Jasmine’s tiara and knocks him away. He then traps Jasmine in a large hourglass where she will eventually be submerged in sand and die. Jafar transforms himself into a giant cobra to terrorize Aladdin, who fights back valiantly. While trapped in Snake Jafar’s coils, Aladdin has an epiphany and cons Jafar into using his third wish: telling Jafar that no matter how powerful he gets, the Genie will still be more powerful. Jafar falls for the ruse and wishes to be turned into a genie himself, which Genie complies. Jafar then changes form which frees Aladdin so he can run to Jasmine’s hourglass and break her out before she suffocates. As Jafar revels in his newfound power, Aladdin reminds him that being a Genie also means becoming a servant to whomever holds the lamp. Jafar is suddenly shackled and is sucked into the new lamp created by his wish and is trapped.

Genie takes the Jafar lamp and throws it out into the desert, where it lands in the Cave of Wonders as the new lamp. The genie then tells Aladdin that if he wants to use his third wish to become a prince again he can. Aladdin, however, wishes the genie free. The lamp becomes inactive and the genie’s shackles fall off his wrists. Overjoyed that he’s no longer a servant, the Genie plans to travel the world. The Sultan, knowing that Aladdin is not a prince, decides to let him marry his daughter after seeing how much Aladdin and Jasmine care for each other. Abu is changed back into his monkey form and the Genie leaves after an emotional goodbye. Aladdin and the princess are married and Aladdin becomes heir to the kingdom. They fly away on Aladdin’s carpet toward the moon, which turns into the laughing genie’s face.

The Tweedys are a troubled middle-aged couple who run their own chicken farm somewhere in a town in Yorkshire, England. Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson) is the ill-tempered brains of the pair, while Mr. Tweedy (voiced by Tony Haygarth) is slow, but he can handle the manual work industriously. The coop is run in the style of a World War II POW camp, with the chickens accountable for the number of eggs they lay daily. One chicken, Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha), who is often treated as the chickens’ leader, has attempted numerous escapes, which she was aided by contraband smuggled in by a pair of rats named Nick and Fetcher (voiced by Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels). However, Ginger is routinely captured by Mr. Tweedy and his dogs and is later thrown into a coal bin for solitary confinement. Ginger is released from the coal bin just in time for roll call the next day. Mrs. Tweedy soon finds out that one chicken named Edwina had not laid any eggs that week. Edwina is beheaded to death and is later cooked for the Tweedys’ dinner. Ginger becomes increasingly desperate to find a plan of escape which will work but faces problems with Nick and Fetcher, who are tired of being paid with chicken feed and want their own eggs instead.

Mrs. Tweedy soon realises that the couple’s farm is failing and reads a catalogue on an ambiguous method of increasing profits. Realising something is wrong, Ginger attempts to convince herself and the other chickens to speed up their efforts to escape. However, Ginger soon concludes that the only escape route is to go over the fence and something that she and the other chickens cannot do. That same night, as Ginger sits outside of the coop, she sees a Rhode Island Red cockerel named Rocky (voiced by Mel Gibson), who flies over the fence and accidentally crash into the coop. The other chickens also fawn over Rocky, while Ginger finds the first half of a poster with a picture of Rocky on it that appears to show that he can fly. After Ginger discovers that Rocky is from a circus, she agrees to hide him from his owners if he teaches them how to fly. Rocky reluctantly agrees, but says he cannot show them immediately because he injured his wing when he crashed into the chicken coop. Instead, Rocky puts Ginger and the other chickens through a set of exercises that seem to have no purpose, while assuring them that they are making progress.

That same night, a giant truck arrives at the farm and delivers a large pie-making machine, in which Mrs. Tweedy orders all food rations doubled. Ginger proclaims that their intent is to fatten them up and then kill them. Rocky and Ginger argue with each other, which Rocky claims that Ginger’s honesty will demoralise the chickens, and Ginger refusing to lie to the other chicken. Discovering that the other chickens have gone into depression following Ginger’s announcement, Rocky organises a party using a radio obtained by Nick and Fetcher. During the party, Rocky’s wing is shown to have healed. Once their pie machine is complete, the Tweedys kidnap Ginger and later subject her to its first test. Rocky follows Ginger into the machine and rescues her by damaging the machine and giving him and Ginger more time to work on their escape. Fowler (voiced by Benjamin Whitrow), an older cockerel who has been doubtful of Rocky’s acts, gives Rocky his respect for rescuing Ginger and his old Royal Air Force (RAF) badge in tribute. Rocky decides to flee the farm the next day, leaving behind Fowler’s medal and the second half of his poster, which shows that he was actually a stunt cockerel who “flew” by being shot from a cannon. This revelation outrages and demoralizes all the chickens except Ginger. When Fowler arrives to try and restore order, he begins talking of his days in the RAF, leading Ginger to realise that she and the other chickens could fly out after all by using an airplane, built from the chicken coops, modeled after Fowler’s pictures and personal recollections and constructed using tools supplied by Nick and Fetcher. The chickens race against time to assemble their plane as the Tweedys work to repair their pie machine.

The chickens finally finish their plane just as Mr. Tweedy enters the coop to grab them. However, the chickens launch an open revolt by tying up and gagging Mr. Tweedy. As the chickens are preparing to depart, Mr. Tweedy frees himself and knocks down the ramp used to get the chickens’ plane airborne. Ginger jumps down as Fowler turns the plane around, which knocks Mr. Tweedy unconscious. As Ginger struggles to lift the ramp, Mrs. Tweedy attempt to kill her with her hatchet. However, Rocky, who just returned after seeing a controversial ad for the chicken pies, jumps over the fence aboard his tricycle and hits Mrs. Tweedy in her face, which knocks her senseless. Rocky and Ginger grab onto the string of lights which was caught on the plane’s landing gear as the plane departs. However, Mrs. Tweedy soon awakens and also grab the lights, which weighs down the chickens’ plane. Ginger heads down the string to cut it and get rid of Mrs. Tweedy, but she accidentally loses her own scissors. Realising that it is the only way to cut the lights, Ginger manages to trick Mrs. Tweedy by using her hatchet to sever the string, which later causes Mrs. Tweedy to fall, crash into the pie machine, and plugging herself into the safety valve. The pie machine build up its pressure and explodes, destroying the barn, and covering the entire farm with gravy. The chickens continue to fly to freedom as Mr. Tweedy tells Mrs. Tweedy: “I told you they was organised”. Mr. Tweedy later pushes the door on top of Mrs. Tweedy before she can lash on him.

When Shrek and Fiona come back from their honeymoon, they find an invitation to a royal ball with Fiona’s parents to celebrate their marriage, an event Shrek is reluctant to participate in. Fiona talks him into it, and along with Donkey, they travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away. They meet Fiona’s parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, who are surprised and repulsed by Fiona’s choice of husband (particularly the King himself), since they had arranged that Prince Charming rescue her from the castle but now they see that her husband is an ogre.

At a shared meal, Shrek and Harold get into a heated argument over how Shrek and Fiona will raise their family, and Fiona, disgusted at Shrek and her father’s behaviour, locks herself away in her room that evening, where she meets her Fairy Godmother, who is also surprised at Fiona’s new looks. Shrek worries that he has lost his true love, particularly after finding her childhood diary and reading that she was once infatuated with Prince Charming.

King Harold is accosted by the Fairy Godmother and Charming, her son. The two retell the Prince’s adventures and how he overcame many obstacles and climbed a high tower in order to rescue her finding instead a crossdressing wolf. They reprimand Harold for breaking an old promise that Charming would be able to marry Fiona and demand that he find a way to get rid of Shrek. Harold arranges for Shrek and Donkey to join him on a fictitious hunting trip, which really is a trap to lure the two into the hands of an assassin, Puss in Boots.

When Fiona realizes that Shrek left she asks her father for help but he replies that he always wanted the best for her and that she should better think about what is the best for her, too. Puss is unable to defeat Shrek and, revealing that he was paid by Harold, asks to come along as a way to make amends. The three sneak into the Fairy Godmother’s potion factory and steal a “Happily Ever After” potion that Shrek believes will restore Fiona’s love for him.

Shrek and Donkey both drink the potion and fall into a deep sleep. The potion also affects Fiona who also faints. Awakening the next morning, he sees three ladies taking care of him and is shocked to discover its effects: Shrek is now a handsome human, while Donkey has turned into a stallion. In order to make the change permanent, Shrek must kiss Fiona by midnight.

He, Donkey, and Puss return to the castle as Fiona awakens and sees her former, human self and she screams when she sees her reflection. However, the Fairy Godmother, having learned of the potion’s theft, intercepts Shrek and sends Charming to pose as him and win her love. Shrek watches from inside, and calls for her at the window. At the Fairy Godmother’s urging, Shrek leaves the castle, believing that the best way to make Fiona happy is to let her go.

To ensure that Fiona falls in love with Charming, the Fairy Godmother gives Harold a love potion to put into Fiona’s tea. But Harold replies that it’s not possible to make his daughter fall in love in this way. This exchange is overheard by Shrek, Donkey, and Puss, who are soon arrested by the royal guards and thrown into a dungeon.

While the royal ball begins, several of Shrek’s friends band together to free the trio and create a gigantic gingerbread man (whose name is Mongo), which breaks through the castle’s defenses so Shrek can stop Charming from kissing Fiona. He is too late to stop them; instead of falling in love with Charming, though, Fiona knocks him out with a headbutt. Harold reveals that he never gave Fiona the love potion, whereupon the Fairy Godmother attacks Shrek.

The now-enraged Fairy Godmother tries to kill Shrek with her magic wand, but Harold jumps in front of it; the spell ricochets off his armor and disintegrates her. With the Fairy Godmother gone, Harold reverts back into the Frog Prince. Harold apologizes, admitting to using the “Happily Ever After” potion years earlier to gain Lillian’s love, and approves Shrek and Fiona’s marriage. Lillian assures Harold that she still loves him.

As the clock strikes midnight, Fiona rejects Shrek’s offer to remain human, and revert back into ogres, while Donkey also returns to normal.

Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher, feels stuck in life and unfulfilled at his job. He dreams of a career in jazz, to which his seamstress mother, Libba, objects. By chance, his former student Curly informs him of an opening in the band of jazz legend Dorothea Williams. Joe impresses Dorothea with his piano playing and is offered the job on the spot. As Joe happily heads off to prepare for his first performance later that night, he falls down a manhole.

Joe finds himself as a soul heading into the “Great Beyond”. Unwilling to die before his big break, he tries to escape but ends up in the “Great Before”, where soul counselors-all named Jerry-prepare unborn souls for life on Earth. Joe poses as an instructor who is set to train the souls and is assigned 22, a cynical soul who has remained in the Great Before for millennium and sees no point in living on Earth. 22 reveals that she has a badge that fills up with traits. She needs to find her “spark” to complete it and says she will give it to Joe so that he can return home.

Joe tries to assist 22 in finding a passion, but the attempts prove futile. With no other options, 22 takes him out to “the zone”, an area that people enter when their passion sets them into a euphoric trance; it also houses the lost souls who become obsessed. They meet Moonwind, a sign twirler who enters the zone to rescue lost souls. He agrees to help Joe return to his body and they learn that Joe’s fall down the manhole sent him into a coma. Joe excitedly hops back to Earth but accidentally brings 22 with him, resulting in 22 entering his body and Joe ending up in the body of a therapy cat. Meanwhile, Terry, an accountant designated to counting souls headed to the Great Beyond, finds the count off and convinces the Jerrys to let her return the missing soul.

22 and Joe escape the hospital. Initially frightened, 22 settles into Joe’s body and finds great enjoyment in the little things in life. They head to Joe’s apartment where Connie, one of Joe’s students, arrives to tell him that she is quitting the band. Before leaving, Connie plays a passionate trombone solo, stunning 22, who convinces her of the talent she has and that music is for her. Happy, Connie thanks “Joe” and leaves, having changed her mind. They next go to get a haircut where 22 holds a deep, poignant conversation with Dez, the barber. After 22 rips Joe’s pants while bending down, the duo go to see Libba to have it fixed; after “Joe” reconciles with his mother, Libba finally accepts Joe’s passion for music and offers him his late father’s old suit.

Before Moonwind can restore Joe, 22, who both experiences an epiphany and decides she must find her purpose on Earth, refuses to proceed with Joe’s restoration. As she flees with Joe tailing behind, Terry catches up and brings both back to the Great Before, where 22 sees that her badge has been filled out. However, Joe tells her that his experiences and tastes earned the badge. Angry, 22 tosses the badge at Joe and disappears into the zone. Joe learns from a Jerry that instead of a life’s purpose, a spark simply means that a soul is ready to live. He heads back to Earth and has a successful first performance with the Dorothea quartet, but does not feel right about what happened.

During the Han Dynasty in ancient China, the legendary Great Wall fails to keep out the notorious Hun army and their ruthless leader, Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer). The alarm is raised, and the Emperor (Pat Morita) entrusts General Li (James Shigeta) with mobilizing an army to protect China. The wise Emperor reminds the general that “one man may be the difference between victory and defeat.”

Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen), the teenage daughter of prosperous farmer Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh), nervously prepares for her meeting with the village matchmaker (Miriam Margolyes). Though clever and kindhearted, Mulan is a tomboyish klutz who has little faith in her ability to become a poised and dignified bride. After rushing through her morning chores, she meets her mother, Fa Li (Freda Foh Shen), and grandmother (June Foray) in town and is bathed and dressed before joining the other girls at the matchmaker’s house (“Honor to Us All”). Mulan’s eccentric grandmother insists that Mulan take a live cricket with her for good luck, but the insect escapes from its cage and wreaks havoc at the meeting. Mulan is deemed a disgrace, and is told she will never bring honor to her family.

Deeply ashamed, Mulan returns home and laments that she is not the daughter her parents deserve (“Reflection”). Her father, however, comforts her with the metaphor that the cherry blossom late to bloom may be the most beautiful of all.

The Emperor’s smug councilman, Chi Fu (James Hong) arrives at Mulan’s village to draft one man from each family for the imperial army. Mulan watches in fear as young men are called forward to receive their orders, knowing that her aging and weak father will be called up as well, being the only male member of the Fa family. As Fa Zhou is summoned by Chi Fu, Mulan pleads for her father to be excused from battle, as he is already a veteran and is afflicted with an injured leg. Fa Zhou reprimands her for her interference, and insists he will go to training camp the next day with the other soldiers. Knowing her father will die if put in combat again, Mulan makes a desperate decision. After her parents are asleep, she cuts her hair short, dons her father’s armor, and takes his draft information before riding out to the camp in his place. Fa Zhou and Fa Li awaken and discover with horror that their daughter has left to join the army. They cannot go after her, for impersonating a soldier is a capital offense, and Mulan would be executed if her identity was revealed. Grandmother Fa prays to their ancestors to protect Mulan.

In the small temple on the Fa’s property, the spirits of the ancestors awaken to discuss what to do about Mulan. Mushu the dragon (Eddie Murphy), a disgraced former guardian, is sent to awaken the Great Stone Dragon, the most powerful guardian, to bring Mulan home safely. While grumpily trying to wake the statue by ringing a ceremonial gong, Mushu accidentally reduces it to rubble. He manages to hide this mishap from the ancestors, and encounters Cri-Kee, the “lucky” cricket who had accompanied Mulan to the matchmaker. The two eventually decide to go after Mulan themselves. Mushu plans to help Mulan excel in the army, thus earning back his place among the ancestors as a guardian.

As China continues to prepare for war, Shan Yu and the Huns are riding quickly through the wilderness toward the city. Hun soldiers capture two imperial scouts, and Shan Yu tauntingly instructs them to tell the Emperor to send his finest troops to battle the Huns. Reasoning that it only takes one man to deliver a message, Shan Yu has one of the scouts executed.

Mulan arrives at the outskirts of the training camp, terrified of her task and dejectedly telling her horse, Khan, that it would take a miracle for her plan to work. As if on cue, Mushu and Cri-Kee appear, with Mushu falsely introducing himself as a trusted guardian sent by her ancestors and promising to help her become a model soldier. Mulan timidly enters the camp and, following Mushu’s bizarre instructions on how to impersonate and interact with men, inadvertently causes a brawl. The ruckus is quelled by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), the son of General Li, who was appointed by his father to train the new troops while Li takes his army to protect the Imperial City. Shang is unimpressed with the sloppy new recruits, especially awkward Mulan, who presents herself as “Ping,” Fa Zhou’s little-seen son.

The next morning, training begins in full. This is especially harrowing for Mulan because her fellow soldiers are still angry with her for the camp-wide fight the previous day. None of the recruits are especially skilled or athletic, but Shang proves to be a diligent coach (“I’ll Make A Man Out of You”). The troops steadily improve, and Mulan finally redeems herself by being the first soldier to conquer the seemingly impossible task Shang set them on their first day. The troops had been burdened with heavy arm weights and told to retrieve an arrow from the top of an enormous wooden pole. Mulan, after some trial and error, cleverly uses the weights to her advantage, scaling the pole and reaching the arrow. The other troops begin to warm up to “Ping,” especially grouchy Yao (Harvey Fierstein), goofy Ling (Gedde Watanabe), and enormous but gentle Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo). Mulan has an increasingly difficult time keeping her gender a secret, especially since the men all bathe together in a nearby lake. Mushu is called upon to provide distractions when Mulan’s identity is in immediate danger of being discovered.

Shan Yu plans to move his army through a mountain pass, which is the swiftest route to the Imperial City. Though he determines that General Li and his army are already guarding the pass, Shan Yu confidently leads the Huns to battle the imperial troops.

Chi Fu, the Emperor’s council, has remained at Shang’s camp to compile a report on the new troops. Though the soldiers have successfully completed training, Chi Fu remains unimpressed and behaves rudely toward Captain Shang. Mushu, continuing his plan to transform Mulan into a war hero, has Cri-Kee forge a letter from General Li, requesting backup troops at the mountain pass. The ruse works, and Shang marches the troops out of camp the following day. During their trek, Mulan’s friends keep their spirits up by daydreaming about their ideal women (“A Girl Worth Fighting For”), but their optimism is short-lived. When they reach the mountain pass, they find the village razed and General Li and his entire platoon slaughtered. Shang is shocked and grief-stricken at his father’s death, but is all the more determined to stop Shan Yu from reaching the city and the Emperor.

As Mulan, Shang, and the troops progress through the snowy mountains, Mushu accidentally sets off a cannon and gives away their position. The Huns immediately attack, and it is evident that they greatly outnumber the soldiers. As the Hun army charges toward them, Shang instructs Yao to aim their last cannon at Shan Yu. Though now in direct combat with the Hun leader himself, quick-thinking Mulan swipes the cannon and fires it at the mountainside, causing a huge avalanche that buries Shan Yu and the rest of the Huns. The soldiers run for safety, with Shang and Mulan narrowly avoiding falling to their deaths over a cliff. Shang thanks Mulan for saving their lives, and gets her medical attention for an injury she sustained from Shan Yu’s sword. While unconscious in the medic’s tent, Mulan’s gender is discovered and she is ousted to the rest of the troops. Chi Fu pressures Shang to execute Mulan immediately, but Shang, though angry at Mulan for her deception, refuses to kill her. He orders the troops to march on, leaving Mulan in the mountains with her horse and supplies.

Mulan miserably tells Mushu that entering the army was a mistake, and that she was fated to dishonor her family. Mushu finally admits that he was not sent by the ancestors, and that his mission was a selfish one to get his job back. Even Cri-Kee confesses that he is not a truly lucky cricket. They are all about to give up hope when they discover that Shan Yu and many of the Huns had survived the avalanche and are emerging from the snow. Mulan, Mushu, Khan and Cri-Kee rush to the Imperial City to warn of the coming attack.

In the city, Captain Shang and his troops are being hailed as heroes for defeating the Huns. Though surrounded by cheering citizens, Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chein-Po are noticeably dejected. Mulan, presenting herself as a woman again, confronts Shang during their victory parade and tells him what she saw in the mountains. Shang dismisses her as a liar, and members of the crowd are deaf to Mulan’s words. On the steps of the palace, the Emperor begins a speech of gratitude to the Chinese army, but Hun soldiers had beaten Mulan to the city and disguised themselves as members of the parade. To the crowd’s horror, the Huns emerge and seize the Emperor, carrying him into the palace and barring the doors. Knowing of Mulan’s knack for creative problem-solving, Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po turn to her for a rescue plan. With all except Shang disguising themselves as concubines, they infiltrate the palace and attack the Huns guarding the chamber into which the Emperor was taken. Shan Yu threatens to kill the Emperor if he refuses to bow to him and accept him as the new leader of China. The Emperor stoically refuses and Shan Yu prepares to strike, but Shang leaps into action just in time. As Shang and Shan Yu battle, Chien-Po carries the Emperor to safety. Mulan then attracts Shan Yu’s attention by proving herself to be the soldier who started the avalanche, luring him to the roof of the palace for a final fight. Mushu, armed with an enormous firework rocket, launches himself at Shan Yu. As the Hun leader is blasted to smithereens in a colorful display, Mulan and Mushu drop to safety on the palace steps.

As the chaos subsides, Chi Fu berates Mulan for her actions. Shang angrily defends her until the Emperor appears. He explains to Mulan that, despite her fraud, she has saved the entire nation of China. In the ultimate display of respect, the Emperor bows to Mulan, as do the countless people in the attending crowd. He then offers Mulan a place in his council (to the shock of Chi Fu), but Mulan respectfully declines and expresses her wish to return home. The Emperor gives her his medallion and Shan Yu’s sword as gifts to honor the Fa family.

Back at the Fa estate, Fa Zhou is overjoyed at the return of his daughter. Though Mulan presents him with the Emperor’s crest and the sword of Shan Yu, he casts the priceless gifts aside and embraces her, assuring her that she herself is the greatest honor to their family. Captain Shang arrives soon afterward, returning the helmet that Mulan left behind, and awkwardly but happily accepts Mulan’s invitation to stay for dinner.

On July 16, 1988 an atom bomb vaporizes Tokyo. 31 years after WW3 in 2019, Neo-Tokyo has risen, a decrepit city filled with violence and desolation. In a grungy part of town, a man goes to a bar where the bartender (Yôsuke Akimoto) sells drugs to a customer and the TV recaps the day’s news. There is unrest due to unemployment and a bad economy. A young man, wearing a red biker suit, enters the bar and gathers some friends from a back room, announcing that they will be going after the Clowns, a rival bike gang, on Route 5. Outside, a younger teen, Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki, English: Jan Rabson), is admiring a bright red motorcycle with special technical features. Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata, English: Cam Clarke), the youth in the red suit and the leader of the Capsules biker gang, walks out of the bar and mocks Tetsuo, telling him he doesn’t possess the skill to operate the bike, which belongs to Kaneda. The bosozoku gang rides out into the night.

They meet the Clowns at the designated area, chasing them through the skyscraper district where the Clowns are knocked off their bikes. Bystanders watch as nearby cars are damaged and bombed by the violence. In the skirmish, Tetsuo wipes out and is left alone as the police arrive and the gangs split up.

A wounded man, dripping blood, leads a short, green-skinned person through the night streets. He pulls a gun and shoots a pair of pursuing dogs. The man is eventually stopped by police near a group of rioting protesters and, in the chaos, is shot to death. The little green person cries out in terror as a building begins to collapse. The crowd scrambles for safety and a moustached man and his companion, a young woman named Kei (Mami Koyama, English: Lara Cody), are split up.

Meanwhile, Kaneda’s gang continues to pursue the Clowns. Tetsuo chases a Clown on his own and they approach the scene where police are attempting to hold back rioters with water cannons and tear gas. Tetsuo closes in on the Clown, wearing a red cross logo, as the rider wipes out. Tetsuo rides by and viciously hits the downed man on the head. When Tetsuo looks up, he sees the green person standing in his path. There is a crash and an explosion. Kaneda and the rest of the gang arrive on the scene to find Tetsuo semi-conscious in the street while the green person walks away, unhurt. Kaneda calls out to him but the person disappears into the darkness. A second green-skinned person then arrives in a hovering chair and speaks to the other in a child’s voice, beckoning him to return and saying ‘there is no escape’. A helicopter with an armed paramilitary group lands in the square and forces the Capsules gang to the ground as a tall man with a jarhead haircut emerges from the helicopter. Colonel Shikishima (Tarô Ishida, English: Tony Pope) sends Tetsuo to the hospital while Kaneda and his gang are taken into custody before he leaves in the helicopter with the two green children.

At the police station, Kaneda and his gang are interrogated, while feigning innocence. Eight of the Clowns have been put in the hospital, but they come up with an alibi; Being that they were going to visit his dying mother and got attacked by the clowns. The police check their alibi put them on a bench, where several members of the street riot are also awaiting interrogation. Kaneda notices Kei being held with another group of suspects. Suddenly, a radical member of the freedom revolution goes mad and activates a grenade in the middle of the station, attempting to kill himself and the police. The grenade, however, turns out to be defective, and the nearby police subdue him. The other police officers then inform the capsules that they have contacted their school and therefore find their alibi plausible, releasing them from custody. Kaneda uses this as an opportunity to free Kei as well by stating that she’s one of them too. Unknown to him, she is a member of a terrorist organization though she teases him for attempting to flirt by freeing her before she slips away. Still not knowing her name, Kaneda yells at her, right as an explosion happens at the police station.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Tetsuo is placed in a full-body scanner. His status is overseen by Doctor Onishi (Mizuho Suzuki, English: Lewis Arquette), who suddenly makes an alarming discovery. He contacts Shikishima who is in a meeting with a politician, discussing a possible ‘mole’ on the Executive Council. Arriving at the hospital, Shikishima is told by Onishi that Tetsuo possesses psychic abilities similar to Akira, a young esper like the two green children, who caused the nuclear-like destruction of Tokyo 31 years prior. Project Akira was sprung from a secret government lab run by a dissident, underground terrorist group, but there was an error involving the growth pattern. Onishi claims that Tetsuo possesses the key to solving that dilemma. However, Shikishima is concerned about Tetsuo’s power and, after receiving a prophesy from the esper Kiyoko (Fukue Itô, English: Melora Harte) envisioning Neo-Tokyo’s destruction, instructs Onishi to kill Tetsuo if he thinks the power might get out of control.

Once awakened, however, Tetsuo escapes from the hospital and makes his way toward the hideout for the Capsules gang in a vandalized wreck of a building. There, the rest of the gang is recuperating with girlfriends from the evening’s events, discussing their surprise of the cooperation between police and the army. A timid young girl, Kaori (Yuriko Fuchizaki, English: Michelle Ruff), expresses her concern for her boyfriend, Tetsuo. Suddenly, he appears and proposes that they run away together. They steal Kaneda’s bike and ride off, but not before Kaneda and the others see him leaving.

Tetsuo and Kaori ride until the bike stalls. They are then confronted by three Clowns who accost Kaori and threaten to torch the bike. Kaneda and the rest of the Capsules arrive and help Tetsuo fight off the Clowns. Tetsuo, however, angry at having to be rescued, takes his frustrations out on a fallen Clown, kicking him fiercely. He begins to suffer a severe migraine, hallucinating that his internal organs have dropped out of his lower chest and hearing the word ‘Akira’. Not a moment later, a CRC team arrives by armored vehicle and helicopters. Having pinpointed his location via a scanning device, Doctor Onishi has Tetsuo taken back to the hospital, leaving Kaneda and his gang to wonder about what’s going on.

Nearby an explosion rocks a building and police shoot and kill fleeing armed men. Kaneda is drawn to the violence and sees a moustached man fleeing with Kei. Kaneda follows her as police flashlights bracket her attempt to escape. Kaneda assists Kei in escaping as a cop is shot and killed. When they reach the resistance headquarters, Kei frantically calls out for the moustached man named Ryu (Tesshô Genda, English: Bob Buchholz), while Kaneda tries to convince her to turn herself in for killing the officer (not knowing what’s really happening). Just then, Ryu and some resistance fighters arrive and, mistaking Kaneda for a spy, lock him up inside a room. There, they discuss their earlier failed attempt at kidnapping #26, which turns out to be the first green esper child, Takashi (Tatsuhiko Nakamura, English: Barbara Goodson). He proposes a new plan to gain access to a government facility to find what they can on the newest subject: Tetsuo. After being discovered eavesdropping, Kaneda explains to the suspicious group that he and Tetsuo are best friends from the same gang and that he can help. Ryu seeks advice from a short, old man named Nezu (Hiroshi Ôtake, English: Mike Reynolds) who speaks of Akira as a symbol for hope and change while he watches the fires and protests in the city streets from afar.

Meanwhile, Tetsuo experiences memories from his days as a boy. Suddenly, his memories turn into a nightmarish hallucination. Colonel Shikishima approaches an aged green-skinned esper girl; Kiyoko, sitting inside a crib while Onishi scans readings. Kiyoko is seen to have a ‘25’ tattooed on her palm. She makes an ominous prediction. Shikishima flies out with a few scientists and don parkas before entering a large, oval-like facility. They enter the frigid space and begin activating some of the equipment within. A massive door slowly opens and the Colonel enters the cavernous chamber. A small, red light and sign reads ‘Akira 28’.

Colonel Shikishima then attends a meeting with the Supreme Executive Council where he is angered by the members’ refusal to further fund his project. He questions them, stating that his intents are the duties of a soldier before he angrily, and abruptly, leaves. Council member Nezu smiles at the Colonel’s distress.

In his hospital room within the government facility, Tetsuo experiences bizarre hallucinations of a toy rabbit, a teddy bear, a toy car and milk. Confused about what’s happening, Tetsuo steps out on a glass and cuts his foot which startles the three green children responsible for the hallucinations; Takashi, Kiyoko, and Masaru (Kazuhiro Kandô, English: Bob Bergen). Frightened at the sight of blood, the esper children flee despite their attempt to kill Tetsuo. Angered and realizing the power he holds, Tetsuo chases after them through the hospital, killing anyone who stands in his way and wreaking havoc with his telekinetic abilities.

Meanwhile, the Resistance group, having made it into the facility disguised as electrical workers, are spotted sneaking in the sewers and a chase ensues. During the violent shootout, Kaneda manages to take over a flying platform, a small aerial vehicle flown by soldiers, and takes Kei as they flee the scene. However, they are quickly detained by soldiers. Using Kei as a medium and possessing her, Kiyoko leads them to a government nursery where Tetsuo is located. Kaneda faces Tetsuo, explaining that he’s here to rescue him, but Tetsuo won’t have it. He angrily retorts that he needs no rescuing now and, since he’s discovered where Akira is, is eager to find out what he is, hoping to make his headaches go away. Possessing stronger powers than the three espers, Tetsuo manages to escape and uses his abilities to fly away; his destination is the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium under which Akira is being held in a cryogenic storage facility.

Desperate to find and stop Tetsuo, Colonel Shikishima places Neo-Tokyo under martial law. Tetsuo leaves a trail of destruction through the city before he stops at the bar seen at the start of the film, still wearing his hospital gown, and approaches the bartender, now alone. Tetsuo demands ‘capsules’ before we see two of his fellow Capsule gang members, Yamagata (Masaaki Ôkura, English: Michael Lindsay) and Kai (Takeshi Kusao, English: Matthew Mercer) walk in from outside. They find the inside of the bar totally destroyed and the bartender lying dead as Tetsuo sits on a pile of rubble and furniture, giggling. Perplexed and disgusted, they wonder if the person they see is really Tetsuo or someone else. Tetsuo speaks to them cryptically before intimidating and attacking them.

Having been left behind and locked once more in a holding cell, Kei is used again by Kiyoko to speak to Kaneda, warning him of Tetsuo’s immense power. The cell door unlocks and the two escape. Meanwhile, a government representative arrives to arrest Shikishima but the Colonel’s men remain loyal to him and assist the Colonel in a coup d’etat. He mobilizes his men to the stadium. Nezu, the government mole, listens to this report from home and murders his staff before Ryu arrives to inform him of the mission’s failure to capture Tetsuo. Nezu shoots him and leaves with a briefcase full of money. However, he later dies in an alley from a heart attack. Having followed him, Ryu also dies from his wounds.

Kai manages to find Kaneda and Kei at an urban water-filled ditch and explains that he and Yamagata found Tetsuo, who acted strangely and somehow killed Yamagata. Angered by the news of his friend’s death, Kaneda vows vengeance. Takashi and Kiyoko then appear, beckoning Kei who walks over the water before disappearing. Kiyoko tells Kaneda and Kai that Tetsuo’s powers have become unstable and they are trying to stop him. Kaneda argues that Tetsuo is his friend and that he is responsible for finding a way to defeat and kill him.

Tetsuo makes his way towards the stadium, killing soldiers in his path and destroying vehicles and helicopters. Possessed by Kiyoko once again, Kei attempts to fight him but is thrown aside. Tetsuo exhumes Akira’s entire cryonic chamber from the ground and opens it but finds nothing aside from dissected body parts housed in individual canisters. Kaneda, armed with an experimental laser cannon, rides into the chaos and confronts Tetsuo. As they fight, Shikishima intervenes with an orbital weapon called SOL, the beam of which severs Tetsuo’s right arm. Enraged, Tetsuo flies into space and rips SOL out of orbit, causing it to disintegrate in the atmosphere. He then returns to the stadium where Kaori arrives, finding him screaming in pain due to his intense powers while he synthesizes an artificial, mechanical arm using the remains from Akira. The arm seems to throb with a life of its own. Shikishima finds Tetsuo and explains to him that the espers’ mind-controlling drugs administered to Tetsuo were meant to stunt the evolution of his uncontrollable abilities, but they are weakening. He pleads with Tetsuo to return to the hospital but Tetsuo attacks him. Shikishima shoots back and Kaneda appears, intervening.

The three espers arrive at the stadium and appear to try and communicate with the remains of Akira in the canisters. Unable to control his powers any longer, Tetsuo’s body begins to morph: his arm transforms into a horrific blob that attempts to swallow the Colonel. Kaneda shoots it, causing it to recede but Tetsuo’s entire body swells into a protoplasmic mutation, crushing Kaori to death in the process. Kaneda escapes as the espers awaken Akira; now appearing as a young boy without the need for a physical body. His appearance triggers a monstrous explosion and Kiyoko grabs Shikishima, transporting him to safety in the nick of time. Akira creates a blinding ball of energy that engulfs the entire city and begins to absorb Tetsuo who cries out for Kaneda’s help. Desperate to save his friend, Kaneda follows Tetsuo into the energy sphere, followed closely by the three espers who are determined to save Kaneda, though they observe that they might not return.

Kaneda experiences Tetsuo’s and Akira’s childhood memories, seeing how much Tetsuo trusted Kaneda and witnessing how the three esper children were first studied upon just before Tokyo’s destruction. The espers tell Tetsuo that Akira is sending him ‘away’, but somewhere safe as Kaneda is ejected from the inside of the sphere, just before it explodes. The explosion partially destroys most of Neo-Tokyo, leaving a gaping hole where the sphere was that is quickly flooded by the sea. Doctor Onishi is killed when his laboratory collapses.

Kaneda awakens and is reunited with Kei and Kai. Together, they ride away on their damaged bikes to start anew. Colonel Shikishima emerges from the tunnel where he was placed by Kiyoko and watches as the sun rises over the destroyed city.

The tale of Princess Mononoke is a fantasy adventure: an epic struggle between humanity and nature. The story’s competing interests– comprised of cursed monsters, an assortment of people driven by ambition, a selfless hero, and vengeful gods–are remarkable in that there is no villain, instead portraying darkness and hate as it manifests in everyone. (Note: This synopsis describes the English version of the film.)

Ashitaka and the Demon

The film opens on a view of a mountainous forest shrouded in mist. A voiceover explains ancient gods and giant beasts inhabit the forests, owing their allegiance to the Forest Spirit. The ancient gods once lived harmoniously with humans, but times have changed. The forest is disappearing and now is the age of gods and demons.

Ashitaka (English: Billy Crudup, Japanese: Yôji Matsuda) is a prince of the dwindling Emishi people living in the eastern forest. He rides his red elk, Yakul, up the hillside from his village passing three girls along the way, including Kaya (English: Tara Strong), his younger sister (or, in the Japanese version, the girl Ashitaka has promised to marry). He tells the girls that the village oracle, Hii-sama (Japanese: Mitsuko Mori), has sensed trouble and is ordering everyone back to the village. Kaya tells him the old man Ji-san noticed something from his watchtower, so Ashitaka rides to see him. Ashitaka climbs the tower and watches as a creature covered in wormy tendrils violently emerges from the forest. In the sun, it’s revealed to be a massive boar that has turned into a demon: a tatari gami. It knocks down the tower but Ashitaka and Ji-san leap to safety before Ashitaka pursues it on Yakul.

He pleads with the demon to spare their village, but the boar doesn’t listen. When it attacks the three village girls, Ashitaka is forced to intervene, killing it with two of his arrows. During the fight, the demon’s tendrils latch onto Ashitaka’s right arm and, with the killing blow, dissolve, burning his skin. Villagers rush up the hill, one of them carrying the elderly oracle. She gives Ashitaka some water to pour over his arm before bowing before the boar, promising to perform rites and asking it to bear them no ill will. The demon bitterly responds, saying they will know its hate and grief. It dies, decomposing into a skeleton.

That evening Hii-sama calls the village elders together in her hut and performs a divination using fortune stones to interpret the day’s events. She tells Ashitaka to show his scarred arm to the others and asks if he’s ready to hear his fate. When Ashitaka states his resolve, she reveals the scar will spread and eventually kill him. However, instead of waiting to die, he can rise to meet his fate. She gives him an iron ball recovered from the boar’s body, believing it to be the cause of his demonic transformation. The oracle tells Ashitaka to ride to the west to see with eyes unclouded but warns him he can never return. Ashitaka agrees, cutting his topknot as a symbol of his separation, and leaves.

As he rides Yakul out of the village, Kaya approaches him, breaking the taboo of seeing a banished person. She gives him her crystal dagger necklace. Ashitaka thanks her and says he will never forget her. He rides off, Kaya staring after him.

The Strength of the Curse

Ashitaka and Yakul travel many miles westward, across plains and mountains. One day, they see smoke in the distance and discover samurai soldiers fighting with unarmed villagers. Ashitaka rushes to the defense of a woman but, as he pulls back on his bow, his arm throbs visibly and when the arrow is released it flies with such force that it takes the samurai’s sword and lodges it in a tree, with the man’s arms still attached. Two samurai on horseback threaten to intercept Ashitaka. He yells at them to let him pass, but when they refuse, he releases another arrow, decapitating one. The other watches Ashitaka flee, convinced he’s a demon.

As he cools his right arm under a small waterfall, Ashitaka notices the mark is growing. In a town, Ashitaka attempts to buy rice with a gold nugget. The seller refuses it at first, saying it isn’t money, but a monk named Jigo (English: Billy Bob Thornton, Japanese: Kaoru Kobayashi) remarks that the nugget is pure gold and worth several bags of rice. Ashitaka quickly leaves the growing crowd with his single bag.

Jigo follows Ashitaka as he leaves town, commenting that he noticed Ashitaka’s fighting skills against the samurai earlier. They see some thugs following them, no doubt after Ashitaka’s gold, and Jigo proposes a quick getaway. They camp together later, cooking their rice, and Jigo mentions an ancient people called the Emishi who made bowls and arrows like Ashitaka’s and who were rumored to ride red elk like Ashitaka’s, though he hints he’ll keep the prince’s secret. Ashitaka tells Jigo about his experience with the boar demon and his quest to discover its origins and shows Jigo the iron ball. Jigo doesn’t think much of Ashitaka’s curse (“You’re under a curse? So what? So’s the whole damn world”), but he does tell him of a mining town further to the west, surrounded by ancient forests where giant gods still dwell. The next morning Ashitaka leaves quietly to continue his journey alone while Jigo sleeps.

Gods and Spirits

On a rain-slicked mountainside, a caravan of oxen and men carrying rice moves along a narrow path. Their leader, Lady Eboshi (English: Minnie Driver, Japanese: Yûko Tanaka), keeps watch with her first lieutenant, Gonza (English: John DiMaggio, Japanese: Tsunehiko Kamijô). Suddenly she notices two giant, white wolves charging down the muddy slope. A masked girl rides one of them, holding her spear high. Eboshi orders her men to open fire with their ishibiya, or hand cannons. The shots drive off the wolves and Gonza remarks that they weren’t so big. Eboshi responds that they were just pups; “wait till you see their mother.”

As if on cue, Moro (English: Gillian Anderson, Japanese: Akihiro Miwa) attacks the caravan, sending people and oxen tumbling down the mountain. Moro is more than twice the size of her pups and has two tails. The guards use a flame-thrower to set her on fire and Lady Eboshi shoots her in the chest, sending her off the cliff. The surviving men are pleased with themselves, but Eboshi reminds them that it takes more than that to kill a god. She urges the survivors onward and tells them to forget about those who fell.

Meanwhile, at the base of the mountain, Ashitaka arrives at a river swollen from the rainfall. He sees bodies floating by and pulls out two injured men, casualties from Lady Eboshi’s rice caravan. Ashitaka notices the massive body of Moro on the other side of the river, along with her pups. He watches as the warrior girl, San (English: Akihiro Miwa, Japanese: Yuriko Ishida), tends to Moro, trying to suck the bullet from her wound and spitting out blood. Moro’s growling alerts San to Ashitaka’s presence. He introduces himself and asks if they are ancient gods. San tells him to go away before disappearing into the forest with the wolves.

A scream brings Ashitaka back to where he left the injured men. One of them, Kouroku the ox-driver (English: John DeMita, Japanese: Masahiko Nishimura), has woken up and is trying to get away from a small white spirit with a bobbing head, despite his broken leg and arm. Ashitaka calms him and tells him that it’s a kodama, a tree spirit, and it–and the others that begin to appear–are a sign that the forest is healthy. However, Kouroku is worried the creature will bring its master, a large forest spirit. Ashitaka politely asks the kodama for safe passage through the forest and carries the unconscious man, a gunner, while Kouroku rides Yakul.

The kodama lead them to a beautiful and mysterious part of the wood where mossy trees grow among pools of clear water. Ashitaka sees the footprints of San and the wolves. He sets the gunner down to fetch some water and notices the tracks of a three-toed animal he doesn’t recognize. He scans the area and spots a herd of deer followed closely by one with many antlers. It stops and Ashitaka’s arm suddenly throbs and moves on its own. He struggles to subdue it but only regains control when the mysterious deer vanishes. After the incident, Ashitaka notices the gunner he’s carrying seems a bit lighter.

Iron Town

They emerge from the forest where they see the iron town Tatara, a large settlement across a lake. The town is protected by a tall wooden stockade. They are welcomed by a crowd and Kouroku explains how Ashitaka rescued them. Gonza approaches and demands to know who Ashitaka is and how he managed to walk through the forbidden forest with two injured men. He is cut short when Kouroku’s wife, Toki (English: Jada Pinkett Smith, Japanese: Sumi Shimamoto), runs down and berates Kouroku for getting injured and risking his livelihood. She takes a moment to thank Ashitaka before criticizing Gonza for not taking better care of his men. Lady Eboshi appears above and apologizes to Kouroko and Toki before inviting Ashitaka to see her later so she can thank him.

Ashitaka eats with the men of Iron Town. Some of the women stop by and invite him to see where they work. They heckle the men before leaving, giggling to themselves. The women are former prostitutes, the men explain; Lady Eboshi buys the contracts of every brothel girl she finds. However, since fearless Eboshi came to Tatara, things have changed for the better. They tell of Nago, the boar god who once ruled the forest surrounding the town. Nago became enraged when the men cut trees down to get at the ore beneath the ground and often attacked with his herd of boars. When Eboshi came with her gunners, she set fire to the forest and shot Nago. Ashitaka’s arm swells in anger as he realizes that it was Nago who inflicted his cursed wound, and Lady Eboshi who turned Nago into a demon.

Ashitaka finds Lady Eboshi inspecting samples of iron set to go out with the next shipment, Gonza at her side. He removes his sleeve and shows Eboshi his arm, confronting her about her role in his curse. Eboshi doesn’t deny her responsibility but asks Ashitaka’s intentions. When he responds “to see with eyes unclouded by hate,” Eboshi laughs and agrees to show Ashitaka her secrets. She leaves Gonza in charge and takes Ashitaka to her private garden where she’s enlisted a group of lepers to serve as gunsmiths for her. They conjure new guns inspired by the Chinese inside their own hut. Eboshi explains the guns are for the women in the fort, for their protection. She apologizes to Ashitaka again for inflicting his curse, but Ashitaka is angered by Eboshi’s production of weapons and asks how much more hate she’ll spread. His arm attempts to draw his sword but Ashitaka holds it down, saying that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her to lift the curse, but he fears it wouldn’t stop there. An elderly leper asks Ashitaka to have mercy on Lady Eboshi because she took pity on the lepers, caring for them and sheltering them when no one else would. He says life is hard, it is cursed, but still people find ways to keep living.

Up on the stockade Eboshi tests her new gun, firing onto the hillside and scattering a tribe of apes attempting to plant new trees. Eboshi asks Ashitaka to live in Tatara; once she kills the Forest Spirit all the other gods will be reduced to lumbering beasts and Princess Mononoke (which means vengeful spirit–she’s referring to the wolf girl San) will be human. Eboshi explains San lives to kill her. It’s said the blood of the Forest Spirit can grant immortality and Eboshi theorizes that it can cure her lepers–and maybe Ashitaka’s curse. Ashitaka leaves and visits the forge where he tries out the bellows. The women are eager to show him and Toki assures him that, despite the hard work, their lives are better here than in the brothels.

San Attacks

Meanwhile San and her two wolf brothers approach Tatara. They rush down the hill and San is vaulted over the stockade and into the fort. She races over rooftops, making her way to the top of the forge. Having sensed her presence, Ashitaka runs to meet her while Eboshi leads two women into the center square, each carrying the new guns. As Eboshi prepares her trap, Ashitaka begs San not to throw her life away but, at the sound of a wolf’s howl, she rushes forward. A gun blast at her feet sends her plummeting off the roof and a second shot from Eboshi’s women breaks the mask off her face, knocking her unconscious. Ashitaka uses the incredible strength of his cursed arm to rip a beam from the roof and halt the crowd before they can get to San. He shakes her awake but she attacks him and runs to Eboshi. San and Eboshi duel, surrounded by the cheering mob.

His anger growing, Ashitaka walks forward, his hate manifesting as ghostly tendrils from his arm. He easily bends the sword of Gonza, who is now convinced Ashitaka is in league with San. Ashitaka pushes his way through the crowd before grabbing San’s arm and stopping Eboshi’s onslaught with his sword hand. As the tendrils on his arm grow, he calls to the onlookers: “This is what hate looks like. It’s eating me alive, and soon it will kill me. Fear and anger only make it grow faster.”

But Eboshi grows tired of his curse, quipping that she’ll cure him by removing his arm, and swings at him with a small dagger. Ashitaka knocks both her and San out to stop them from fighting. He hands Lady Eboshi to her people and says he’s taking San away. One of the women, upset at his treatment of Lady Eboshi, aims her gun and orders him not to move. Ashitaka calmly walks away but the gun goes off, passing through his body. However, Ashitaka’s curse keeps him alive and he keeps walking towards the gate. When the guards won’t open the gate, saying it takes ten men to lift it, Ashitaka opens it himself despite bleeding profusely. San’s wolf brothers wait just outside. Ashitaka tells them he’s bringing San out to them, and he leaves Tatara with San and Yakul with a final thanks to the townsfolk.

Yakul carries Ashitaka and the unconscious San on the mountainside. Soon, however, the loss of blood causes Ashitaka to fall from Yakul and San awakes in time to see him fall. One of San’s brothers attacks Ashitaka but San calls him off before confronting Ashitaka about stopping her from killing Eboshi. She holds his sword to his throat but he tells her to live and that she’s beautiful. This shocks San but she is then interrupted by the ape clan who want to eat Ashitaka in order to become strong enough to regrow the forest. San’s brothers chase the apes away when they insult San since she is human. She then convinces her brothers to leave Ashitaka with her. San calls Yakul, whose trust she gains, to her to help carry Ashitaka into the forest.

In the Domain of the Forest Spirit

With Yakul’s help, San takes the unconscious Ashitaka to the heart of the Forest Spirit’s domain, where they cross the lake to an island. The island is the forest’s holy of holies, and Yakul will not set foot on it; a wise move as noted by San. She leaves Ashitaka lying half in the water with his head pillowed on the soft moss of the island and sticks a sapling she cut into the ground by his head. She removes Yakul’s harness, telling him he’s free, before swimming away. The little kodamas watch the humans before turning their attention to the horizon as a huge figure comes into view: the Night Walker, the Forest Spirit’s two-legged nighttime form. They greet it with the clattering noise made by their rotating heads. The Night Walker lowers itself into the clearing where Ashitaka lies.

On a mountainside some way off, Jigo watches the Night Walker from a hideaway, dressed in a bear skin. He points it out to his fellow hunters and explains that is the reason they’re out there, despite their superstitious fears. Jigo shows them the notice from the Emperor giving them permission to hunt the Forest Spirit. They watch as the Spirit resumes its deer-like form. On the island, the Forest Spirit walks over to look upon Ashitaka. It accepts the sapling as an offering and breathes on it, causing it to wither and die.

As Jigo and his hunters climb down the mountain, they see hundreds of boars coming up an adjacent one. The hunters recognize the herd as one not native to the area before they see the leader: the giant, white boar god, Lord Okkoto (English: Keith David, Japanese: Hisaya Morishige). Jigo and the hunters run when Okkoto lets out a roar, realizing he is aware of them.

Ashitaka wakes from a dream-like vision where he is under water as the Forest Spirit touches his wound, stopping the bleeding. He touches his side to find the bullet wound is gone, though Nago’s curse remains on his arm and has even spread to his hand. San returns to him and tells him that she knows all about him and his village, thanks to Yakul, and agrees to help him since the Forest Spirit spared his life. She offers Ashitaka meat jerky, but he’s too weak to chew it. San chews for him and passes the food from her mouth to his. The act brings tears to Ashitaka’s eyes.

Moro arrives with San’s brothers, then Okkoto’s herd of boars. They say they’ve come to kill humans and save the forest and demand to know why there are humans in the Forest Spirit’s woods. San is spared their ridicule as Moro’s daughter and she explains the Forest Spirit healed Ashitaka. The boars are furious; why would the Forest Spirit spare a human but not Nago, their previous leader? Moro says the Forest Spirit’s reasons are his own. As Moro herself has been wounded by the humans, she will likely die in the forest at the behest of the Forest Spirit. Ashitaka confesses it was he who killed Nago and shows his cursed hand. Okkoto then comes forward and, despite being blind, inspects Ashitaka’s hand, sniffing at it. He believes his story, saddened that a demon came from their tribe. He then tells Moro how he plans to attack the humans and, though they likely will not win, will keep fighting to the last and leave the humans in awe. After the boars leave, San and Ashitaka see the Forest Spirit walking on the water of the lake.

A Skirmish

A battle rages near Tatara; Lady Eboshi and her men are fighting Lord Asano and his samurai, who wish to control the ore-rich lands. However, Asano’s men are decimated by Eboshi’s gunfire. As Eboshi returns to Tatara, she meets Jigo, who accompanies her into the fort. Lady Eboshi tells Jigo that Lord Asano has offered to back off if she gives him half her iron but, as a messenger arrives at the gates, she shuts the door and leaves her women to taunt the horseman.

“You want some of our iron? Here you go!” They shoot at the messenger, who flees.

Jigo laughs at the women’s bravado before introducing the note sent from the Mikado (the emperor) himself requesting the head of the Forest Spirit for a large sum. The emperor believes that the head will give him immortal life and Jigo is keen to collect the reward with Eboshi’s help. If she refuses he alludes to the fact that his small army of rifleman could be put to better use alongside Asano’s forces. Lady Eboshi shows the Mikado’s letter to her women who have no idea who the emperor is, demonstrating that out here the Mikado has no true power; it lies in the strength of her people. She tells Jigo she will help him hunt the Forest Spirit and tells him that it will be done her way, with no loss of human life, and requests that he remove his riflemen from their hiding place in the hills. Jigo laughs at her cunning.

Before she goes, he asks Eboshi whether a young man riding an elk came to Tatara.

“Came, and went,” Lady Eboshi replies.

Jigo’s riflemen take up residence in the fort and are regarded with suspicion due to their solemn nature. Eboshi meets with her women and explains that they must remain in the fort and defend against Asano, since she doesn’t trust the men. Gonza assures them he’ll protect Eboshi but the women scorn him, saying, “That’s what we’re afraid of.”

Moro’s Cave

Ashitaka wakes in Moro’s cave, high above the trees, and finds San sleeping beside him. He gets up, his arm throbbing, and walks out onto the rock ledge to look down on the forest. Moro, perched on the rocks above him, suggests that he jump to end his pain. Ashitaka asks what’s been happening and Moro tells him that he’s been asleep for days. She’s sorry he didn’t cry out in his sleep because then she would have felt justified in biting his head off to keep him quiet. The boars are on the move, Moro says, and she can feel the pain of the forest as it dies beneath their rampaging feet.

Ashitaka asks why the humans and the forest can’t live together in peace but Moro laughs, saying such a thing can’t happen. She longs for the day when she can kill Eboshi. There will be a battle, she predicts, and San will fight alongside the gods and die with them. When Ashitaka objects, saying that she’s human, Moro becomes angry and reveals that she once attacked some humans who invaded the forest. In their terror, the people threw their baby at Moro. The baby was San; Moro kept her and raised her. Though she loves San, Moro understands that San will never fully belong anywhere–either to the wolves or the humans–and there’s nothing Moro or Ashitaka can do about that. Moro tells Ashitaka to leave her cave by dawn; if he comes back she’ll kill him.

When Ashitaka wakes up again in the cave it’s broad daylight and San and Moro are gone. Ashitaka gathers his things, finding supplies neatly left for him. Still very weak, he stumbles down to Yakul. One of the wolf brothers escorts him out of the forest and on to a path to Tatara. Ashitaka throws Kaya’s crystal dagger necklace to the wolf, asking him to give it to San.

A Battle

San rides her wolf brother to meet Moro on a mountainside overlooking a barren hillside where Eboshi’s men have cut down trees and built fires stinking with sulfur to blunt the animals’ sense of smell in anticipation of battle with the forest gods. Moro recognizes the trap; the boars will run straight to the humans, blinded and enraged by the felled trees. Okkoto is too stubborn to change his tactics and will run head-on. San says she’s going to help Okkoto; she feels that with neither eyes nor sense of smell to depend on, Lord Okkoto needs her more than Moro does. Moro tells San that she can go away with Ashitaka if she wants–“that boy wanted to share his life with you.” San replies bitterly that she hates humans. But when her second brother arrives and gives her Ashitaka’s necklace, she seems touched at the gift. San puts it around her neck as she says goodbye to Moro, who will go and wait for the Forest Spirit. San and the young wolves go off together to join the boars, who are running headlong into battle.

Ashitaka rides towards Tatara, dejected, before he hears the explosions set off by the rampaging boars. However, closer gunfire draws his attention and he discovers that Tatara is under siege. As he nears the town, some samurai try to stop him. Yakul leaps over them, jumps into the lake, and swims for Tatara as Ashitaka deflects the samurais’ arrows with his sword. They find that Asano’s men have breached the outer wall of Tatara and the women are holed up in the center, still defending the fort. They ask Ashitaka to carry word of their plight to Lady Eboshi and bring her back. Kouroku returns Ashitaka’s bow and arrows.

Ashitaka rides off, pursued by samurai on horseback. As he crosses the mountains he comes to one smoking from the remains of the boar battle. A samurai shoots an arrow into Yakul’s haunch. His anger increasing and his curse spreading, Ashitaka stops to fight. His arrows take the arm off one samurai and decapitate another before the remaining samurai rides off. Ashitaka pulls the arrow out of Yakul’s hindquarters and tries to leave him behind, saying he’ll come back for him later, but Yakul limps along behind him.

They reach the part of the battlefield where Lady Eboshi’s men and a few of Jigo’s mercenaries are burying their dead. Ashitaka sees men covered in cloth awaiting burial and dead boars piled everywhere. He is told by an iron worker that they were used as bait; boars came at them, igniting mines buried underground while grenades were dropped by mercenaries from above. Ashitaka learns that San was in the battle but she is not among the dead. He then tells the men that Tatara is being attacked and he needs to deliver a message to Eboshi. Two mercenaries demand the men get back to work digging but the iron workers argue, saying they must return to Tatara and that a tracker must be sent for Eboshi. Ashitaka then finds one of San’s wolf brothers pinned under a boar and attempts to free him. Seeing this as treason, the mercenaries try to subdue Ashitaka with poisoned darts but the iron workers revolt against them and help Ashitaka free the wolf. Ashitaka leaves Yakul in the care of the iron workers and runs off with the wolf towards the forest.

An Ambush

In the forest, a hunter reports to Jigo and Lady Eboshi that Lord Okkoto is badly wounded and heading for the domain of the Forest Spirit; San is with him.

San walks with Okkoto and her other wolf brother. Okkoto is bleeding heavily and losing strength. He stops as a clan of ape gods appear in the trees overhead, throwing sticks and claiming that San’s actions have brought terrible things into the forest: “Bad things coming–neither human or animal.” San is unable to smell anything over the blood and can only watch as small animals run from the oncoming threat. A boar appears behind them, followed by many others, but they slither across the ground unnaturally. San realizes they’re humans wearing boar skins. Okkoto believes them to be his warriors returned from the dead. Renewed but delirious, he walks on towards the domain of the Forest Spirit.

San fears that Okkoto will become a demon; like Nago before him, he’s defeated, mortally wounded, and filled with fear and hate. She sends her wolf brother to tell Moro what’s happening but stays with Okkoto herself, hoping to avert his change, but there’s nothing she can do. San begs him to stop, but Okkoto ignores her and soon his anger and fear begin to bubble out of him in bloody tendrils as he transforms into a demon.

As she fends off the ‘ghost boars’, San hears one of her wolf brothers howling a message: Ashitaka is looking for her. An answering howl from the other brother tells Ashitaka that San is in danger, more true than they know–San is knocked out by a hunter’s slingshot and sucked into the tendrils covering Okkoto. Demon-Okkoto resumes his rush toward the heart of the forest.

Ashitaka mounts the wolf to move faster and soon comes upon Lady Eboshi. He dismounts to tell Eboshi to halt her death march and return to help Tatara before running ahead, but Lady Eboshi, intent on finding and killing the Forest Spirit, says the women must take care of themselves and keeps moving. Jigo is confused as to whose side Ashitaka is on. Behind Lady Eboshi’s back, some of Jigo’s men wonder if they can do without her, but Jigo says killing gods is dangerous business–he’s happy to let her do it.

Ashitaka reaches the Forest Spirit’s pool, where he finds Moro dying at the water’s edge. Demon-Okkoto arrives, still followed by the hunters in boar skins. San calls to Ashitaka and he can see her struggling on Okkoto’s snout, growing demon-tendrils herself. Ashitaka leaps onto Okkoto’s snout and tries to dig San out while the wolf brothers fight off the hunters, but Ashitaka is thrown off by the demon before he can get to San. He bounces off of Moro and lands in the water, stunned. Moro, who was saving the last of her strength to fight Lady Eboshi, rouses herself to confront the demon and drags San out of the mass of tendrils.

As Moro frees San, the Forest Spirit approaches in its deer form, walking across the water. Jigo and Lady Eboshi can see it from their hiding place. Quelled by its appearance, Okkoto backs away and the tendrils begin to melt. Ashitaka wakes in the water to the sound of Moro’s voice asking him to save San. He comes to the surface and sees Lady Eboshi shoot the Forest Spirit, though he cries out to her to stop. The Forest Spirit stops and sinks a bit when it’s hit, but recovers and keeps walking. Ashitaka takes San from Moro and returns to the water to wash the demon tendrils from her.

Meanwhile, the Forest Spirit takes the lives of Okkoto and Moro, to the surprise of the humans. Eboshi comments that life and death are his to give and take. The Forest Spirit begins to make its change into the Night Walker and Eboshi turns to the hunters.

“Watch closely, everyone. I’m going to show you how to kill a god,” says Lady Eboshi. “The trick is not to fear him.”

Seeing her take aim, Ashitaka throws his sword and hits her ishibiya, which only distracts her for a moment. The Forest Spirit looks at Lady Eboshi and plants sprout from the wooden parts of her gun, but this doesn’t stop her either. She fires and hits the half-transformed Forest Spirit in the neck, separating its head which falls to the ground. Horrible black goo spouts from the neck, killing whatever it falls on. Dead kodamas fall from the trees all around. Lady Eboshi grabs the severed head and gives it to Jigo. Porters come up carrying a round metal box. Jigo puts the head in the box and they run off.

Human Hands

Moro’s head, apparently detached from her body by the black ooze, wriggles forward and bites off Lady Eboshi’s arm before bouncing away into the ooze. While San and her brothers take refuge on the Forest Spirit’s holy island, Ashitaka takes Eboshi and swims to the island with her while Gonza wades after him, having never learned to swim. San rips the crystal necklace from around her neck and orders Ashitaka to let her kill Eboshi, but he assures San that Moro’s revenge has been taken and tells Eboshi he promised the women he’d return her to them. Angry at Ashitaka, San stabs him with the dagger but he hugs her close, saying that despite everything they’re still alive and can still save the forest, if she’ll help him.

Meanwhile the Night Walker prowls the forest in search of its head, spreading black ooze and destruction with every step. It grows reaching arms from its neck and sends them down into the forest, chasing after Jigo and the three porters.

In Tatara, it’s quiet. The women are guarding the walls and keeping an eye on Lord Asano’s camp while one of the leper gunsmiths fixes Toki’s ishibiya. Looking up at the mountain, they see the headless Night Walker and its tide of black, killing ooze coming over the ridge toward the town. It destroys Lord Asano’s encampments and keeps coming. Ashitaka, San, and her wolf brothers arrive and Ashitaka tells the women and the lepers to get in the lake to escape the ooze. Urged on by Toki, most of the people manage to get away before the ooze overruns the town. Standing in the water, they watch as the forge catches fire and burns.

San, Ashitaka, and the wolves go after Jigo and the head. When they catch Jigo, Ashitaka demands that the head be returned to the Night Walker. Jigo pleads to keep it, noting the sun is about to rise, before he attacks Ashitaka and tells the other porters to run. San chases them but they are stopped by the Forest Spirit. In their fear, they drop the metal box and it rolls down the hill. Jigo stops it, tumbling down the hill a ways and coming to rest on a large rock. San, Ashitaka, and one porter catch up to him as a tide of ooze surrounds them. Ashitaka convinces him there’s nothing else to be done and says “human hands must return it.” Jigo opens the box and Ashitaka and San hold the head up, begging the Forest Spirit to take it and be at peace. The Spirit leans forward and takes its head back, showering them all in a bright light.

On the lake, the Tatara refugees watch the Night Walker straighten up with its head back in place and resume its usual appearance of starry transparency. Rafts approach carrying Lady Eboshi, Gonza, and the rest of the iron town men; the two groups are happily reunited.

Without having returned to its glade before sunrise, the Night Walker collapses at the dawn, falling on Tatara and blowing much of it away in a strong wind. The burning remains of the town and Asano’s camp fly away into the barren hills which slowly turn green with new growth and sprouting plants. Kouroku looks on in amazement and the lepers look down at themselves to find they’ve been healed.

Yakul, who arrived on the rafts with the men, finds San and Ashitaka asleep in the grass beside her wolf brothers. Yakul wakes them and they find that the Forest Spirit has disappeared. San is distraught at the Forest Spirit’s death but Ashitaka assures her it cannot die, since it is life itself. He looks at his hand which is scarred, but curse free. San tells Ashitaka that she likes him but cannot forgive humans for what they’ve done. He understands and tells her that he will live at Tatara and help them rebuild so that they can live alongside the forest and will visit her often. San nods and departs with her brothers.

Lady Eboshi, recovering from the loss of her arm, is humbly optimistic. Sitting with her women and Gonza, she promises to start anew and build a better town. She sends for Ashitaka to thank him. Jigo, perched on the rocks high above with his one remaining porter, laughs to himself, saying, “Well, I give up. You can’t win against fools.”

The film opens at the supermarket Shopwell’s on a new day as customers are rolling in. The food there live in their own world where they greet each morning with a song about “The Great Beyond”, where the “gods” (shoppers) take the food to their ultimate destiny.

A pack of sausages and a bag of buns are placed next to each other during a 4th of July weekend sale. Frank (voice of Seth Rogen) is a sausage that wants to finally get all up in his bun girlfriend Brenda (voice of Kristen Wiig). He shares the pack with his buddies Carl (voice of Jonah Hill) and Barry (voice of Michael Cera). Barry is the smallest sausage and is mocked by Troy (voice of Anders Holm) and his pals. All the sausages and buns think they are destined to get together in The Great Beyond. For now, Frank and Brenda can only touch tips. They then witness one of the store’s employees, Darren (voice of Paul Rudd), whom the food refer to as “the dark lord”, coming around and throwing out all the expired food, despite the food pleading and insisting that they are still good.

Later in the day, Honey Mustard (voice of Danny McBride) gets returned to Shopwell’s. He is trembling in fear and appears traumatized, unable to speak about what he has just seen. As this happens, a shopper named Camille Toh (voice of Lauren Miller-Rogen) picks up the sausages and buns, and then Honey Mustard. While the rest of the food in the cart is celebrating being chosen, Honey Mustard stands up and tells the food that everything they have been led to believe about the gods and The Great Beyond is a bunch of bullshit. He says that the gods are preparing them for unspeakable horrors. Refusing to go back, Honey Mustard gets ready to leap off the cart. Frank gets out of his package and runs to catch him, leading Brenda to leave her bag to save Frank. Before falling, Honey Mustard tells Frank to seek out Firewater (voice of Bill Hader) to learn the answers he seeks. Another shopper then bumps his cart into Camille’s, causing Honey Mustard to fall and crash. Several other products fall and become damaged. Banana’s face peels off, Jelly gets splattered, a bag of chips gets popped and his chips slice the other food, and a can of noodles has his guts spill out.

Frank and Brenda escape the chaos, but the store is now closed and they’re away from their packages. They run into a douche named…Douche (voice of Nick Kroll), who’s pissed that his nozzle is bent and therefore he cannot fulfill his purpose to have a woman use him. Douche tries to come at Frank and Brenda, but Darren sweeps him up into the garbage.

Douche climbs out of the garbage bin and finds that his side is cracked, causing his juices to leak. He cries about not getting to do what he’s made for. Douche then spots a broken grape juice box. He goes over to it and is then inspired to seek out revenge on Frank and Brenda. Douche drinks out of the box’s crotch and gets juiced up, ready to get payback.

Frank and Brenda head back to their aisles and meet the Armenian flatbread Lavash (voice of David Krumholtz) and Jewish Sammy Bagel, Jr (voice of Edward Norton). The two of them hate each other, as their food groups are made to believe they should. The four of them discover the aisles that form a city in the grocery store. Frank spots the liquor aisle and decides to seek out Firewater. They head down that aisle, and Frank finds Firewater’s spot. He leaves Brenda with Lavash and Sammy as he goes to talk to Firewater.

Frank encounters Firewater sitting around a fire. Frank asks him what Honey Mustard was talking about. Firewater explains that once the food goes out the door, the gods kill their asses. Thinking Frank has heard too much, Firewater puts a bag over his head and prepares to have him killed, but one of his friends talks him out of it. Frank then meets the Non-Perishables, which also include Mr. Grits (voice of Craig Robinson) and Twink (voice of Scott Underwood).

Brenda goes looking for Frank and runs into Tequila (also Bill Hader), who says he knows where to find Frank. He takes Brenda, Lavash, and Sammy to a pub in the Mexican food aisle. Teresa Del Taco (voice of Salma Hayek) sees Brenda and becomes smitten with her. However, she knows that the three are being brought in for a trap. Teresa hides them as Douche arrives. He smashes Tequila and drinks his fluids, getting even more juiced up. Teresa leads the food out a secret passageway.

Frank sits with the Non-Perishables as they smoke sativa from their pipe. Firewater admits that because they are Non-Perishable, and therefore immortal, they have seen the barbaric nature of the gods long before the rest of the food in the store, knowing full well what awaits them once they are out the doors. So, they made up the tale of the gods being saviors so that the next wave of food would leave the store happy instead of terrified. Firewater says they also made up the song (he made the tune, Twink made the lyrics), but other food have changed up the meaning to their liking, which upsets Firewater. Frank decides he has to warn everyone about what awaits them. Firewater tells him to go down the Dark Aisle in order to find the proof that he needs to get the food to realize what is really happening.

At Camille’s house, all the food is excited to see what they are in for. Camille picks out Potato (voice of Greg Tiernan) first. He is elated and thinks he is about to enter eternity…until Camille starts peeling his skin off, and then drops him into a pot of boiling water. The food then become horrified when a tomato gets chopped in half, a lettuce head is split in two, cheese is grated and microwaved onto nachos, and bacon is fried alive! Two little baby carrots try rolling away to freedom, but Camille catches them and eats them. Carl and Barry make a run for it out the window. They prepare to jump into the bushes when Camille sticks a knife through Carl and slices him upwards. Barry avoids the same fate as he falls into the bushes.

Brenda, Teresa, Lavash, and Sammy walk down the back of the aisle. Brenda thinks all the bad stuff is happening because she and Frank touched tips, and now the gods are punishing her. Teresa admits that she has urges that she cannot give into for fear of angering the gods. They are then attacked by the jacked-up Douche. He is about to kill Brenda until she rips off the sticker that kept his juices from leaking. The food manages to escape from Douche as he gets stuck in the walls.

Barry is now out in the streets, scared out of his wits. He finds a turd with zombie corn, and then a used condom who laments what he was used for. Barry hides and sees a Druggie (James Franco) stopping by with a Shopwell’s bag. The Druggie buys bath salts and walks away. Barry thinks the man can help him get back to Frank to warn him. He runs after the Druggie and hangs onto his shoelace as he drives home.

Frank reunites with his friends and tries to get them to follow him to the dark aisle so that he can show them proof of what the gods really do with them. However, Brenda remains firm in her beliefs and feels hurt that Frank would start badmouthing the gods right now. She decides that she would rather go to The Great Beyond without Frank and gets filled with something else, like an eggplant or tube of toothpaste, to Frank’s horror. Brenda returns to her aisle and tearfully parts from Teresa. Meanwhile, Lavash and Sammy discover they have a common friend with Hummus, but they remain unable to put their differences aside and return to their arguing groups.

Now at the Druggie’s home, Barry tries to sneak into the Shopwell’s bag. The Druggie them shoots up the bath salts and starts tripping balls. This causes him to be able to see, hear, and speak to Barry, as well as the other food in his room. The Druggie freaks out when he sees the half-eaten and conscious food, as well as the mortified Toilet Paper (voice of Conrad Vernon). Barry then meets a Stephen Hawking-like wad of gum named…Gum (also Scott Underwood), who is the most intelligent being in the world, having been stuck under the desk of a brilliant scientist for decades. Gum figures out how to get Barry back to the closest Shopwell’s. The Druggie agrees to help Barry get home, but first he passes out.

Frank goes down the Dark Aisle and finds a big recipe book. It contains disturbing depictions of the gods chowing down on food as it is fully aware of being eaten. Frank then sees the page with a sausage and bun being eaten. He rips that page out and sets out to tell the truth.

The Druggie wakes up, but the effects of the bath salts wear off and he can’t understand the food anymore. He starts eating the bag of chips, and then reaches for Barry. He goes to throw him in a boiling pot of water.

It is now morning, and the store is about to open. Frank gets himself on camera and speakers to talk to all the food. He tries to explain to them that the gods are going to kill them and not take them to a Great Beyond. Frank shows off the pages of the recipe book, but the food thinks he is just speaking blasphemy and making things up. Frank leaves, defeated, but then reunites with Barry. He brings with him the decapitated head of the Druggie. We see how Barry managed to miss the boiling water, leading the Druggie to try and pick him up, only to knock over the pot and burn himself. Barry grabbed his shoelace and made him slip, causing him to fall and have an axe from from the wall and chop his head off, so Barry and the rest of the Druggie’s food (plus Toilet Paper). With this revelation, Frank knows someone else has witnessed the barbarity of the gods firsthand. But now that they know the gods can be killed, the food sets out to stop them once and for all.

Frank sees that Brenda is about to be taken away in another package. He races to get her while Barry has the house foods cook the bath salts and dip toothpicks in them, which they shoot at the shoppers and employees. They start to trip out and see the sentient food. The lady with Brenda’s package freaks out and tries to run. Frank locks the store down, causing the woman to slam into the door. She grabs Frank, but Brenda whacks her face to the ground. The food tries to get the shopper’s attention, but a woman slams a pizza slice against the door. The other shoppers start smashing the food when they see it’s alive. This proves to the food that the gods are monsters. They decide it’s time to fight back once and for all!

The candy aisle shoots gumballs at an obese man. A bottle of cola and a tube of Mentos sacrifice themselves to go down the man’s throat and blow him up. Other shoppers and employees get brutally attacked by the food. Darren goes to get a gun and finds Douche speaking to him. He offers to form an alliance so they can both kill Frank. Douche jumps into Darren’s pants and sticks his nozzle up Darren’s ass to control him. They go hunting for Frank as Darren shoots the food. Frank is caught by Douche, who takes a bite out of him. Brenda swings down to save Frank while Barry and his friends set up a garbage bin with explosives that hurdles toward Darren and Douche. The bin snatches them up, and the food sets them up to get launched out of the store where they perish in a massive explosion.

Now that the food has won, Frank and Brenda decide to do what they’ve been wanting to do this whole time…get all up in each other. Lavash and Sammy come out with their feelings for each other and get in on the action, along with Teresa. The whole store them has one epic orgy, including the Non-Perishables, plus Barry and a smushed bun.

The film begins with the news revealing that an Egyptian pyramid was stolen. When super-villain Gru (Steve Carell) hears of this, his pride is wounded and he plans to pull the biggest heist of the century by stealing the Moon.

Gru tries to get a loan from the Bank of Evil (Formerly Lehman Brothers) and meets a young super-villain, Vector (Jason Segel), who annoys him. Bank president Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) refuses to grant Gru the loan until he obtains the shrink ray necessary for the plan. Mr. Perkins tells Gru that he is getting too old and that new super-villains are younger and better, like Vector, who is revealed to be the one who stole the Pyramid of Giza.

Gru and his minions steal the shrink ray from a top secret research facility in East Asia, but Vector steals it from him and shrinks his ship. Gru attempts to get the shrink ray back from Vector’s lair, but all his attempts to enter the lair prove futile. After seeing three orphaned girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) enter the lair to sell cookies to Vector. Gru adopts the girls from Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig), the head of the orphanage, to use them to steal back the shrink ray. Gru has his assistant Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) build robots disguised as cookies. He then has the girls sell the robots to Vector, and the robots help Gru steal the shrink ray.

On the way home the girls ask to go to an amusement park. Gru agrees, intending to leave the girls there. Instead, the attendant says he, as an adult, has to ride the roller coaster with them. Gru ends up having fun with the girls. Back at home, he presents his plan to Mr. Perkins via video. The girls keep interrupting him. Perkins again refuses to give him the loan, claiming that although he doesn’t have a problem with the plan, he just wants a younger villain to do it instead. Gru has a flashback of his childhood, depicting his wanting to go to the moon after seeing the first moon landing. When he tried to impress his mother (Julie Andrews) with models of the rocket (and an actual working one), she just ignored him. Mr. Perkins calls Vector (revealed to be his son, whose real name is Victor) to the Bank of Evil to inform him that Gru has the shrink ray. Vector reassures his father that he will get the Moon. Gru almost abandons his plan due to lack of funds, but the girls and the minions take up a collection to keep it going.

However, Gru has to make a choice, because the moon will be in the optimal position for the heist on the same day as the girls’ ballet recital. Dr. Nefario, seeing the girls as a distraction, contacts Miss Hattie, who arrives to take the girls back. Gru, the Minions, and the girls are heartbroken. Gru goes on with his plan and flies to the moon.

Gru successfully shrinks and pockets the Moon. Gru remembers the ballet recital and rushes to it. However, it has ended by the time he arrived. There, he finds a ransom note from Vector demanding the moon in exchange for the girls. After Gru hands over the moon, Vector reneges on the deal, keeping the girls and the moon. This enrages Gru, who storms Vector’s lair, this time successfully breaching the defenses. Vector flies off in an escape pod with the girls. Gru holds on to the exterior of the ship. He nearly falls to his death, but is rescued by Dr. Nefario piloting the same ship that Vector shrunk before. Nefario reveals that the bigger the object, the quicker the effects of the shrink ray wear off. Very soon, the moon begins to grow and roll around inside Vector’s ship, hurting him and freeing the girls. The girls see Gru outside of the ship, and Gru tells them to jump over to him. Edith and Agnes successfully make it onto the ship, but before Margo can jump, Vector grabs her. The moon rolls again and knocks Vector over, and Margo grabs onto Gru’s grappling hook. Gru rescues her with the help of his minions, while the rapidly-expanding Moon wrecks Vector’s controls, causing his ship to carry it back into orbit.

Andy Davis (voice: John Morris) is 17 years old, and is heading off to college in a few days. The fact that Andy has grown from a young boy to a teenager about to leave home has not been lost on his toys.

Several of them hold out hope that Andy will play with them at least once before he leaves, but those hopes are soon dashed. As the toys take stock of how many are left, and those that they have lost over the years, their attention is drawn to the last of the little green Army Men: Sarge (voice: R. Lee Ermey) and two paratroopers. Fearful of being thrown away, they leap out the window into the world beyond, their parachutes taking them who knows where.

This idea soon fills the heads of the remaining toys: Woody (voice: Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (voice: Tim Allen), Jessie (voice: Joan Cusack), Bullseye (voice: Frank Welker), Mr. Potato Head (voice: Don Rickles), Mrs. Potato Head (voice: Estelle Harris), three alien squeak toys from Pizza Planet, Slinky Dog (voice: Blake Clark), Rex (voice: Wallace Shawn), and Hamm the Piggy Bank (voice: John Ratzenberger).

Several are of the persuasion that Sarge is right, and they’ll be tossed out soon, but Woody believes that Andy wouldn’t do that. He figures Andy will store them in the attic…maybe one day to be played with again when Andy has kids of his own.

The toys’ “staff meeting” is cut short when Andy returns to his room with his mom (voice: Laurie Metcalf) in tow. With only a few days left until he leaves, Andy has not cleaned up his room. Andy’s mom is having Andy’s sister Molly (voice: Bea Miller) clean her room as well, and tells the two to throw out what they don’t want, store extra items in the attic, or donate items to Sunnyside Daycare. From Andy’s room, the toys watch as Molly throws her Barbie doll (voice: Jodi Benson) in the donations box, along with some other toys.

Andy finally takes out a black trash bag and begins to put his old toys into it. When he gets to Woody and Buzz, he hesitates before putting Woody in a box marked ‘College’ and tossing Buzz in the black trash bag. Inside, the toys think they are going to be thrown away, and Woody watches as Andy leaves the room. His panic turns to relief as he sees Andy open the attic door. However, before Andy can go up, he helps Molly move the donations box downstairs. The lapse causes the attic door to close, and Andy’s Mom soon after finds the trash bag with the toys. Thinking Andy left trash lying around, she takes it with another bag to the curb.

Woody looks down the street in horror as the garbage truck slowly makes its way to the curb. Woody jumps out the window and slides down a pipe to the front lawn…only to see the trash bags thrown into the garbage truck and crushed! Shortly thereafter, Woody notices a recycling bin walking towards the garage. Following it, he is relieved to see that his friends escaped. However, they are now all convinced that Andy meant to throw them away.

Woody tries to explain what really happened, but most of them just feel that he is in denial. Jessie soon notices the box of donations to Sunnyside Daycare, and proposes that they all go there. Everyone eagerly jumps in, except for Woody, who demands that they all return to Andy’s room right away. Before he can say anymore, the trunk to the family mini-van closes, and Andy’s mom takes the box to Sunnyside.

At Sunnyside, Andy’s mom brings the toys in to the Butterfly Room. Looking through the handle-hole in the box, the toys are excited to see a group of children happily playing with the toys in the room.

After the recess bell sounds and the kids leave the room, the toys eagerly escape from the box, only to meet a very friendly group of toys who are excited to see them. The group is soon joined by a strawberry-scented bear named Lotso (voice: Ned Beatty), who soon calls his associate Ken (voice: Michael Keaton) to escort the group around, showing them what Sunnyside has to offer. During the tour Ken becomes smitten with Barbie…who finds herself drawn to him as well.

Lotso explains that the toys are taken care of, and that due to a never-ending supply of kids coming and going, the toys will never be without someone to play with them. Andy’s toys eagerly accompany Lotso over to the Caterpillar Room, where he then leaves them to experience their first playtime at Sunnyside. However, Ken and Barbie appear to have gotten along quite well, and Barbie eagerly goes back with Ken and Lotso to the Butterfly Room.

Woody explains that while Sunnyside does seem great, he strongly believes they should go back to Andy. Woody asks Buzz to come back, but Buzz refuses, saying they should stick together. Realizing that the others won’t accompany him, Woody sneaks out of Sunnyside, but not before accidentally losing his hat. In the process, a little girl named Bonnie (voice: Emily Ricks Hahn) finds him and takes him home with her.

Back in the Caterpillar Room, recess ends, and the toys get their first playtime…only to find the room filled with noisy screaming toddlers, each of them rambunctious and not as ‘delicate’ as Andy was. They are thrown around, smashed about and covered with poster paint by the toddlers. Once the daycare closes, the toys feel there has been some mistake and that they should be in the Butterfly Room instead. Buzz manages to get out of the room, intending to talk to Lotso. However, once outside, his attention is drawn to Ken and several other toys sneaking inside a vending machine.

Buzz follows them, but is caught by a sleepy-eyed doll named Big Baby. Ken and the others take Buzz to the daycare’s library and tie him up. Suddenly, Lotso comes across the other toys, and demands that they let Buzz go. Buzz thanks Lotso for helping him out, and makes his request for himself and the other toys to be transferred. Lotso admires Buzz’s initiative, but is only willing to consider to have him join the Butterfly Room inhabitants. When Buzz refuses, Lotso orders Buzz held down and procures a Buzz Lightyear instruction manual from the library. Using it, the group of toys sets Buzz to “demo” mode — he’s once again the deluded space ranger we met early in the Toy Story (1995)

Lotso, his compatriots, and demo-Buzz return to the Caterpillar Room, where Buzz subdues his friends and places them in prison-like storage cages. Lotso explains how the daycare is run: all newcomers start in the Caterpillar Room with the ill-behaved toddlers. If they survive, they move up to the Butterfly Room where they’ll be treated better.

To set an example about what happens to troublemakers, Lotso has Big Baby take Mr. Potato Head out to the playground and stuff him in “the Box” (a sandbox). Also as a warning, Lotso produces Woody’s hat, although he doesn’t explain what happened to the toys’ friend. Barbie realizes that Ken lied to her and as she refuses to be part of Lotso’s regime, she’s imprisoned as well.

During the toys’ day at Sunnyside, Woody has been in Bonnie’s house, taking part in her imaginative fun and games. Woody grows excited to be part of a real playtime again, but longs to get back to Andy.

Once the household is asleep, Bonnie’s toys help Woody access the family computer. Woody is relieved to find that Andy’s house is just around the corner. He thanks the toys and tells them that if Bonnie ever outgrows them, they should go to Sunnyside. However, the name causes the toys to look on in fear. The toys explain that Lotso is responsible, and one of Bonnie’s toys named Chuckles (voice: Bud Luckey) begins to tell a story.

Lotso, Chuckles, and Big Baby were once owned by a little girl named Daisy. Of the three, she loved Lotso the most. However, one day at a rest stop, the three toys were accidentally left behind. The three eventually made it back to Daisy’s house. Lotso and Chuckles managed to look in her window, only to see that Lotso had been replaced. Lotso, resentful of being left behind, declared they had all been replaced (even though there was only proof that he had been replaced). Big Baby still wanted to go back, but Lotso yelled “She doesn’t love you no more,” and tore off a necklace around Baby’s neck: a plastic heart that said “I belong to Daisy.” Secretly, Chuckles kept it.

The three toys went from place to place until they found Sunnyside. Lotso took over and set up the system in which most new toys would be subjected to the rough handling of the toddlers in the Caterpillar Room and would not survive. Chuckles explains that he eventually was broken at Sunnyside, and Bonnie took him in and repaired him. Realizing the danger his friends are in, Woody decides to return to Sunnyside and rescue them.

The next day, Woody sneaks into the daycare and moves around the building above the ceiling tiles. Finding his way into a hidden area of the Caterpillar Room, he chances upon a Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone (voice: Teddy Newton). The telephone tells Woody that he should have stayed gone, and that there’s no way that he and his friends can get out. Woody thanks him for the concern, but says they have to try. The Chatter Telephone explains what Woody and his friends will be up against: Lotso’s minions manning search lights on the playground, trucks patrolling the halls and the playground, an 8-foot-high cinderblock wall, and a cymbal-clanging monkey (voice: Frank Welker again) that monitors the security cameras in the building. The telephone says the only other way out is through a garbage chute across the playground.

Once the toddlers have gone to recess, Woody joins his friends, who tell him that Buzz was reset to demo mode, and now they want to get back to Andy. Woody sets his plan in motion. Later that evening, the group springs into action: Mr. Potato Head creates a scene to get put in the box again, this time as a way to get outside and report for the group. Barbie pleads with Ken that she can’t take being imprisoned, and Ken lets her out. He takes her back to his dream house, where Barbie subdues him, and using one of his outfits as a disguise, infiltrates the daycare library to find the instruction manual for Buzz. Woody and Slinky Dog infiltrate the main security room and take down the cymbal-clanging monkey. Rex and Hamm start a fight to distract Buzz, allowing Jessie to escape. Then they trap Buzz under a plastic tub.

The toys regroup and set about trying to get Buzz back to normal. However, a mistake in resetting Buzz sets him to Spanish mode. With little time left, the group decides to worry about fixing him later, and they set out for the garbage chute.

The gang gets to the end of the chute before plummeting into the dumpster…only to find Lotso, Ken, and his associates waiting (along with the chatter telephone, now broken by the bad toys). Lotso offers the toys a choice: either end up in the dumpster, or return to the daycare. Jessie and Barbie both decry what Lotso has done to the daycare, and even Ken soon turns against Lotso.

The eagerness of the group and Woody to return to Andy incites Lotso to declare that love doesn’t exist. It is then that Woody mentions Daisy and produces the tag that Chuckles kept. Big Baby sees the tag, and Lotso declares that she didn’t love them and replaced them. Woody reminds Lotso that it was only him she replaced. This revelation causes Big Baby to reach for the tag before Lotso destroys it, yelling at Big Baby for being stupid and believing that Daisy loved him. Big Baby, feeling betrayed, then throws Lotso in the dumpster.

The other toys begin to run across the lid, but one of the Pizza Planet aliens’ feet gets stuck in the lid. Woody goes to help him, only to have Lotso grab his hand. The others rush to help Woody, but just then, a dump truck pulls up and empties the contents of the dumpster (including Andy’s toys) into the collecting bin in the back. Barbie and Ken, who were not on the dumpster’s lid, can only watch as their friends are taken from them.

Inside the dumpster, more trash is emptied onto the group, and a TV set falls on Buzz — which sets him back to his proper self. However, before the toys can rejoice, the truck arrives at the Tri-County landfill. They’re shocked when a bulldozer scoops up the three Pizza Planet aliens, carrying them away! The remaining toys are shoveled by another machine onto a moving conveyor belt, headed towards a large shredding machine. The toys avoid being shredded by grabbing metal objects that are being magnetized to an overhead track. Woody and Buzz even manage to save Lotso, who thanks them.

Once they make it through, they find themselves on another conveyor belt, heading towards what looks like daylight. However, as they draw closer, they soon realize it’s a large pit that empties into a fiery incinerator. The toys try to outrun their fiery fate until Lotso notices an emergency stop switch. He motions for the others to help him, and they hoist him up to stop the machine. However, once he reaches the button, Lotso just smirks at Woody, muttering “Where’s your kid now, Sheriff?” and runs off.

The toys are soon unable to keep running, and tumble into the pit. They try to climb out, but there appears to be no escape. With no hope left, the toys all join hands, willing to stay together to the very end.

Suddenly, a blue light appears overhead, and a giant claw falls down, scooping up the group. As they wonder who rescued them, the enormous claw swings by the glass cabin of the machine, where the three Pizza Planet aliens are. Once the group gets out, they thank their saviors and wonder what became of Lotso.

Unknown to them, Lotso is found by another garbageman at the dump. Remembering that he had a Lots-a-Huggin’ Bear as a kid, he ties Lotso to the grille of his dump truck and he heads off for duty.

Andy’s toys find the dump truck that services Andy’s neighborhood and manage to get back before Andy leaves for college. After cleaning themselves up, they sneak back into the house, finding Andy’s room cleaned out, except for some minimal items, and two boxes: one marked ‘College,’ the other ‘Attic.’

Woody’s friends pile into the ‘Attic’ box, and say their goodbyes. Hearing Andy and his mom approaching, Woody hops in the ‘College’ box. As they enter Andy’s room, his mother is hit with the sad reality that her son is going away. Andy tells her that even though he’ll be gone, he’ll still care about her.

Hearing this, Woody realizes that Andy can still care for him and the other toys: an example of true love, in that you never forget those you really love. While Andy is distracted by his sister Molly and his dog Buster, Woody grabs a Post-It note and a marker and writes down Bonnie’s street address. He takes the Post-It with him and hops into the ‘Attic’ box.

Andy returns to the room and sees the note on the ‘Attic’ box. Thinking that his mom wrote it, Andy takes the box to the address and sees Bonnie playing in her family’s front yard with the same quirky imagination that he had.

Andy gets out of the car with his box. As Bonnie sees him approach, she stops her game and calls for her mom. Bonnie’s mom (voice: Lori Alan) recognizes Andy, who explains that he has some toys for Bonnie. Andy introduces each of his toys, telling Bonnie a little bit about each of them, since he still remembers how he played with them: for example, Hamm saves your money but is also the evil Dr. Porkchop.

With each toy revealed, Bonnie gets more and more brave, until after Buzz, she peeks into the box and sees Woody. Andy has no knowledge of how Woody got in there, but is surprised when Bonnie calls him “my cowboy doll,” and quotes one of Woody’s lines: “There’s a snake in my boot!”

Andy sees Bonnie looking at Woody, and explains to her how important Woody is to him: how long he’s had him, and how brave Woody can be. However, he explains to Bonnie that she can have Woody, if she promises to take good care of him, and the other toys. When she quietly nods an affirmative, Andy begins to play with her, and the two are having an imaginative time with their toys. Secretly, Andy’s toys are overjoyed at their last playtime with him.

Finally, Andy gets into his car, as Bonnie gathers her old and new toys on the porch. As she holds Woody and Buzz in her little arms, she makes Woody wave goodbye. This causes Andy to give a sad but calming smile. “Thanks, guys,” he whispers, as he drives off.

After Andy leaves, Bonnie’s mom takes her inside for lunch, leaving the toys on the porch, watching Andy’s car fade into the distance down the street. “So long, partner,” says Woody. Woody smiles at the other toys, reaffirming that Andy did care for them, and care for them enough to leave them with another child who will take care of them and give them many playtimes to come. Woody introduces his friends to Bonnie’s other toys.

In the city of San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) is a teenage prodigy, but seems to be unable to use his intellect for anything more than trying to enter illegal, back-alley bot-fights.

His older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) wishes to change Hiro’s mind, and tricks his brother into coming to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, where Tadashi is a student. While there, Hiro is introduced to a number of Tadashi’s ‘nerd school’ friends: Go Go (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), and Fred (T.J. Miller), and the different inventions they have constructed.

Tadashi then shows Hiro his own project: an inflatable ‘nurse’ robot, named Baymax (Scott Adsit). Thanks to a chip that Tadashi programmed with numerous medical analysis information, Baymax is quite knowledgeable, impressing Hiro. Once he has performed his task, Baymax returns to sleep mode by being told, “I am satisfied with my care.”

The three also meet Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell), the head professor of the Institute, and after he compliments Hiro on the miniature battle-robot he’s made, Hiro wants to enter the Institute.

Tadashi then encourages his brother to come up with something that will impress Callaghan at the next robotics exhibit coming up. After Tadashi encourages his brother to ‘use that big brain of yours,’ Hiro then uses the robotic technology in his battle-bot, and crafts them into thousands of micro-bots, controlled by a neural transmitter. Whatever the wearer thinks, the microbots will do.

Needless to say, Hiro’s presentation wins over a number of people at the exhibition, even impressing a high-profile technology guru, named Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk). Alistair offers to purchase Hiro’s microbot invention on the spot, but Callaghan claims that Krei is not a trustworthy man with technology. Hiro then declines Krei’s request, but is excited when Callaghan presents him with a letter of acceptance to the Institute.

Hiro, Tadashi, and their friends head off to celebrate, but the mood is cut short when a fire erupts within the exhibition hall. With word that Callaghan is still inside, Tadashi rushes into the building to save him. However, as Hiro watches, an explosion rocks the building, blasting him back.

After Tadashi’s funeral, Hiro becomes distant from his friends, still working through his grief. His aunt (and guardian) Cass (Maya Rudolph), tries to encourage Hiro to go to the Institute and take advantage of his acceptance letter, but he seems unwilling to do so.

After accidentally hurting himself in his room, Hiro is surprised when Baymax appears. Apparently, Tadashi had brought him back to their shared bedroom before he died. Baymax attempts to help Hiro, who is reluctant to accept it. However, the mood is broken when Hiro finds one of his microbots wriggling in a pocket of his jacket. Putting it in a specimen container, Hiro tries to ignore it, but Baymax notes inquires if he can try to determine where the ‘small robot’ wishes to go.

Hiro casually affirms this…not realizing that the robot will follow his commands. Chasing him down, Hiro and Baymax find themselves at an old warehouse. Sneaking inside, Hiro is surprised to find a machine churning out similar microbots, with numerous containers filled with them. However, his surprise turns to shock, when a masked man appears, attempting to kill Hiro and Baymax with the miniature robots.

Hiro first goes to the police station to report what he’s found, but the officer taking down his story seems reluctant to believe him. It also doesn’t help that Baymax’s battery starts to run low. Hiro manages to get him home to be recharged. It is then that Baymax inquires where Tadashi is. Hiro attempts to explain to the robot that his brother is ‘gone.’ When Hiro explains that the fire was an accident, he then begins to wonder, given what he saw today…what if it wasn’t, an accident?

Deciding to figure out who has stolen his invention, Hiro decides to upgrade Baymax. After creating a carbon-fiber suit for the robot, Hiro also programs a new chip that includes numerous martial arts moves, inserting it into an additional slot in Baymax’s ‘heart’ drive, right next to Tasashi’s chip of Baymax’s programming.

The two then return to the warehouse, only to find it empty. However, Hiro notes his microbot has started to move again, and the two follow its movements to the docks off San Fransokyo. However, something pulls the microbot out of the container, and it disappears off into the misty bay. However, moments later, the masked figure appears, using the microbots as a transport means, and carrying a large object with the symbol of a red bird on it.

Hiro is just about to send Baymax to get the masked man, when they are accosted by Hiro’s friends. Baymax’s invite for them to help cheer up Hiro got through, but just then, the masked man attacks them. The group pile into Wasabi’s car, as the masked man gives chase. In the aftermath, the car ends up driving into the bay, but the group is saved by Baymax, who has shed his armor, and helps the group float to the surface.

After getting on land, Fred leads the group to his home…which happens to be a large mansion owned by his parents (who are away).

While recovering, Hiro shows the group the red bird symbol he saw on the piece of machinery to his friends, but none have seen it. The group soon comes to a consensus, that the man may have been behind Tadashi’s death, and Fred believes he knows who it is: Alistair Krei. Fred explains that it was Krei who wanted Hiro’s microbot technology, and most likely, has gained it at the expense of Tadashi’s life.

Baymax also surprises Hiro, when he explains that during the fight, he scanned the masked man, and has information on his health and vitals. Hiro wants to identify where their adversary is, but he would need to scan everyone in San Fransokyo to find out.

The group then decides to band together to stop Krei, with Hiro helping to design them each special suits based on their specific abilities.

Once Hiro has done this, he and Baymax fly up above the city, and scan the city from an aerial fan. Baymax’s sensors pick up their adversary’s health vitals, coming from an island in the bay.

The group flies there, to find a deserted base. One room shows the twisted metal remains of some machine, with the red bird symbol on it. The group then goes into a control room, where video shows that the room was used for testing a teleportation project, called “Operation: Silent Sparrow.”

Suddenly, their masked adversary appears, and the group attempts to take him down, but are completely unsure what to do. Hiro manages to unmask their foe, but instead of finding Krei…he finds Professor Callaghan.

Callaghan explains that in the fire, he managed to use Hiro’s microbot technology to shield himself from the explosion. This infuriates Hiro, who demands that Baymax destroy Callaghan. Baymax claims that his programming doesn’t allow this, leading to Hiro pulling out the chip Tadashi put in him. The removal of the chip causes Baymax to follow Hiro’s orders, and he charges at Callaghan. However, Hiro’s friends attempt to stop Baymax, with the robot fighting back at them, before Honey manages to restore Tadashi’s chip to his programming.

Callaghan has escaped during the fight, and Hiro demands that Baymax find him, only for the robot to explain that his scanners are damaged. Bent on revenge, Hiro blasts away with Baymax back to the garage. He attempts to update Baymax’s programming, but Baymax refuses to open the port where his chip information is.

In desperation, Hiro finally breaks down over the death of his brother, with Baymax countering that, ‘Tadashi is here.’ As Hiro watches, Baymax projects video of Tadashi’s numerous attempts to get him running, with the 84th test being a success, and Tadashi claiming that Baymax is “going to help a whole lot of people.”

Hiro’s friends eventually return to the garage where he is, and reveal that they have found further footage of the military test. The footage shows Professor Callaghan also at the test area, and reveal his motives behind his actions. During the test, a human test subject was propelled into the portal. However, the portal became unstable, and Krei ordered it shut down. It turns out that the test subject, was Callaghan’s daughter, Abigail (Katie Lowes).

The next day, Krei is revealing the opening of a new facility in the heart of San Fransokyo, when Callaghan appears, using the microbots to piece together the last active portal, over Krei’s building. Callaghan claims he’s going to ruin Krei’s life like he ruined his, as the portal comes to life, and starts to tear apart the building, sucking its pieces into the other dimension.

It is then that Hiro and his friends appear, pleading with Callaghan to stop what he’s doing, but the former Professor refuses to listen to reason. The group attempts to stop him, but Callaghan uses the microbots to counter their attacks.

During the fight, Hiro notices that the stray microbots are being sucked up into the portal, and he and the rest of the team work to hack away at their structures, until Callaghan is soon down to a bare minimum.

Baymax manages to remove the control mask from him, but once he’s done so, notes a faint life signal from within the portal. Even though it is unstable, Hiro and Baymax head into it.

Within the otherworldly atmosphere, they find the test pod, with Abigail inside. Baymax and Hiro then attempt to maneuver her out of the dimension, but a stray piece of debris from Krei’s building slams into Baymax, ripping away much of his suit, and rendering his rocket boosters inoperable.

Baymax claims that he can get Hiro and Abigail to safety by using his rocket punch. Hiro doesn’t want to lose Baymax, but the robot assures the boy, that he’ll “always be with him.” Tearfully, Hiro utters “I’m satisfied with my care,” and Baymax launches off his rocket fist, getting Hiro and Callaghan’s daughter through the portal, just before it tears itself apart.

In the aftermath, Abigail is taken to a hospital, and Callaghan is arrested for his crimes. In the meantime, local news reports on a band of superheroes that saved the city. However, Hiro and his friends celebrate by having some downtime at his Aunt’s place.

Shortly afterwards, Hiro starts his classes at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Taking residence in the same lab that Tadashi has, Hiro has brought along the rocket fist Baymax wore…only to find wedged in its closed fist, the green microchip card that Tadashi had put into Baymax.

At New York City’s Central Park Zoo, Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) is walking on a treadmill, daydreaming about running free in the wild. He swings on vines, jumps, does flips and runs through a bunch of singing penguins. Marty is jolted back to reality by his best friend, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), who gets in his face and roars.

Alex tells Marty that there’s something in his teeth, so Marty tells him to open his mouth and let Dr. Marty, D.D.S., have a look. Marty reaches in and extracts a glass ball with a red ribbon on top. It’s a snow globe, with a miniature Alex figure in the middle. It’s a tenth birthday present for Marty from Alex. Marty puts the globe among a bunch of other “Alex” themed items that he’d been given over time. The gift did not excite him. In fact, he’s bored and upset that his life at the zoo limits his ability to enjoy life more fully by keeping his movements restricted.

Today was not only Marty’s birthday, but “Field Trip Day” at the zoo, when all the school kids come. It was one of Alex’s favorite days, and he excitedly woke up his other friends, Gloria the hippopotamus and Melman the giraffe, so they could get themselves ready. That’s difficult for Melman, as he’s a hypochondriac and worries about all sorts of ailments he thinks he may have.

Alex quickly counsels Marty to work on changing his attitude, suggesting that he approach every day in a “fresh” way. So, Marty decides he’s going to be “fresh” today.

Mason the Chimpanzee (Conrad Vernon) starts his day off by rummaging through the waste can and coming up with a cup of coffee, bagel and newspaper, which he shares with his companion, Phil, another chimpanzee, who can’t speak and just uses sign language.

Once the gates to the zoo open, Gloria, Marty and Alex go into action, putting on an exhibition of dancing, posing, and doing acrobatics for the visiting people. They were very popular.

There are four penguins at the zoo who are in the process of digging an escape tunnel. They are using plastic spoons and popsicle sticks to dig with, but their tools keep breaking and slowing them down.

Marty is surprised when there’s a small area of the grass in his compound that suddenly bulges upward, and the head of Skipper the penguin (Tom McGrath) appears, followed by those of his fellow penguins: Private (Christopher Knights), Kowalski (Chris Miller), and Rico. One of them asks what continent this is, and Marty says, “Manhattan.” They realize that they’ve somewhat missed the mark, as their destination was Antarctica, so they go back down to continue digging, but first swearing Marty to silence.

Marty, Gloria, Melman and Alex all get V.I.P. treatments after the zoo closes, with the freshest of whatever foods they prefer, massages, and acupuncture. It’s about as good as a life of confinement can be.

Gloria’s birthday gift to Marty is a cake, while Melman gives him a thermometer, not telling him it’s his old rectal thermometer until Marty had put it in his mouth to try it out.

Marty’s birthday wish is to go to the wild. When Marty tells his skeptical friends that the penguins are trying to escape to the wild, Alex replies, “the penguins are psychotic.” They engage in a discussion about where the nearest wild might be, and Gloria says she heard there are wild places in Connecticut.

Alex tells Marty that there wouldn’t be things like the fresh steaks he likes so much out in the wild. When Marty asks his friends if they aren’t bothered by not knowing about the world outside the zoo, they simultaneously say, “no.”

Marty continues to be depressed, so Gloria makes Alex go and attempt to give him a pep talk. Alex knows that if he sings “New York, New York,” that Marty won’t be able to resist joining in, so he does that. Marty does join in, but the noise they make causes the other animals to start waking up and they shout out for Marty and Alex to “shut up.”

Marty tries to convince Alex to join him in breaking out and traveling north to Connecticut. Alex isn’t interested, besides tomorrow is “Senior’s Day,” at the zoo and he doesn’t want to miss that.

Later that night, after the animals have all gotten back to sleep, Alex is wakened by Melman, who normally wakes up every two hours to pee. Melman tells Alex that Marty wasn’t in his compound. Gloria comes over too, and they all wonder where Marty might be. Alex grabs a nearby phone and calls 911, before he realizes “we can’t call the people.”

Marty is sauntering down a main street in downtown New York, headed for Grand Central Station. He stares at a woman walking by who is wearing a zebra striped outfit. He spends some time ice skating at an ice rink, then stops and talks to a police horse (David Cowgill), who gives him directions to Grand Central. The police officer (Stephen Apostolina), riding the horse calls into the precinct and asks if he can shoot the zebra. He is told no, that it’s animal control’s responsibility.

Melman lifts Alex over the zoo wall and lowers him to the street. Gloria just busts through the brick wall, and Melman follows her out. Mason and Phil also go out through the hole in the wall. They all go to the nearest subway station and get in one of the cars, scaring and upsetting all the passengers. Before boarding the train, Melway goes into a restroom and comes out with one of those blue deodorizers in his mouth (he liked how it tasted).

The animals ride the subway down to Grand Central Station, which is the same place Marty went. Wherever Alex goes, the humans all freak out and run, which he doesn’t understand because he’s not after them at all. There’s an old lady (Elisa Gabrielli) who isn’t afraid of him, and actually calls him a “bad kitty” and proceeds to start beating on him with her purse.

When they find Marty, Alex rushes forward and tackles him, then hugs him, and finally chokes him, alternating in his emotions of concern, relief and anger. Marty tells Alex that he was going to come back to the zoo in the morning, after his little excursion to Connecticut.

Hundreds of police show up and surround the animals. By then, the penguins and chimps have arrived and joined Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman at the station. All the humans are on edge, and very afraid, especially of Alex. Except the old woman, who kicks Alex in the groin.

Alex attempts to speak to the police and reason with them, but they don’t understand him. So, he roars, in imitation of his popular daily zoo performance. The animal control officer is finally able to steady his nerves enough to shoot Alex in the butt with a tranquilizer dart. That puts Alex out. When Alex starts coming to, he’s back at the zoo and there’s an animal rights activist making a speech to a crowd about how the zoo animals should be returned to the wild. When they see Alex coming awake, they all get scared and run. Animal Control again responds by shooting at Alex with multiple darts. One of them hits him in the paw and he goes back to sleep.

The next time Alex wakes up, he’s in a wooden crate, as are Marty, Gloria, Melman, the penguins and the chimps. They are on a large ship that is sailing to Africa. The boxes that the animals are in are all labeled: “Kenyan Wildlife Preserve.” Phil can read, so he signs that bit of information to Mason, who informs the rest of them.

Rico coughs up a paper clip and uses it to pick the lock to the box holding the penguins. The four of them then waddle their way up to the bridge, disabling a crewman along the way, and administering a karate chop to the back of the neck of the captain of the ship, taking him out.

Alex, Marty and Gloria all start arguing about their predicament and what they should do. Meanwhile, the penguins are on the bridge of the ship and struggling to figure out how to steer and navigate it. They more or less accidentally figure it out and Skipper orders hard right rudder. When the ship lurches, the crates holding Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, all fall overboard and are set adrift as the ship moves away.

After traveling some distance, the crate holding Alex starts rolling and bouncing. It comes to a sudden stop and breaks open, sending Alex head over heels onto a sandy beach. He comes up coughing, with a mouthful of sand. He’s all alone and spends a long time roaming the beach, calling out to his friends, and at one point, he even calls for Regis, Kelly, Matt, Katie, and Al.

Suddenly, there’s the sound of another voice and Alex looks up to see a crate with four legs sticking out of the bottom, running around the beach. It’s Melman. Alex hurries over and attempts to free Melman from the crate. He pulls Melman’s neck way out, but that doesn’t work, so he grabs a coconut tree log and prepares to ram it into Melman’s stomach to force him out of the crate. He steps way back, points the log, and starts running. Just before he slams into Melman, something distracts him and he stops short. Coming onto the beach through the surf is a large crate containing Gloria. Once the crate hits the beach, Gloria kicks one side of her crate out, freeing herself and at the same time sending Alex flying through the air and crashing down on top of Melman, smashing his crate and freeing him. There are two starfish and a crab covering Gloria’s private parts, so she announces that “the party’s over,” and they all scatter.

Marty is next to arrive, only he does so in style, riding onto the beach on the backs of some dolphins. Alex is surprised to see Marty, but in short order he realizes that all this grief he and the others are experiencing is because of Marty, so he starts chasing Marty around the beach, intending to beat him up. Melman and Gloria intervene and the four of them begin wondering just where they are. Melman looks around and offers his opinion that they are somewhere near San Diego, given the terrain and vegetation. Alex decides to chase Marty some more, because he doesn’t want to be in San Diego where he likely won’t be the star of the zoo anymore. Gloria stops Alex.

Alex hears some sounds coming from deep in the jungle. It sounds like humans, so they all charge off towards the noise. Alex has trouble when he keeps running into things, including a large spider web, that causes him to fall behind. Meanwhile, Gloria, Melman and Marty come across a clearing that is filled with about a hundred lemurs of various sizes and ages. They don’t recognize what sort of animals the lemurs are, just that they definitely aren’t human. They watch the lemurs as they dance, sing and generally carry on. Melman tells the others that he’s counted 27 health code violations taking place.

A lemur named Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) calls for quiet and introduces the lemur King Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen). King Julien then launches into a rap song, “I Like to Move It.” The lemurs are all enjoying themselves when suddenly an alarm is sounded and a lemur shouts that the fossa are coming. There are four fossa, which are animals that look like a cross between a cat and a dog, and prey on the lemurs. The lemurs all run, but the fossa catch a baby lemur named Mort (Andy Richter), and start making a salad, with Mort as the main ingredient.

Alex finally catches up with his friends and as he gazes down on the scene before him, Gloria sees a large spider on his back. She picks up a stick, preparing to swat the spider. Before she can do that, the spider speaks, saying hello. That causes Alex to look and when he sees the spider, he freaks out, letting out a huge roar, which frightens the fossa and they run away, allowing the Mort lemur to escape. Meanwhile, Gloria starts hammering away at the spider on Alex’s back, nearly beating him unconscious in the process.

King Julien and his fellow lemurs don’t know what to make of the strange animals who have suddenly appeared and scared the fossa away. He decides they must be aliens. To confirm whether the aliens are friendly or not, the king grabs Mort and tosses him towards them. Alex approaches Mort and attempts to make friends, but he’s frightened of him and cries. Gloria picks up baby Mort and calms him down. The king now decides that these aliens are a bunch of pansies.

King Julien, aka, “The Lord of the Lemurs,” steps forward and says, “welcome giant pansies!” Alex decides that all the lemurs must be some sort of squirrels, because they act so weird. The king asks “where are you giants from?” and when Alex says, “New York,” the king says, “All hail the New York Giants!”

Alex asks the king about any people on the island, knowing that they need people to come find and rescue them. The king says there are people on the island, but they aren’t very active. He then points up at a tree, where there’s a skeleton hanging from a parachute. Not far away are the remnants of an airplane, also perched high in a tree. The king says there are no live people on the island.

Alex loses it and takes off for the beach, intending to jump in the ocean and swim back to New York. Gloria again has to stop him and calm him down. She assures him that the people must be missing them and should be coming at any time to rescue them.

Melman decides their situation is hopeless and he digs himself a grave there on the beach. Extending out from the grave is a long will and testament that he’d written in the sand. He starts to read it to the others, informing them of what he will leave to each of them, when a wave comes rolling in and erases the bottom third of the will. Melman says, “sorry Alex,” as that portion of the will pertained to Alex’s inheritance.

Marty decides that he doesn’t care if the humans come to find and rescue them, because he loves his newfound freedom there in the wild. That upsets Alex and he takes that large coconut log and draws a line in the sand, telling Marty that he must stay on the other side of that line, while Alex and the others, who want to be rescued, will stay on the opposite side. That doesn’t bother Marty, as he immediately sets about building himself a little beachside patio, complete with a large umbrella, fire pit, bar and lounge seats.

Alex starts building something too. It ends up being a large figure, similar to the Statue of Liberty, and he calls it the “Beacon of Liberty.” His intent is to set it ablaze once they see a ship out on the ocean, so the people will see it and come to their rescue. While Marty has already started a little fire in his fire pit, Alex has ordered Melman to work on starting a fire for them. Melman is getting very tired rubbing two sticks together, trying to create a spark. However, he eventually does get some sparks, then flames, but the flames catch the sticks on fire and Melman becomes frightened and starts running around. He accidentally sets the Beacon of Liberty on fire and it quickly burns down. Alex can’t believe it.

Back at the lemurs place, the king is telling his fellow lemurs that he wants to make the New York Giants their friends, especially Alex, who would then keep the fossa away from them. Maurice then poses a question to them all, asking them to consider why it is the fossa are afraid of Alex, and perhaps the lemurs should be afraid of him too. No one seems particularly concerned.

Back on the beach, Alex has built another structure, made of coconut logs. This one spells out the word, “HELP.”

Melman and Gloria decide to join Marty on the “fun side” of the island, and are over sitting under the umbrella, near the fire pit. Marty invites Alex to join them, telling him that it’s not really the fun side without him there. Marty continues to refuse. As he sits there pouting, the “P” in his help sign collapses.

After some time, Alex decides to go over to the fun side, apologizing to Marty and asking to join the others. Marty welcomes him to “Casa del Wild,” and prepares Alex a drink, which he serves to him in a coconut shell. Alex takes a big gulp and immediately spits it out. Marty has to explain that the drinks are just sea water, but that’s only until the plumbing is fixed. Gloria, Melman, Marty and Alex then continue sipping their drinks and spitting it out.

Marty then prepares something he calls “seaweed on a stick,” and offers some up to his friends. Gloria and Melman think it’s very tasty, but Alex starts choking when he eats it. He is very hungry for meat, and misses the steaks he used to eat at the zoo in New York. After he falls asleep, he dreams about steak, and he starts to lick one. He is jolted awake by the others and finds himself licking Marty’s backside. Marty wants to know what Alex thinks he’s doing. Alex pretends to have been counting Marty’s stripes.

Meanwhile, 2,500 miles to the south, the penguins have arrived at their dream destination, Antarctica, and are standing quietly on the ice, near the bow of the ship. The wind is blowing and there’s nothing around them except ice and snow as far as the eye can see. Finally, Private turns to the others and says, “well, this sucks.”

King Julien and all the lemurs make noise and wake up Alex and the others, surprising them by leading them to an overlook where they gaze out upon a huge expanse of open area, with beautiful green grass, trees and waterfalls visible way in the distance. The king says, “Welcome to Madagascar.”

It all looks just like the poster that Marty had on the wall back in New York. It was just like the land in his dreams. He and Alex rush forward and romp through the grass, wrestling and teasing each other as they went. Alex tires temporarily, as he hadn’t eaten for a long time, but rediscovers that he has more energy than ever and continues his romp.

Marty suggests to Alex that he perform his zoo routine for the lemurs. When Julien hears Alex refer to himself as a “king,” he becomes concerned, thinking that there can’t be two kings on Madagascar.

The fossa arrive and observe Alex’s performance from behind some rocks. As Alex continues his performance, he looks out over the crowd, comprised of the lemurs and his friends, and they all start to look like steaks to him. When Alex lets out a huge roar, the fossa run off and everyone else decides to run as well, because Alex is attacking. When Alex snaps out of his hunger induced temporary insanity, he has his jaws attached to Marty’s butt, but he hadn’t bitten down yet.

Maurice takes advantage of the moment to educate everyone about the fact that Alex is an apex predator, and if he’s hungry, no one is safe. About that time, Alex sees steaks again and starts another attack. He always seems to hone in on Marty as his target of choice. Alex is about to pounce on Marty when Maurice fires a coconut from atop a tree and beans Alex with it, saving Marty.

Alex recovers and is very upset at himself for attacking Marty. He’s worried what might happen, so he runs off. He falls into a river and ends up floating to another part of the island, the place where the fossa live. There, he sharpens a bunch of sticks and inserts them into the ground, sharp sides up. He’s created a sort of jail for himself, with the sticks at the base of some rocks and himself sitting on the rocks.

Marty, Gloria and Melman also find themselves roaming around in the land of the predators, where the fossa live. As they walk, they observe several small animals get eaten up by much larger predators, and they are not at all comfortable.

A boat horn sounds out on the ocean, so Marty, Gloria and Melman hurry to the beach. They see the same ship that they’d been on earlier. Melman struggles to hoist Gloria up high on his head, his neck bending severely as he does it, but her waving seems to work, as the ship begins to turn around and head for the island. Marty decides to hurry and go find Alex, but Gloria stops him, knowing he wouldn’t last long in the land of the predators.

The ship arrives at the island and the bow comes right up onto the beach, flush against Melman’s face, as he’s standing there in shocked amazement. The anchor drops onto the beach and the four penguins appear. Gloria asks them where the people from the ship are and Skipper tells her that they “are on a slow lifeboat to China.”

During the distraction of the ship coming aground on the island, Marty has run off to go find Alex. He finds him sitting in his little jail enclosure. Alex talks to Marty for a little bit, then lunges and takes a swipe at him. He couldn’t help it, he was so hungry. He regains his senses and goes deeper into the rocks to hide. Marty follows him partway and tells Alex he isn’t going anywhere without him. He starts to sing, “New York, New York.” Alex doesn’t respond.

The fossa have arrived and are gathering around Marty in force. Soon, they attack and Marty has to run, calling for help. Just as it appears Marty is doomed, Melman and Gloria arrive. Melman sweeps down from on high and scoops up Marty, carrying him to safety. The penguins are there too, and Skipper steps forward, producing a flare gun which he fires into the air, distracting the fossa. He and the other penguins then quickly rig up a device using the steering wheel from the ship, and spin it around rapidly, striking the attacking fossa and knocking them unconscious.

Alex shows up, roaring and showing his teeth. He makes as though he’s attacking Marty, claiming Marty as his territory, as his meal. Marty is about to faint, thinking Alex is really going to eat him, until Alex whispers to him that it’s all for show.

Alex then grabs Marty, Gloria and Melman and hoists them all above his head, proclaiming to the fossa that they all belong to him. Then he sets the three back on the ground and starts taking it directly to the fossa, knocking them this way and that, until they all decide to run off. He shouts at them to never come back.

The king observes all this and becomes very happy that his plan had worked out after all.

Back on the beach, Rico is working feverishly as a chef, preparing some sushi, which is then fed to Alex. Alex is tentative, but he tries it and decides he likes it. He orders 300 pieces to go.

Everyone enjoys themselves at the “Thank You Freaks,” banquet put on by the lemurs. There’s a massive toast, with everyone taking a drink from their coconut cups and then simultaneously spitting it right back out.

Marty tells his friends that he’s ok with just staying on Madagascar, or going back to New York, just as long as he can be with his friends. They decide to go back to New York.

The king gives Alex his crown, then produces a new one for himself. His new crown is larger and has a live gecko on it.

Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his games perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of Jack McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan: win a medal, but soon wrecks everything and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope is Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman), a young troublemaking glitch from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s Game Over for the entire arcade?

The film takes place in Litwik’s Arcade, and concerned the character of Wreck-it-Ralph, the bad guy in the Fix-It-Felix Jr video game.

When we are introduced to Ralph, he is attending ‘Bad-anon,’ a support group for the video game bad guys that inhabit the arcade’s games. Ralph explains that after 30 years of doing the same thing and getting no respect for his job, he feels that he doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore. The other members claim that he can’t mess with the program of his game, and soon finish the meeting, leaving Ralph still dejected.

Going through ‘Game Central Station’ (a power strip with surge protectors that has all the arcade’s game plugged into it), Ralph returns to his game, only to see the inhabitants of the Niceland apartments throwing a party (even Pac-Man is there!). Ralph is upset that he wasn’t invited, and attempts to get in. However, upon seeing a special cake that was made with all the Nicelanders and Felix on top and Ralph in a pit on the bottom, he gets upset. When one of the Nicelanders claims that he’s just the bad guy who wrecks things,’ Ralph destroys the cake in a fit of rage and angrily leaves, intending to somehow get a medal of his own, and prove he can be a hero.

Going off to a bar-game called Tapper’s, Ralph is unsure what to do, when he encounters a soldier from a new first-person shooter named “Hero’s Duty.” The soldier is a nervous wreck from hunting bugs, but when Ralph hears there’s a medal at the end of the game, he eagerly takes up the soldier’s armor, and heads off through ‘Game Central Station,’ to board the transport to “Hero’s Duty.” On his way there Q*Bert, a homeless character whose game has been unplugged is at the station and he tell him where he is going, then is off.

Ralph eagerly gets ready for a new round of the game, whose squadron is being led by Sgt Calhoun (Jane Lynch). However, once the game starts, Ralph realizes he’s in way over his head, when the group is bombarded by giant mechanical ‘Cy-bugs,’ that take on the properties of whatever they consume. Ralph accidentally gets the first-person shooter (aka a kid playing the game inside the arcade) killed, and the game ends. As it does, a giant beam of light shoots out of the top of a nearby tower, attracting the Cy-bugs, and incinerating them as they are drawn into its light.

As the game begins to reset for the next player, Ralph learns that the medal he wants is at the top of that tower. Removing his armor, he climbs the tower, and finds himself in a room full of Cy-bug eggs. Making his way through them all, he finds the medal (with the name ‘Hero’ on it) floating in the center of the room. Reaching it and taking it, a group of holographic soldiers appear, and salute Ralph on a job well done.

Ralph gets a bit too excited, and accidentally steps on an egg, releasing a Cy-bug hatchling. It begins to attack Ralph, who attempts to get away in an escape pod. However, the pod takes off with the Cy-bug inside it. Sgt Calhoun and the others see it take off, and it escapes into the portal to ‘Game Central Station.’ It bounces around the station, before sending Ralph into a nearby racing game called ‘Sugar Rush.’ Crash-landing, the ejector seat sends Ralph in one direction, and the Cy-bug in another, sending it into a deep pit.

Meanwhile, in Fix-It-Felix, Jr, the denizens of the game suddenly realize that Ralph is missing when a player attempts to play a game. The players panic, causing the player to assume something is wrong with the game when ‘the wrecking guy’ doesn’t show up. The arcade’s owner, Mr Litwik, is informed, and an ‘out of order’ sign is placed over the game. The game’s denizens are unsure where Ralph may have gone, but get a surprise when Q*Bert shows up to say that Ralph was seen entering the game ‘Hero’s Duty.’

With the possibility that without Ralph, the game’s plug will be pulled and their time will end, Felix heads into ‘Hero’s Duty’ to find Ralph. After almost being killed by Sgt Calhoun and her soldiers, Felix explains he is looking for Ralph, and also slowly falls in love with the Sergeant’s ‘hi-definition’ looks. They then leave the game, and after finding out which way the escape pod went, set off into ‘Sugar Rush’. Calhoun is greatly concerned, because Cy-bugs can multiply when plenty of food is available, i.e. the candies and sweets of ‘Sugar Rush’, and the possibility of the game being overrun by them is highly possible.

Meanwhile, Ralph finds his medal hanging from the top of a candy-cane tree, along with a little girl named Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). Vanellope ends up taking the medal before Ralph can get to it, and he then attempts to track her down.

Vanellope ends up using the medal in place of a game coin for a major race to decide which of the top 9 racers (along with their ruler, King Candy (Alan Tudyk)) will get to be the chosen racers for the next day’s play of the arcade (this is how the game randomly selects new racers for each day). However, when her entry is seen on the board, King Candy orders her to be caught, but this is interrupted when Ralph comes barreling through the starting line, attempting to get Vanellope himself, and destroying the area.

Ralph is then captured and brought before King Candy. The King is at first shocked that Ralph appears to be ‘game-jumping,’ but Ralph claims that all he wants is his medal back. However, the King informs him that since it’s now been entered into the game’s programming, the only way he can get it back is if he wins the race.

Ralph then leaves the King’s castle still upset, but upon seeing several of the racers nearby, he figures maybe he can explain to them to win the race and get his medal for him. However, his thoughts are sidelined when the racers come across Vanellope, who has finished a small pedal-cart she intends to use in the race. As Ralph watches, the other kids say she can’t enter because she’s a glitch, and then wreck her cart. Ralph scares them off, and Vanellope decides to make a deal with Ralph: if he helps her get a new cart for the race, she’ll win back his medal for him. Ralph is at first unsure of the alliance, but agrees to it.

Meanwhile, Felix and Calhoun have discovered the crashed escape pod, but no sign of Ralph or the Cy-bug. Calhoun attempts to use a detector for finding the bug, but it can’t focus because of the sugar particles interfering with the detector. As they continue on their journey, the end up in a pit of Nes-quik sand, and Felix is able to get them out by grabbing onto some Laffy-Taffy hanging from the trees.

After they get out, Felix makes mention that some would consider Ralph going outside of his game to be ‘turbo.’ When Calhoun seems confused at this term, Felix explains where it came from. Many years ago, there was a racing game in the arcade called “Turbo-Tastic,” whose main racer loved to win, and grew egotistical about it. When the arcade got a new racing game called “Roadblasters,” Turbo abandoned his game, and entered into “Roadblasters,” wrecking it. Because of this, both games were unplugged, and presumably, Turbo died when he was unable to return to his game.

Back in the world of “Sugar Rush,” Ralph and Vanellope break into a cart-baking factory, and Ralph helps Vanellope as best as he can. However, his attempts to help make the car look like a bakery-fueld mess, but Vanellope loves it anyway, and has Ralph sign his name on the side in icing. However, their intrusion is soon found out, and King Candy and his police force soon arrive.

Ralph tells Vanellope to start driving, only for her to tell him that she doesn’t know HOW to drive a cart! Ralph then uses his giant hands to help propel them away from the pursuing King and his police force, losing them when Vanellope directs him to a secret entrance near Diet Cola mountain.

Inside, Ralph finds a giant pit over which Mentos stalactites hang overhead. When one drops into the soda, it causes a heated geyser to erupt.

Nearby, Ralph also finds where Vanellope lives, having taken up refuge inside the mountain because no one likes her, or will give her a chance to prove she can race. Seeing how she just wants a chance to prove herself like he does, Ralph helps her learn how to race her vehicle.

As they prepare to take off for the big race, Vanellope rushes back into the mountain to get something. It is then that King Candy shows up, and offers Ralph back his ‘Hero’ medal. The King then explains to Ralph that he is giving the medal to him, if he’ll prevent Vanellope from racing. Ralph claims he won’t, when the King tells him that it is essential to saving her life.

As Vanellope is a glitch, she has trouble being a stable racer, and may end up popping up all over the game. If she is chosen to race, and the players don’t like her, the plug could be pulled on Sugar Rush. However, because Vanellope is a glitch, she won’t be able to escape into Game Central Station, and die within the game.

The King leaves, and Vanellope returns, presenting Ralph with a Heart-shaped cookie medal, calling him both a snotbrain, and her hero for helping her. However, Ralph then attempts to get her to reconsider the race, when she sees he’s got his ‘Hero’ medal back. Ralph then explains what the King told him, but she says she doesn’t care and wants to race! Claiming he’s saving her life, Ralph hangs Vanellope from a nearby tree, and breaks her cart. Heart-broken that he has ruined her chance, she claims he ‘really is a bad guy,’ and rushes back to her hide-out.

Over at the King’s castle, Felix has parted ways with Calhoun who is still looking for the Cy-bug, and arrives at the castle door. Felix meets the King’s assistant, a little sourball. Realizing that Felix is from Ralph’s game, he sends him to the king’s Fungeon.

Now that he’s got his medal back, Ralph returns to his game, but finds the Niceland apartments are empty, except for one lone tenant, who explains everyone else headed to Game Central Station for safe haven. Ralph claims he got a medal that proves he’s a hero, but in the wake of the game’s plug being pulled at dawn if it doesn’t function properly, the need to prove himself seems nil. Upset that he seems to have made a mess of things for his game as well as for Vanellope, he flings his ‘Hero’ medal at the case of the arcade game, causing the out-of-order sign to fall slightly. As it does so, he can see the gaming console for ‘Sugar Rush,’ and finds a strange sight: even though she is considered a glitch, Vanellope is on the advertising graphics for the game on its gaming console!

Ralph then returns to ‘Sugar Rush’ and heads for diet cola mountain, finding the King’s sourball cleaning up the remnants of Vanellope’s cart. Ralph then gets the little sourball to tell that King Candy changed around Vanellope’s code, but as to why he did this, the sourball has no clue. He also tells Ralph that both Felix and Vanellope are being held in the King’s Fungeon, and Ralph sets out there along with the garbage can containing the broken pieces of Vanellope’s kart.

Ralph rescues Felix first, and the two reconcile, with Felix finally understanding why Ralph seemed to be acting so strange when he burst in on the party the other day.

Using Felix’s magical hammer, they repair Vanellope’s cart, and manage to free her, with Ralph first admitting what a moron he was.

As the race gets underway, Vanellope quickly takes off, leaving Felix and Ralph at the starting line. However, Calhoun also arrives, alerting them that the Cy-bug has eaten plenty under the grounds of Sugar Rush, and has multiplied into a giant army. As if on cue, they burst up around the stadium. Calhoun attempts to kill them off, but there are just too many. She quickly yells for those nearby to head towards the portal to Game Central Station. With the game too overrun with the creatures, they’ll need to kill the game to end them. Realizing that it’ll mean the end for Vanellope, Ralph stays by the finish line as long as he can, figuring if Vanellope can at least cross the finish line, she’ll be able to escape.

Meanwhile, the race continues onward, and Vanellope finally catches up to King Candy. However, as the two battle car-to-car, the King begins to glitch, and we see that he is Turbo in disguise! It soon becomes apparent that he took over ‘Sugar Rush’, locking up the memories of the other racers, thus making her a glitch!

Luckily, Vanellope manages to get free, and focuses her glitching powers to break free of the Turbo’s grasp, and speed into 1st position. As he attempts to catch up to her, a Cy-bug emerges in front of his car, and eats him up.

As she nears the finish line, Vanellope’s car is thrown off-track by another horde of Cy-bugs, and she is scooped up by Ralph, who takes her towards the portal to Game Central Station as the horde devours the finish line. Almost everyone else is able to get through but Vanellope. Ralph tries as hard as he can to take her, but it’s no use.

As Calhoun continues to blast away as many Cy-bugs as she can, she explains the only way they would be able to stop the horde, is if they had a beam of light to blast them away, like in “Hero’s Duty.” Ralph suddenly flashes back to Diet Cola Mountain, and the group of Mentos stalactites, and formulates a plan!

Grabbing a hoverboard from Calhoun, he flies towards the mountain. Using his fists, he attempts to dislodge the Mentos at the top, to create a new beam of killing light. However, his plans are interrupted when a Cy-bug appears, with the colors and head of King Candy and Turbo. The newly-powered-up tyrant knocks Ralph around a bit, saying he is the most powerful virus in the arcade and will attempt to take over all the other games for revenge, Ralph battles Turbo, but Turbo dislikes being stopped and quickly overpowers Ralph, flying him above the mountain and sarcastically forcing him to watch Cy-Bugs close in on Vanellope. Ralph finds a way to stop Turbo’s revenge, manages to break free from Cy-bug Turbo, aiming towards the Mentos. As he hits them, and they fall towards the cola pit deep within the mountain.

Luckily, before he hits the bubbling pit, Vanellope gets back in her cart, and focusing her glitching power, manages to save Ralph before the major eruption.

The eruption shines a bright light, which in turn draws most the Cy-Bugs, to their destruction. Turbo being more powerful then the others is able to resist for a short time but his Cy-Bug programming overwhelms him and he flies into the lava as well, killing him. Because video game characters who die outside their own game are unable to regenerate ever, this means that the Cy-Bugs gets destroyed and Turbo gets destroyed permanently to his death, as the eruption stops Turbo’s revenge, because which causes King Candy’s code to be destroyed forever.

After this, Vanellope manages to cross the finish line, and due to Turbo’s brainwash, the memories of the other players are reprogramed, and Vanellope is returned to being the Princess of Sugar Rush and a true character again. However, she claims that she doesn’t really want to be a Princess, and feels that a government run by a President would be more her style. Turbo has disappeared forever (Sour Bill, Wynchel and Duncan, the Sugar Rush Racers and the Citizens, never heard of him again).

In the aftermath, Felix and Calhoun are wed (even though their games will keep them apart by day in the arcade). Vanellope is now a regular racer in ‘Sugar Rush,’ though she still uses the cart that Ralph helped her build, and her glitching power makes her a big hit with the players.

20,000 years ago, a grumpy mammoth named Manfred and a enthusiastic ground sloth named Sid are left behind during the migration for the ice age. Abandoned by his family, Sid attempts to migrate alone but runs afoul of his two rhinos best friends named Carl and Frank, who try to attack Sid but fail due to Manfred stepping in, only to leave Sid behind afterward. Sid stays with Manfred, referring to the mammoth as “Manny”, for protection, much to Manny’s dismay.

A tribe of humans camp near a waterfall, among them their leader, named Runar, with his wife Nadia and their infant son Roshan, before heading north to their settlement in the mountains. Soto, leader of a pack of saber-tooth tigers saber-tooth tiger, watches the humans with his trusted lieutenant, a cat named Diego. Soto, seeking revenge against the humans for wiping out half of his pack, intends to devour Runar’s son Roshan in vengeance and plans an attack for the next morning. The attack takes place, with Diego pursuing Nadia, but she escapes with Roshan, jumping over the waterfalls so that Diego returns to Soto with no baby; the pack agrees to meet at Half Peak, where Diego will produce the baby for Soto.

Manny and Sid journey on, Manny bothered by the sloth’s constant talking, until the two find Nadia on a riverbank, weakened greatly by her jump over the falls, with hardly enough strength to pass her son to Manny before she disappears. Manny leaves, but Sid intends to return the baby to his “herd”, which Manny will not help with. The two meet Diego, who takes the baby, claiming that he intends to return him to the humans. Manny, unconvinced, decides to help Sid return the baby to his family, leaving the saber behind; the humans’ camp is abandoned and Manny reluctantly decides to head north to find the humans’ settlement at Glacier Pass and return the baby, taking Diego along as a guide. The trio takes the baby up north and meets a fanatical flock of dodos on the way, from which they procure food for the baby. During the trek, however, Diego secretly meets up with two of his pack mates, who pass a message from Soto, demanding the baby; Diego sends them back with a message to Soto, promising the baby and Manny. The following morning, Sid takes the baby to a mud crater, where he meets two female sloths named Jennifer and Rachel, who he tries to court using the baby, which Manny takes back; Sid returns to the mud crater, only to find the sloths gone, Carl and Frank in their place. The rhinos pursue Sid, who runs into Diego and pleads to the saber to deter the rhinos: Diego pretends to have killed Sid to throw the rhinos off the trail and releases his grip once the rhinos leave; Diego then moves on with Manny and Sid. On the way, the group runs into a number of predicaments, from a changing landscape to freezing ice age blizzards. The group meets a saber-tooth squirrel named Scrat, who had seen a pack of sabers go by and tries to tell Manny before Diego surreptitiously flicks Scrat away.

Further on, Diego spots the humans close by and suggests a shortcut to waylay Manny and Sid to an ambush point; this shortcut takes them through an ice cavern which leads to a cave adorned with paintings, all featuring animals. Among the paintings is the image of a mammoth family, hunted by humans, which Manny views, revealing that the mammoths depicted were Manny’s family and Manny himself: Manny’s wife and child were hunted by humans, leaving Manny alive and embittered at the world for his loss. The baby reaches out to the painting, comforting Manny in that he lets go of his bitterness at having lost his wife and child.

Further on, the group grows closer to Glacier Pass when they reach a lava field, which they must cross. Diego nearly falls into the lava but Manny saves him, falling into the lava pit himself as the ice he is standing on breaks off. Manny is launched out of the lava pit unharmed, launched out with the ice he stood on. Diego, in wonderment at Manny’s actions, asks why Manny risked his life to save him, Manny replying that such sacrifices where what herds did. Meanwhile, Soto and his pack plan for the ambush on Manny, aided by Diego.

That night, while settling down by campfire, Diego begins to see the error of his ways in betraying Manny. After the others fall asleep, Scrat appears on the scene with his acorn, planning to thaw it from the ice, baking it instead by mistake into a hot kernel. The group continued on, reaching Half Peak, where Diego, feeling remorse for betraying Manny’s trust, confesses his plans to Manny, which angers the mammoth. Manny pins Diego to a rock wall, intending to kill him for his misdeeds, but Diego, having had a change of heart, agrees to help Manny escape the pack.

Leading the pack away from Manny, who they intended to ambush, Sid slides off on two pieces of bark with a decoy baby made of snow; the pack, however, catches up with Manny, who knocks them away with a log, trapping Soto’s assistant named Zeke, who Sid stomps into a hollow tree. Soto catches up with them and corners Manny, asking Diego to help bring the mammoth down; Diego defects from Soto and defends Manny at his own expense as Soto brings Diego down, wounding him. Soto then turns to Manny, intending to attack him alone, but the mammoth, in vengeance, knocks Soto into an ice wall, which jars loose a number of hanging icicles, impaling him. Sid and Manny abandon the Sabers. Soto and Zeke’s friends, Oscar and Lenny, mourn their killed leader as a result.

Once upon a time, the Trolls all lived in a tree, and they were the happiest creatures ever. They would sing, dance, and hug all the time. However, they were discovered by the Bergens, who were miserable and could only be happy whenever they ate a Troll. The Bergens gathered once a year for an event called “Trollstice”, where they would eat Trolls and be happy for one day.

Young Prince Gristle (voice of Christopher Mintz-Plasse) wakes up his father, the King (voice of John Cleese), on the day of Trollstice. All the Bergens gather around the Troll tree as Chef (voice of Christine Baranski) gets ready to cook up some Trolls. Since it is Gristle’s first time ever eating a Troll, Chef prepares to hand over the happiest Troll, Princess Poppy (voice of Iris Dohrn). When she picks from the tree, Chef finds that all the Trolls have been replaced with wooden dolls with crazy hair. The Trolls have escaped underground to a new home, while the King banishes Chef from Bergen Town. She angrily vows to find the Trolls and have them eaten, while the King tells his son that nothing will ever make him happy.

20 years later, the Trolls live in the forest, with Poppy (now played by Anna Kendrick) leading them all in a song. Her dad Peppy (voice of Jeffrey Tambor) is king, and her Troll friends include Biggie (voice of James Corden), a big Troll with a worm friend named Mr. Dinkles; Guy Diamond (voice of Kunal Nayyar), who has an autotuned voice and can fart glitter; Cooper (voice of Ron Funches), a giraffe-like Troll; Satin and Chenille (voices of Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt), the fashionistas; DJ Suki (voice of Gwen Stefani); and Creek (voice of Russell Brand), a zen-like Troll. Poppy is throwing a party that day in honor of their arrival to this home. The only Troll that is never happy is Branch (voice of Justin Timberlake), who is grey and constantly pessimistic. He lives in a bunker to protect himself from the Bergens, and he refuses Poppy’s invitation to the party.

The Trolls have their party, but the bursts of glitter and light and the sound of loud music is enough to get the attention of Chef, who now looks ragged and disheveled, having spent the last 2 decades searching for the Trolls. She goes stomping down into the forest and starts grabbing Trolls. She grabs Biggie, Creek, Cooper, Suki, Satin, Chenille, and a tiny troll named Smidge (Walt Dohrn). The other Trolls hide in the forest by blending in.

Poppy goes to Branch’s bunker and asks for his help, but he refuses. Poppy then brings back the rest of the Trolls into the bunker, to Branch’s displeasure, as she sets off to find her friends by herself.

Poppy sings an upbeat song about not letting anything get her down, until she is caught in a spider web. Four spiders approach her, but they are scared off by Branch as he whips his hair at them to hold them back, causing them to walk into the mouth of a bigger creature. Branch decides to join Poppy in her quest, albeit with reluctance.

Poppy and Branch rest for the night. Poppy starts to sing and say goodnight to pictures of all her captured friends, which bugs Branch. Poppy gets out her ukulele and starts singing “The Sounds of Silence”, with other forest creatures joining in. Branch asks Poppy for the ukulele and he just tosses it into the fire.

The two come across a tunnel that’s supposed to lead them to Bergen Town. They meet Cloud Guy (also Walt Dohrn), who offers to show them which path leads to Bergen Town, and which one leads to DEATH. Branch gets annoyed with Cloud Guy when he tries to do a high-five, so he breaks a stick and chases him through the tunnel with Poppy running after them. Poppy and Branch wind up in Bergen Town and see how gloomy all the Bergens are in their everyday lives.

Poppy and Branch find their friends in the castle as they follow the light from the Trolls’ wristbands that signal the hugging hour. Chef brings the captured Trolls to Gristle, who is now king of the Bergens. She wants to bring Trollstice back, and she offers up Creek as the first Troll that Gristle will eat. He is hesitant at first until Chef shoves Creek into Gristle’s mouth, leading the other Trolls to think he’s been eaten. Chef hands over the rest of the Trolls to Bridget (voice of Zooey Deschanel), a scullery maid, to keep them until it is time for Trollstice.

The Trolls find out that Bridget is in love with Gristle, as she sings Lionel Richie’s “Hello” while thinking of him. They speak to Bridget and offer to help her out in return for not letting them get eaten. The Trolls start singing, but Bridget asks why Branch isn’t singing. He refuses to do so until Poppy asks him why he won’t sing. Branch admits that he thinks his singing was what got his grandmother eaten. As a child, he sang beautifully until Chef almost grabbed him, but his grandmother jumped in to save him, leading to her capture. That moment took away his happiness and color. With Poppy’s encouragement, Branch decides to help Bridget.

They give Bridget a makeover and sit on her head to give her a full head of colorful hair under the guise of Lady Glitter Sparkles. She manages to get Gristle’s attention and joins him on a date at a pizza place/skating rink. Bridget is awkward and nervous at first, but with some help from Branch, she starts to gain the confidence to say how she really feels about Gristle, allowing him to fall in love with her. The Trolls then see that Gristle is carrying Creek inside a jewel. Their date is interrupted by Chef, who nearly catches Bridget. She flees and leaves behind a rollerskate, which Gristle keeps.

The Trolls steal Gristle’s jewel and open it to rescue Creek, but when they open it, he’s not inside. Chef recaptures them all and reveals that she is being helped by Creek. He admits that he sold the Trolls out in order to save his own skin. He steals Poppy’s cowbell and leads Chef and some other Bergens to the forest where they take the rest of the Trolls.

Chef stows all the Trolls inside a giant pot. Feeling betrayed and hopeless, Poppy becomes sad and loses her color, and the rest of the Trolls follow suit. After some silence, Branch starts to sing “True Colors”. His voice and newfound optimism inspires his friends, and they, along with Branch himself, regain their color and happiness. Bridget overhears the Trolls and allows them to escape since she is thankful for their help and for showing her how to be happy. She tells Poppy she loves her for helping her and lets them go free. However, Poppy can’t bring herself to abandon Bridget after her sacrifice that is sure to doom her life, and Poppy rallies her friends to attempt a permanent solution to the conflict by showing the Bergens that they can be happy too.

The Bergens are gathered for the feast, but Gristle wants to wait for his date. Chef makes them start without her, but she opens the pot and finds that the Trolls are gone. Thinking Bridget ate them all, Chef orders the guards to seize Bridget, until the Trolls crash in on Bridget’s skate. They land on her head to show Gristle she was his date. Poppy tells Gristle that he managed to be happy without eating a Troll by being with Bridget, leading the other Bergens to realize that they can be happy on their own too. Poppy and Branch start to sing “Can’t Stop The Feeling”, turning the feast into a big dance party. Chef tries to get the Trolls herself, but Bridget throws a wooden spoon at her head, causing her to stumble onto a cart that rolls out of the castle, sending Chef and Creek away from the kingdom.

Poppy is crowned queen of the Trolls as both Trolls and Bergens now live in harmony. She and Branch stand atop a tree and share a hug, along with Cloud Guy.

In a prologue, we see Lord Fergus and Lady Elinor in a forested area, celebrating the birthday of their young daughter, Merida. Though Elinor happily plays with Merida, she grows perturbed when Fergus gives the little girl her own bow and set of arrows.

As Merida tries to hit a target, one of the arrows sails off into the forest nearby. Merida runs off and retrieves it, but soon encounters a glowing blue willo-the-wisp. Going back to her parents, she tells what she saw, and her mother explains that they can lead a person to their destiny.

Suddenly, the mood is broken as an enormous black bear enters the camp grounds. Merida and her mother quickly take leave as Lord Fergus and his men fight against the bear.

Time passes, and we see that Lord Fergus has lost his leg to the bear. In the time that has passed, Lady Elinor has given birth to three mischievous boys (triplets), and Merida is now a teenager. While her mother wants her to be proper, Merida is moreso intent on practicing archery, and journeying off in the forest.

One evening, a messenger brings word that the 3 neighboring clans have accepted the offer to fight for Merida’s hand in marriage. Naturally, the young woman is not at all happy with this situation. Elinor explains to her daughter that the clans must be kept in harmony, or chaos may reign. She relates the story of how the clans were descended from four brothers, but one of them wanted more power than the others, and caused the balance of power to crumble. Even so, this does little to quell Merida’s resentment of the betrothal.

The three clans soon arrive, and Lords MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall arrive with each of their sons. Per tradition, each of the first-born of the clans will fight in the event that the Princess chooses. This causes Merida to perk up, and she eagerly suggests archery.

When it comes to the sport, almost none of the sons are good at the sport, but everyone is shocked when Merida appears before everyone, claiming that since she’s a first-born as well, she’ll be ‘fighting for her own hand.’ Elinor demands Merida stop, but she defies her mother, and makes a bulls-eye on each of the targets.

Naturally, Elinor feels angry and humiliated at this, and both mother and daughter have a heated conversation in her room later on. Merida claims she does not want to be like her mother, and in anger, slashes a tapestry depicting the family, slicing a hole between her and her mother in the piece.

Upset by this as well, Elinor loses her temper, and throws Merida’s bow in a fireplace nearby. Upset by this, Merida flees the castle. Unseen by Merida, her mother regrets what she has done a few moments later, and manages to retrieve the bow from the fire.

Merida flees to the forest, where she comes across a circle of stones, and several willo-the-wisps. Following them, she finds a small cottage inhabited by an old woman. The old woman claims she is just a wood carver, but Merida soon realizes she’s actually a witch, when she notices an enchanted broom, and the woman’s crow (which can talk!).

Merida eagerly asks for a spell to change her mother, but the witch refuses, claiming she did a spell once before, and regretted it. However, Merida gets her to reconsider when she agrees to purchase all her wood carvings. The offer is too much to resist, and the witch brews a concoction that produces a small pie. Merida is instructed to give it to her mother, and she eagerly ruses off to do so.

Returning to the castle, King Fergus is doing his best to quell the Lords after the events of the tournament. Merida encounters her mother in the kitchen, and eagerly gives her the pie, but after one bite, Elinor claims she does not feel well.

Merida happily leads her to her chambers, but soon her happiness that her mother will change turns to shock…when her mother turns into a black bear!

Knowing that King Fergus will surely kill Elinor, Merida enlists the aid of her brothers to distract Fergus and the Lords, while she sneaks her mother out of the castle, and back into the forest.

The two manage to find the witch’s hovel, but find it is now empty. A message left for Merida tells that the Witch has gone away until the next Spring, and that the spell will become permanent within 2 sunrises. However, if Merida wants to reverse the effects, she has heed some specific words, in regards to ‘mending.’ Merida is unsure just what this means, and the two sleep in the woods that evening, before having breakfast in the morning.

Merida manages to catch some fish for her mother, but when her mother demands more, Merida tells her mother she will need to catch them herself. The mother and daughter bond over this method, but when her mother wanders off into the woods, Merida chases after her. However, upon finding her, her mother suddenly attempts to attack Merida, before returning to normal. With less than 24 hours, it seems that if they do not find a way to reverse the spell, Elinor will lose her humanity, and become a bear forever!

As they wander in the woods, the two come across the willo-the-wisps again, and follow them. They are lead to a high mountain, and the ruins of a great castle. Inside, Merida finds a stone tablet depicting 4 men, with one of them separated from the group. Soon, Merida realizes that she is in the castle in the legend her mother told her about, and soon makes the connection:

The brother who attempted to seize power from his siblings went to the witch, and her spell turned him into a bear…powerful and stronger than his brothers, but he was unable to change back, and became a rampaging beast, the same one who took Lord Fergus’ leg!

Nine years ago, between the events of the second and third films, R.C. is being swept down a storm drain after Andy forgets to bring him inside before the storm. Woody and the other toys mount a successful rescue operation, but while they are busy, a friend of Andy’s mother arrives and buys Bo Peep and her lamp; despite Woody’s efforts to prevent the sale, Bo reassures him that it is part of being a toy to be taken away.

Two years after Andy donated his toys to Bonnie, Woody and the other toys are content in their new life. Worried that Bonnie will feel overwhelmed at her kindergarten orientation, Woody - who Bonnie has been neglecting - sneaks into her backpack, and his fears come to light. But after a male classmate bullies Bonnie, Woody covertly places a spork and other items from a trash can on Bonnie’s table during arts and crafts, and she turns them into a handmade toy-spork she names “Forky”. After Bonnie places Forky in her backpack, he comes to life, which scares Woody.

Woody introduces him to the rest of Bonnie’s toys, Forky experiences an existential crisis, believing he was made to be trash and not a toy, and the other toys prevent him from throwing himself away. On a road trip with Bonnie’s family and her toys, Forky - still believing himself to be trash - jumps out of the window, prompting Woody to go after him. Woody convinces Forky of the joys of being a toy, and they journey to the RV park in a nearby town where Bonnie and her parents will be staying.

Reaching the town, Woody spots Bo’s lamp at an antique store. Searching for Bo inside, he and Forky encounter a doll named Gabby Gabby and her sycophant ventriloquist puppets, the Bensons. Gabby Gabby offers to take them to Bo, but soon reveals her true colors and plan: To obtain Woody’s voice box since her own is broken and no child will purchase her. Woody and Forky try to escape, but Forky is captured by the Bensons. By the time Woody escapes the shop, he realizes that he has left Forky behind. Woody reunites with Bo, who has become a nomad adventurer helping lost toys find owners. With Bo’s companion, a diminutive toy cop named Giggle McDimples, they take a route through a nearby carnival to rescue Forky from the antique store.

Meanwhile, Buzz searches for Woody on his own, seeking guidance in the button-induced phrases from his own voice box. Buzz finds himself as a prize in a carnival booth and escapes with plush toys Ducky and Bunny. Buzz finds Woody and Bo, and they recruit Ducky and Bunny to help rescue Forky, promising they will become Bonnie’s toys, along with Bo’s old friend from the antique store, Duke Caboom, a Canadian stuntman toy. At the antique store, the toys’ plan to rescue Forky fails. Woody, the only toy still determined to save Forky, has a falling out with the other toys and indirectly insults Bo. As Bo, Duke, Giggle, Ducky, and Bunny return to the carnival, Woody gives up his voice box to Gabby Gabby in exchange for Forky. Gabby Gabby is desperate to be adopted by Margaret (the store owner)’s granddaughter, Harmony, but Harmony is not interested in Gabby Gabby and rejects her, leaving her disappointed, and offers Woody his voice box back, but Woody insists she keeps it. Buzz returns to Bonnie’s RV and cries out to retrieve Bonnie’s backpack, which she left at the antique store. Woody comforts Gabby Gabby and Bo, and her gang return after a change of heart.

After Bonnie returns for her backpack, the toys follow her and her parents. Buzz and Forky make it back to Bonnie through Duke’s motorcycle skills, who is delighted to have Forky back. Taking Woody’s advice, Gabby Gabby sees a lost little girl crying, giving her comfort, and is finally found by her parents. Ducky, Bunny, Giggle, and Duke Caboom say goodbye to Woody and leave.

As Woody and Bo say goodbye, Woody becomes hesitant to return with Bonnie. With some encouragement from Buzz, Woody decides to stay with Bo and help lost toys find owners. Buzz and the gang give Woody a goodbye hug, and the two groups go their separate ways. The RV’s engine starts, and the toys head into Bonnie’s RV while her parents start the engine and head home. Rex asks if Woody will be a lost toy, and Buzz says that he will never be one. Buzz and Woody share one last message to each other from afar, “To infinity…and beyond.” Woody and Bo Peep spend their night living together by looking at the nice carnival view and the night sky.

After Woody and Bo travel with the carnival in the mid-credits scenes, one year has passed, and Bonnie entered first grade. At a newly built pier, Ducky and Bunny do one more version of their “plush rush” and spread laser eyes and superpowers, which Duke Caboom asks if they really can. At Bonnie’s room, mirroring the scene where Woody introduces Forky, Jessie brings home a new friend Bonnie created: Karen Beverly, a decorated plastic knife. Instantly smitten, Forky offers to shepherd her in her journey through life as a toy instead of trash. When her first question is “How am I alive?” he is stumped, and all he could say was “I don’t know”.

In 1957, a large alien robot crashes from orbit near the coast of Rockwell, Maine with no memory. Shortly after, the Iron Giant wanders off into the mainland. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes follows a trail of the forest’s destruction and frees the robot, who is stuck in the power cables of an electrical substation. After being rescued by and befriended by Hogarth, the Giant follows him back to his house, where he lives with his widowed mother Annie. Upon their return, the Giant attempts to eat the rails off the ties of the nearby railroad tracks. Alarmed by the sound of an oncoming train, Hogarth tells the giant to repair the tracks. The Giant attempts this, but takes too long, causing the train to collide with his head. Hogarth hides the damaged robot in their barn where he discovers the robot is self repairing.

Later that night, Hogarth returns to the barn with a stack of comic books to read to the Giant. The Giant is impressed with Superman, but distressed when he discovers a comic about an evil robot; Hogarth tells the Giant that he can be “who you choose to be”. Investigating the destroyed substation, U.S. government agent Kent Mansley discovers evidence of the Giant and decides to continue his inquiries in nearby Rockwell. Finding a BB gun Hogarth left near the substation the night he found the Giant, Mansley takes up a room for rent at Hogarth’s home and trails the boy to learn more. He is paranoid about an alien invasion and alerts the U.S. Army to the possible presence of the Giant. Worried that they will get caught, Hogarth evades Mansley and takes the Giant to beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, who passes off the robot as one of his works of scrap-metal art when Mansley and Lieutenant General Guy Rogard investigate. Once Mansley and Rogard are gone, Hogarth plays with the Giant using a toy gun, but inadvertently causes the Giant to activate a defence mechanism. Dean saves Hogarth and angrily commands the Giant to leave, but Hogarth, believing the Giant never meant to harm him, gives chase. Dean sees the toy gun and realizes that the Giant was reacting defensively against the gun. He catches up with Hogarth on his motorbike and they chase after the Giant before he can reach the town.

The movie begins with a narration (Julie Andrews) about the animated fairytale land of Andalasia. The Evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) wants to keep her throne as long as she can so has tried to keep her step-son, Prince Edward (James Marsden) away from the fair maidens so he will not get married and she will not lose her throne. The scene shifts to a traditionally animated world, where Giselle (Amy Adams) is making a statue of the true love she has dreamed of. Her animal friends, including her best friend chipmunk Pip, help her make the statue and find the perfect pair of lips, as lips and true love’s kiss is the most important thing in the world.

At the same time, we see Prince Edward (James Marsden) hunting ogres with servant Nathaniel and he hears Giselle’s song. He starts towards Giselle’s home, but Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), in fear that the Queen will be furious if Edward falls for Giselle, lets an ogre after Giselle. Giselle is chased out of her home into the trees, but is saved by Pip, who uses his surprisingly heavy weight to offset the balance of the ogre. Giselle tumbles from the trees right into Edward’s lap. The two are smitten with each other and decide to wed the following day. Little do they know Narissa has been watching from her evil lair, and plans to stop the wedding for good.

Giselle arrives at the castle the next day and is met by Nathaniel who locks her animal friends out of the wedding. She is stopped by an old hag, who is actually a disguised Narissa, who tricks into going to a wishing well. When Giselle closes her eyes, Narissa pushes her into the well, and tells Nathaniel she’s sent Giselle to “a place where there are no happily ever afters.” Giselle falls for a long time, until she hits a manhole cover, at which point the movie suddenly changes to live action.

Giselle pushes open the manhole cover she has ended up under, climbs out, and finds herself in the middle of Times Square. Giselle tries to find the nearest castle in order to get home. After a series of misfortunes - first causing a minor traffic accident, getting caught up in a crowd heading into the subway, causing her to eventually end up at Bowery on the Lower East Side, and finally getting mugged of her tiara by a homeless man - she manages to find the castle she thinks she’s looking for; specifically, a casino billboard.

At this point, we shift to Robert Phillip (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce lawyer dealing in a divorce settlement meeting. The couple in question is fighting over a Hank Aaron baseball card when his secretary (Jodi Benson) interrupts to tell him it is time to pick up his daughter, Morgan. She asks Robert if he has told Morgan about his plans to marry his girlfriend Nancy Tremaine (Idina Menzel), to which he says no. During the taxi ride home, Robert gives Morgan a present; not the fairy tale book she wanted, but instead a book on inspirational women including Madame Curie and Rosa Parks. He uses the book to explain his plan to marry Nancy, to which Morgan is a little uncertain of. By coincidence, the taxi happens to stop by the corner where the billboard Giselle is knocking on is located. Robert follows her and ends up catching Giselle when she falls off the sign. Morgan instantly believes she is a princess and wants to help her while Robert thinks she is absolutely crazy. They end up bringing her to their apartment where Giselle ends up falling asleep on the couch while Robert calls her a car. He lets her stay overnight when he sees she is sleeping, but tells Morgan to sleep in his room for the night.

Giselle wakes up the next morning and sees the unkept appearance of the apartment. She goes to the window and uses her call to summon all of the vermin in the area (all the roaches, flies, rats, and pigeons) to help her clean the house (momentarily causing commotion as rats scurry out of a sewer). A one-legged pigeon drops a plate while cleaning, which wakes up Morgan and Robert. The two attempt to get rid of the animals and Robert talks to Giselle as she is about to get into the shower. At the same time, Nancy arrives to bring Morgan to school and gets the wrong idea when she sees Giselle in a towel with Robert and leaves. Robert follows her, but by the time he gets to the street, she’s already climbed into a taxi.

Back in the animated Andalasia, Pip tells Edward what has happened to Giselle. Edward and Pip dive down the well to New York, having an incident when Edward holds a sewer worker named Artie at swordpoint before running off into traffic, and Pip realizing he can now only communicate with chipmunk squeaks. Queen Narissa is upset about this and flirts with Nathaniel in order to convince him that he must go as well to stop Edward from finding Giselle. Nathaniel then goes to Times Square as well.

Robert comes back to see that Giselle has cut up his curtains to make a new dress. He gets angry with her, an emotion she has never seen, and the two take Morgan to school. Robert brings Giselle to work and leaves her with the secretary while he meets with the same divorcing couple as the day before. Narissa sees Robert trying to help Giselle through the fish tank in the office (she pops up all over the place, wherever water is available) and is clearly not happy.

Nathaniel arrives in New York, where he immediately spots Edward - riding on the roof of an MTA bus under the delusion that it is a great steel beast. He stabs his sword through the roof of the bus, ripping open an old lady’s bag. After being told off by the short-tempered bus driver (who goes nuts when Pip lands on her head, leading her to think he’s a rat), Edward leaves with Pip. They go to lunch at a food court, where Nathaniel disguises himself as a chef to go into a kitchen to communicate with Narissa through a boiling pot of soup. Narissa produces three poisoned apples, and tells Nathaniel to make sure Giselle takes a bite of one to kill her. Pip hears this and tries to explain through charades to Edward (involving ice cubes for the apples) the evil plan, as he cannot speak in the real world. Unfortunately, Edward is a little bit dense and does not understand. Nathaniel tells Edward they should split up to look for Giselle and they go their separate ways.

At the close of his meeting, Robert comes to see Giselle and the secretary tells Robert about how crazy Giselle is. Meanwhile, Giselle begins talking to the divorcing couple and cries about the fate of their marriage when she finds out they are separating.

Robert sees she is ruining his case and brings her to Central Park where he plans to leave her. He gives her money and says goodbye, but she gives the money away and he catches up to her and walks with her. He asks about her prince and she explains they have only known each other for a day, which surprises him because he has known Nancy for five years. He explains the concept of dating to her, which she has never heard of before this. At that point, they run into Nathaniel, disguised as an apple cart vendor, and sells Giselle the first of his poisoned apples in the form of a caramel apple on a stick. This one fails to work because Giselle accidentally throws it when passionately talking about love, and it lodges in a passing bicyclist’s helmet - burning through his helmet and hair, leaving a bald spot on his scalp. Giselle, meanwhile, explains how she knows that she is in love and that true love’s kiss is the most powerful thing in the world and she wouldn’t want to wait any longer for that. This culminates in a blown up dance number that involves basically every performer in Central Park (“That’s How You Know”). Edward hears her singing again and tries to chase her down, but gets run over by the bicyclists, including the one who got the poisoned apple in his hair.

Giselle helps Robert make up with Nancy by sending her flowers and getting him to invite her to a ball, which is far more romantic or spontaneous than he usually is. He explains to her that he only wants to help Giselle and a happy Nancy forgives him. We see Edward and Nathaniel have checked into a motel in Brooklyn to rest. While Edward flips through channels on the TV (which he thinks is a magic mirror), Nathaniel traps Pip in the closet and goes after Giselle.

We catch up with Giselle and Robert at a pizza place where she asks if they are on a date. He says that people dont bring their children on dates and we then see Morgan is there as well. He talks to Giselle about his wife, who left him and Morgan for no real reason, which makes him very emotional. Giselle explains to him that his dreams still can come true and then Nathaniel appears, disguised as a waiter, to deliver Giselle the second poisoned apple, this time ground up into a martini. Robert jokes that those are poisonous and Pip shows up trying to stop Giselle from drinking the martini. People in the restaurant panic when they see Pip on the table, but he manages to communicate to Giselle that Edward is in New York. Nathaniel spots him, and a chase between the two ensues. Pip tries to hide under a pizza, but Nathaniel takes the pizza and flings it into the oven. Pip is swung free at the last second and goes flying into a nearby glass jar, but Giselle thinks he is killed in the oven and is heartbroken.

Back at the hotel room, Edward sees Giselle being interviewed about the rodent attack on TV and leaves the hotel room to find her. Upon finding the correct building he knocks on every single door in the building, finding a bunch of interesting people at each door.

We see Giselle then telling Morgan a bedtime story while Robert watches and smiles. She leaves the room and Robert begins trying to tell her that perhaps Edward will not come for her after all, which she gets angry about, saying that all he ever says is no. The two share a special moment as she is excited about feeling angry, and Robert leaves, though both of them clearly feel a connection to one another.

We cut to Nathaniel in the pizza place at the bar where he is talking to Narissa, who is in his drink, and she is very disappointed in him. She tells him that she is now coming to New York to get Giselle herself, and in anger breaks all the glass at the bar including the one Pip is stuck in.

The next morning Robert awakes to see that Giselle has made herself another dress and smiles at this. The three sit down to breakfast when Prince Edward knocks on the door. He and Giselle are reunited, though it is not the same between them, not that Prince Edward would notice. She tells him that she wants to go on a date with him before they leave for Andalasia and he agrees. She leaves Robert and Morgan, who are very sad to see her go.

At work Robert meets with the divorce clients who were touched by Giselle and have decided to stay together. Meanwhile, Giselle and Edward are on their date, but Giselle seems reluctant to leave New York. Edward offers to take her to a ball being held that evening, but only if they can return to Andalasia after. Giselle goes back to Morgan and tells her that she is going to the ball, to which Morgan takes Roberts emergency credit card and the two go shopping. They stop for a haircut and pedicure, where the two bond over not having mothers, but enjoying their shopping time together.

Night falls and Narissa arrives and heads towards the ball. Nancy and Robert have already arrived as Giselle and Edward make their entrance. Robert and Giselle see each other and the couples meet and greet. Edward introduces Giselle as the love of his life, to which an impressed Nancy says is so bold and romantic. A dance is announced where you dance with someone other than your date. Edward asks Nancy to dance, leaving Robert and Giselle together. The two engage in a very passionate and romantic dance that reaffirms their feelings for one another.

At the end of this dance, Edward and Giselle plan to leave and he goes to get her wrap. Narissa, in her old hag disguise, shows up as Giselle is sadly watching Nancy and Robert and offers her an apple that will make her forget all the bad memories. Terrified, but wanting to forget the pain she feels, she bites the apple and promptly collapses, unconscious. Narissa drags her into an elevator that she creates and turns back into Narissa just as Edward stops the elevator door from closing. Narissa feigns ignorance when Nathaniel, whose opinion of Narissa has changed ever since he watched a soap opera a few days earlier, shows up and explains her evil plan. Narissa explains Giselle will die at midnight and Robert remembers what Giselle said about true love’s kiss being powerful and tells Edward to kiss her.

He attempts kissing her several times, but it does not wake her. Robert then knows that he is the true love and doesn’t know if he should kiss her. Nancy realizes that he truly loves Giselle and allows him to kiss her. He kisses Giselle just as the clock strikes midnight, but it works and Giselle is revived. They embrace as the dancers applaud. Furious at how the tables have turned, Narissa refuses to give up the throne, and explodes into a fiery purple dragon. She threatens to end Giselle first, but when Robert stands in her way, she picks him up instead and carries him out the window and up the building. Giselle runs after them, leaving her shoe behind.

Narissa climbs to the highest point of the building with Robert in hand. Giselle arrives and distracts Narissa with Edward’s sword, but it does little damage. Pip, who had been stuck in a gerbil ball, is released by Edward and once again uses his weight to throw Narissa off balance. She drops Robert and tumbles off the bulding to her death, exploding into sparkles. Robert manages to hold on to the building, but slips and drops into Giselle’s arms. Once out of danger, the two reaffirm their love for each other and kiss.

After the fact, Nancy is in the ballroom and sees Giselle’s missing shoe. Edward comes and asks if she could try it on for him. In a homage to Cinderella, Nancy puts the shoe on and it fits perfectly. Edward and Nancy leave New York together and head home to Andalasia.

Every character has their own happy ending. Nancy and Edward get married, Nathaniel writes a best-seller about his personal struggles (as does Pip back in Andalasia), and Giselle begins a clothing line. Robert, Giselle, and Morgan now live happily together as a perfect family.

In New Orleans, a young girl named Tiana ( Elizabeth M. Dampier) and her mother are visiting the La Bouff family, where Tiana’s mother Eudora (Oprah Winfrey) is crafting a dress for the family’s daughter, Charlotte (Breanna Brooks). Charlotte is a lover of fairy tales, and Eudora reads the two the story of “The Frog Prince.” While Charlotte is enamoured with kissing a frog that becomes a prince, Tiana finds the thought disgusting.

Upon returning home, Tiana helps her father, James (Terrence Howard) prepare gumbo. As the meal is finished, her father tells of his dream to one day open his own restaurant. When Tiana eagerly chimes in that she wants to help, her father claims they’ll call it Tiana’s Place. Upon seeing the Evening Star outside her window, Tiana makes a wish, to which her father explains that wishing can only go so far, and that she has to help that wish along.

As time passes, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) holds onto the dream, even after her father has passed away. Working two different jobs, Tiana spends almost all of her time working and saving for a place, with little time for friends or fun. One morning, she runs into Charlotte (Jennifer Cody) and her father ‘Big Daddy’ La Bouff (John Goodman), who has been named King of the Mardi Gras for the fifth year in a row. Charlotte is incredibly excited that a visiting prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) is in New Orleans. As Naveen is single, Charlotte hopes to fulfill her wish of marrying a prince and living happily ever after, and has invited him to attend a social function at the family mansion.

Knowing of Tiana’s cooking skills, Charlotte pays her friend a large sum of money to cater the event. Tiana is pleased, as the money is just enough to allow her to purchase the place to start her restaurant. Tiana contacts the building’s owners and shows the place to her mother. While Eudora is pleased, she is worried that Tiana seems to have no time for herself, with her one-mindedness regarding the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Prince Naveen is entertaining a crowd; playing the ukelele with a band, and dancing. His assistant Lawrence (Peter Bartlett) angrily comes up to him, complaining that the two would be late for the La Bouff’s masquerade. Naveen brushes the issue off, and offers to buy everyone in the crowd a drink, but Lawrence reveals that the prince is broke. His only options of fixing his financial state are to marry a wealthy young lady, or get a job. Relucantly, Naveen agrees, but a spectactle soon ensues, resulting in the two landing dizzily on the footpath. A tall man, introducing himself as Dr. Facilier (Keith David) greets them, and hands Naveen a business card reading ‘Tarot Readings, Charms, Potions, Dreams Made Real’, before pretending to read the prince’s palm and recognising him as a royal. Naveen eagerly informs Lawrence of Facilier’s feat, but the assistant grabs a newspaper with the prince’s face printed on it, from the witch doctor’s back pocket and calls him a charlatan. Facilier has a brief flash of anger, before he regains his composure and invites the others into his shop. Naveen and Lawrence each take three of his tarot cards. Facilier looks at Naveen’s cards, and deduces that he is from across the sea, and despite being royalty has little money, due to his parents cutting off his funds. He says the prince needs to marry a rich young woman, but this would conflict with his urges to be free. Lastly, the Shadow Man states that although freedom takes money, he sees the prince being wealthy in his future. He then moves onto Lawrence, and after inspecting the assistant’s cards, concludes that although he has been pushed around by others all his life, he will be the man he always wanted to be; namely, Lawrence being wealthy, powerful and the boss of Naveen. Facilier offers both men his hand, and while Naveen uncertainly shakes it, Lawrence does so with fervour. Quickly, the witch doctor gets down to work, pricking the prince’s finger and filling up a small head-shaped talisman with his blood. Transformations begin to change both Naveen and Lawrence, but the scene darkens before anything noticeable occurs.

At the La Bouff mansion, Tiana shows up to cater the event, and soon, Prince Naveen arrives. Charlotte eagerly goes to him for a dance. As Tiana watches her friend, she discovers the realtors of the property have also attended the function, as they approach her and the food. Tiana eagerly tells of her wish to sign the papers to the building as .soon as possible, but the two men explain that someone else has offered a larger sum, and are planning to deny her the property, unless she can come up with more money. Upset and heartbroken, Tiana accidentally makes a mess of her outfit. Charlotte, seeing her friend in need, allows her to change out of the outfit, into a blue gown with tiara. While in Charlotte’s room, she sees the star shining in the sky, and wishes for help regarding her restaurant. As she looks down, she finds a frog sitting near her, and sarcastically asks it if it wants a kiss. To her surprise, the frog replies, and Tiana screams and races back inside. After unsuccessfully dodging the stuffed animals thrown at him and being smacked with a book, the frog is finally able to tell Tia, that he is Prince Naveen of Maldonia. She then asks him, that if he is Prince Naveen, who is the person dancing with Charlotte downstairs, to which he replies that he has no idea. Suddenly, he spots the name of the book Tiana is holding; The Frog Prince. He, under the impression that Tia is a princess, tells her that like what happens in the book, if she kisses him, he will turn back into a prince. She abruptly refuses, but when Naveen mentions that his wealthy family might be able to reward her in some way, Tiana thinks about her restaurant, and determindedly plants a kiss on the frog.

To the horror of both parties, not only is Naveen still a frog, but Tia has changed into one two. Shocked and angry, she launches herself at the prince and tackles him, until they both go flying out the window onto a drum set, before falling into the neck of Charlotte’s dress. ‘Big Daddy’ La Bouff yells for Stella the dog to catch the frogs, who run across a dinner table before escaping via a bunch of balloons.

As the masquerade comes to an abrupt end, the Prince Naveen imposter hurries into a nearby cottage and opens up a cabinet to find an empty jar. Dr. Facilier appears from behind him and accuses him of letting the real prince/frog go. The imposter is revealed to be Lawrence, who can only keep the prince’s form if he is wearing the blood-filled talisman around his neck. Lawrence, having second thoughts about the deceit, throws the talisman to Facilier, telling him to wear it instead. The Shadow Man angrily shouts for him to be careful with the object, and then replies that even if he wanted to be the fake prince, the voodoo magic wouldn’t work on him. They also discuss their plan; Lawrence is going to marry Charlotte, then Facilier would dispose of Big Daddy, and their fortune would be shared.

Still clutching onto the balloon strings, Tiana discovers that the reason why Naveen was changed into a frog was because he was messing with voodoo, and stubbornly states that the only way to get things in life is through hard work. Taken aback, Naveen questions why a princess would ever have to work, and Tia replies that she’s a waitress not a princess. Outraged, the prince exclaims that that was why the kiss didn’t work, and the two engage in a heated argument before the balloons suddenly pop and they are sent falling into a lake. They narrowly escape a large fish and then an aggressive crane, followed by a group of hungry alligators from which they hide in an old tree and spend the night.

In the morning, Tiana makes a small raft so that the two can make their way back to New Orleans and become humans again. To her annoyance, Naveen doesn’t help with the paddling, and instead sits and plays a twig-guitar. Tia turns around to give him a piece of her mind, but sees a huge alligator that looks as if it’s about to eat up Naveen. To both of the frog’s surprise however, the alligator pulls out a trumpet and launches into a jam session with the prince, and introduces himself as Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley). Naveen explains that he and Tiana are both humans, turned into frogs by voodoo magic, to which Louis replies that a woman named Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) is the voodoo queen of the bayou, and she can perform similar feats. As the journey to her lair is so dangerous however, he flatly refuses when the two ask if he can take them there. Disappointed, Tiana is about to return to her paddling, when Naveen hops off the raft and suavely persuades Louis to guide them to Mama Odie’s. He says that the witch could probably turn the toothy alligator into a human as well, so that he could fulfill his dream of playing with the jazz musicians of the city. This is too much for Louis, who swiftly agrees to take them there.

Back at the La Bouffe’s, Charlotte and Lawrence, posing as Prince Naveen have tea together. Suddenly, one of Lawrence’s ears appears to swell up, although it has really just returned to it’s normal size. Worriedly, he checks the talisman and sees that half of the blood has been used up. He nervously blames his ear on mosquitoes, but just as quickly, his backside enlarges. Lawrence manipulates and maneuvres Charlotte so she can’t see his transformation back into his plump self, just as his chin and stomach swell up. To distract her, he hurriedly proposes to her, and Charlotte accepts before happily waltzing away. Dr. Facilier appears from nowhere and watches as all the blood is drained and Lawrence returns entirely to his former body. As the assistant had let Naveen free so that his blood was currently unavailable, the Shadow Man is forced to ask for help from his ‘friends on the other side’.

Meanwhile in the bayou, Tiana tells Louis about her big plans for the restaurant. Quickly the trio realises their hunger, and the frogs try fruitlessly to catch flies for food. But their inexperience falis their attempt, as Naveen and Tiana’s tongues get tied in a knot. Louis tries to help but just makes the knot incredibly more complicated, before hurrying off to get a sharp stick. A firefly zooms down to observe the struggling couple, and chuckles at their discomfort. Soon enough however, he undoes the knot and introduces himself as Ray (Jim Cummings). The two explain their predicament to him, but the firefly says that they’re heading in the wrong way if they want to meet Mama Odie. Right on cue, Louis runs in waving a sharp stick in the air but Ray whispers to Tiana to never take directions from an alligator, as they’ll always get you lost. He then whistles, and immediately thousands of fireflies light up to show the group the way.

Dr. Facilier, back in his shop is asking large totem heads on the wall for assistance in retrieving Naveen, but they frown menacingly at his plea. As if expecting their negative answer however, Facilier assures them that as soon as he kills ‘Big Daddy’ La Bouff, the ‘friends’ can have all the souls of New Orleans for themselves. To this, the heads agree, and a multitude of shadows enter the room. Facilier orders them to find Naveen, and bring him back alive… for now.

Back at the bayou, Ray is farewelling his relatives as he prepares to go with Tiana, Naveen and Louis the rest of the way. He reveals to Tiana that he is in love with Evangeline, but Naveen advises the firefly to not settle down so quickly. Louis is pricked by a bush and melodramatically wails in pain until Ray calms him down to pull out the thistles. As the group is preoccupied, a trio of hunters lies in wait, planning to catch and eat Tia and Naveen. Unaware of the danger they’re in, the two frogs walk away from the others, Tiana in front, chopping away at leaves in her path, and Naveen behind. After being told by Naveen that she doesn’t know how to have fun, Tia angrily retorts that he’s a lazy good-for-nothing. While they exchange heated words, Naveen is captured in a net by Reggie (Ritchie Montgomery), and Tia by Two Fingers (Paul Briggs). She escapes, just as Louis and Ray spots Reggie in a boat with guns, gloating over the prince. In his terror, Louis accidentally falls back in the thorn bushes, but the firefly flies up the old hunter’s nose to distract him and set Naveen free. Running away from Darnell (Don Hall), Tia inadvertently lands herself in a trap box and is promptly sat upon by Reggie to prevent her escape. The prince bobs out of the water, gleeful with his freedom but sees Tiana trapped, and follows the boat. He sits on Reggie’s head, causing Darnell to dimwittedly whack his father to try and hit the agile frog. Soon chaos ensues, and Tia is able to get out of her cage.

Naveen and Tiana return to Louis and Ray after their ordeal, while the firefly impatiently yanks the thistles out of the pained alligator. To make him feel better, Tia makes swamp gumbo but insists Naveen help by mincing the mushrooms while she gathers peppers. She returns to find him struggling with the task, and smiling, helps him. The prince admits that since his charmed life in the castle, he doesn’t know how to do anything. One of the shadows under Facilier’s orders, meanwhile, finds flowers as evidence of the frogs and lets out a piercing call. Soon the other shadows follow him and they make their way towards the prince.

After eating the swamp gumbo, Naveen compliments Tiana’s cooking, saying she has a gift to which she thanks him. Ray changes the subject though, pointing to the sky and telling the others that the Evening Star is Evangeline. He sings about his love for her, but when Louis moves to interrupt and tell him that his love is actually a star, Naveen throws a nutshell at him and gestures for him to be quiet. The prince asks Tia to dance with him, but she dejectedly hops to another lilypad and sadly tells him that she doesn’t dance. Naveen tugs her back near him however, and quietly tells her that if he can mince, she can dance. They begin dancing on a lilypad to Louis’s trumpet, while Ray creates mood lighting. The pair are about to kiss, until Tia pushes him away and remarks that Charlotte was getting herself a superb dance partner. Suddenly, the shadows grab and drag Naveen away, but although the others run after him, it doesn’t look like they’re fast enough. Bursts of light from nowhere, hit the shadows and destroy them, rendering Naveen free, and as the group looks for their saviour, they meet Mama Odie.

She brings them back to her tree house and introduces them to her pet python Juju, who she uses as a walking stick. Tiana and Naveen try to get her attention to turn them back into humans, but she interrupts each of their attempts, by offering them candy, falling asleep and going to her gumbo pot. Eventually she answers their questions by trying to teach them the difference of wants and needs. Tiana doesn’t understand however, so wearily Mama Odie shows them through the gumbo pot, how to turn human again; Naveen will have to kiss Charlotte before midnight, while she’s princess of the Mardi Gras parade.

The group decide to make their way to New Orleans by following Louis’ suggestion, and they sneakily climb aboard the river boat. A group of musicians soon make their way past however, and while Naveen, Ray and Tiana can hide, Louis is too big, and is noticed by them. Luckily for both parties however, the alligator is thought to be a human inside an alligator costume, and excitedly plays the trumpet and follows them. Ray and Tiana go to watch Louis play with ‘the big boys’, but Naveen mysteriously decides to stay back and says he’ll catch up with the others later. He then fashions a ring out of rope and a beaded bracelet, before asking Evangeline why he can’t just tell Tiana he loves her. Ray flies in in the wrong moment, and thinking Naveen is making a move on Evangeline begins to pummel him. Naveen quickly sets the record straight, but tells Ray to not tell Tiana about his love for her. Soon after, the prince leads Tia to a private dinner, where she is taken aback but delighted. He treats her to a minced dinner, but due to nerves, begins making mistakes, telling Tia he has dated thousands of women, then calling her one of the guys before tripping and upturning the food. She takes it in her stride though, giggling and saying she thinks it’s cute. Naveen is about to propose to her, but Tiana interrupts, pointing out her future restaurant and gushing about her plans for it. When she mentions, however, that she needs the money by the next day, or she’ll lose the restaurant forever, the prince realises he cannot marry her and disappointedly heads off. While Tiana talks to Evangeline, telling her about her uncertainty for the future, Naveen is being dragged off once again, by the shadows.

Charlotte is seen knocking on a door, calling for Prince Naveen to hurry up for the Mardi Gras wedding, while Lawrence worriedly procrastinates, saying he’ll be ready shortly, but itching for Naveen’s blood so he can take his form again. The shadows suddenly appear, and toss the prince into Facilier’s hat, where they take more of his blood and drip it into the talisman. Back on the river boat, which has docked, everyone’s getting off to play at the Mardi Gras, but Tiana asks Ray where Naveen is. Ray lets slip that Naveen loves her, and that he plans to marry her after kissing Charlotte and getting them both turned back into humans. Giddy with joy, Tiana hops around the Mardi Gras, looking for the float where Naveen would be kissing Charlotte, but instead sees the Prince imposter about to marry her. Mistaking Lawrence for the actual prince, Tia is devastated and tunes out Ray as he wonders how it can be true, when Mama Odie specifically said both frogs would be turned human once again.

Tia hops off sadly, and Ray flies through the city looking for her. Once he does, he tries to comfort her but Tiana angrily bursts out that Evangeline isn’t real, and is just a star. Ray tearily tells Evangeline to not listen to Tia, and that she’s only speaking out of a broken heart, before flying off to put things right. As Lawrence prepares to wed Charlotte, Facilier chuckles, preparing to kill Big Daddy through the use of a voodoo doll. Ray finds Naveen locked inside a small chest right next to Lawrence, and quickly sets him free. Naveen launches himself at the former assistant, and the two go tumbling off the float. Lawrence runs off to dispose of the frog, but the prince takes the talisman off his neck and throws it to Ray who flies away with it. The shadows and Facilier run after the firefly, and to help him, Louis stops playing and growls, alerting the other musicians that he’s an actual alligator. As the crowd screams and parts, Louis runs off to help his friend.

Ray meanwhile, zooms towards Tiana, and quickly explains the nature of the talisman, claiming it proves that what they saw wasn’t the truth. Tiana hops off with the object, while Ray stays behind to destroy as many shadows as possible. With his light, he kills a few of them, but Facilier soon arrives and knocks the firefly to the ground, before disgustedly stepping on him. A few seconds later, Louis comes running, calling for Ray, but finds the firefly lying on the ground and makes off for Tiana.

The shadows and Facilier continue chasing Tiana, but when she threatens to break the talisman into a million pieces, the Shadow Man casts an enchantment on her, causing her to look human again, and changes the setting, to her dream restaurant. She thinks she sees Naveen playing the ukulele in the corner of the room, but when the man turns around, she sees it isn’t and is disappointed. Facilier meanwhile, tries to convince Tia to hand over the artifact, promising the restaurant and becoming a human again. When she refuses to, he brings up memories of her sacrifices and people doubting her abilities, and finally her father working hard but failing to get enough money for a restaurant. Facilier tells Tiana that she could get everything that her father ever wanted, but she determinedly tells the witch doctor that although her father never got what he wanted, he had what he needed. She throws the talisman to the ground, but it’s snatched up by Facilier’s shadow and the illusion immediately disappears.

Facilier cackles and tells her that she should have taken his deal, but using her tongue, Tia takes the talisman back and shatters it on the ground. The Shadow Man is horrified, and frets how he won’t be able to pay back his debt. Totem heads come out of the stone heads, asking if he’s ready, which he replies that he isn’t. Voodoo dolls climb out of the ground, and in terror, he says that he has lots more plans, revealing that he has the prince locked away, to Tiana’s surprise. An enormous totem head sucks in Facilier’s shadow, and the hysterical witch doctor himself, to sacrifice his soul in exchange for his unpaid debts. Then the totem heads and voodoo dolls disappear, and a gravestone with the Shadow Man’s face on it appears.

Charlotte angrily knocks on the door of the building which Lawrence is on, demanding that he open up. Finally, she breaks in, but instead of being the handsome Prince Naveen who she expects, fat, old Lawrence is the one who greets her. Horrified, she screams, and so does he, running past her into the night. The real prince, still in the form of a frog, calls her name, and after being squashed with a book, tells her who he is.

Tiana arrives, just in time to see Lawrence being hauled into the back of a police car. She then sees Charlotte and Naveen sitting on the steps, the latter explaining his and Tiana’s predicament. Charlotte expects marriage, to which Naveen reluctantly agrees but puts emphasis on money being given to Tiana for her restaurant, saying that she is his Evangeline. As they are about to kiss, Tiana stops Naveen but he tells her that it is the only way to get her her dream. But she quietly replies that her dream wouldn’t be complete, without him in it. Charlotte, seeing their love, agrees to kiss Naveen, without him having to marry her, but as she plants a kiss on him, the bell sounds, signalling midnight has passed. With seemingly no hope of becoming human again, the frogs smile sadly, but are content with being together, whether in frog or human form.

Louis comes running, bringing Ray with him, and they stay with him through his last moments. Back at the bayou, his funeral ceremony is carried out, with the firefly lifted by his relatives, in a leaf, and sent floating on the river. As he disappears into the distance, a new star appears, right next to the Evening Star.

Naveen and Tiana get married by Mama Odie, and as they kiss they both transform into humans. Surprised, they realise that by getting married, Tiana was now a princess, and by Naveen kissing her they were both changed back. They then get formally married as humans, to the delight of Eudora, and Naveen’s parents. As Tiana throws the bouquet, it’s caught by Charlotte

500 years prior, Kumandra was a prosperous land when evil spirits called the Druun began to ravage everything. They absorbed souls, turning those into stone. Eventually, the dragons of Kumandra used what was left of their magic to create an orb that not only warded off the Druun, but also restored everyone to life, with the exception of the dragons who remained turned to stone. The people all wanted the power of the orb which ultimately divided them into tribes based on their placement of a giant river made to resemble a dragon: Fang, Heart, Tail, Spine and Talon. Heart Tribe acquired the orb and has been guarding it ever since.

500 years later, Chief Benga of the Heart Tribe has been training his daughter Raya to guard the orb. Despite this, he still believes that all the nations will set aside their differences and become Kumandra again. He resolves to invite all the nations over for a feast. Raya ends up befriending the daughter of Chief Virana of the Fang Tribe, Namaari, due to their shared interest in dragons. Namaari gives Raya a dragon pendant and she in turn shows her the location of the orb. However, Namaari betrays Raya and soon the Fang Tribe attempt to steal the orb. The rest of the tribes find out and a fight breaks out, resulting in the orb smashing to pieces. The Druun suddenly reawaken as each of the tribes steal a piece. Raya tries to rescue Benga, but he tells her to flee with the piece she has as he turns to stone.

Six years later, Raya has been searching for the end of a stream to summon Sisu, the dragon who supposedly created the orb and the only surviving member of the species, to help her recover the missing orb pieces. She ends up in what is left of the desert like Tail Tribe and manages to summon Sisu. She admits that she did not create the orb and that her older siblings did, but finds that she can use their powers when she holds onto a piece. They find what is left of the Tail Temple and recover the second piece with Sisu now gaining the ability to turn into a human. They encounter Namaari and her tribe, but the two of them manage to escape on a boat driven by a young entrepreneur named Boun, who had lost his family to the Druun. Despite Boun being friendly, Raya refuses to divulge that Sisu is a dragon, nor tell him of her quest, confusing Sisu.

They arrive at the Talon Tribe, who have built their homes over the water to protect themselves against the Druun, as Raya tries to find their leader so that she can reclaim the orb piece. While out in the town, Raya encounters a “con baby” named Little Noi and her trio of monkey-like companions the Ongis, who adopted her after her mother was lost to the Druun. After a chase, Raya decides to hire them to help her. Sisu goes into town to look for a gift, as she thinks it is better than fighting, only to run into the real tribe leader who threatens her. Raya rescues her and reclaims the piece, which allows Sisu to make smoke clouds, and make it back to Boun with Noi and the Ongis joining them.

The group arrive at the Spine Tribe with Raya and Sisu attempting to enter the village. They are caught by the sole survivor of the tribe, a fearsome warrior named Tong, who actually does not know what to do with them. The rest of the group arrive to warn them of Namaari’s arrival. Raya holds her off in a fight while the others escape. However, Sisu reverts to her dragon form and fends off Namaari and the Fang Tribe. Before leaving, Namaari is moved by the appearance of Sisu. She returns to Virana to tell her, but she instead demands that she reclaim the pieces and the dragon as she fears that the other tribes will try to take what they have. Back at the boat, Raya finally comes clean to her party about Sisu and they agree to work together with Tong giving the orb piece he had been guarding and allowing Sisu to gain the ability to summon the rains.

As they get close to the Fang Tribe, Raya suggests breaking in to reclaim the final piece, but Sisu suggests giving them a gift and asking it back. When Raya refuses, Sisu takes her back to what is left of the Heart Tribe and reveals the fate of her siblings. While Sisu did not create the orb, her siblings trusted her enough to do the right thing with it. Raya gives in and decides to give Namaari the dragon pendant as a piece offering so that she can rejoin the rest of the orb pieces. Raya and Sisu meet privately with Namaari, but as soon as she shows the remainder of the orb pieces, Namaari holds a crossbow to them. Sisu tries to talk her down, but Raya, sensing that Namaari will shoot, attacks her, causing Sisu to get hit by the arrow and falls into a river. Namaari flees as the water, which protected the Fang Tribe against the Druun, begins to recede.

The Fang Tribe is attacked by the Druun as Raya enters to confront Namaari, who is grieving Virana’s fate at the hands of the Druun. The two fight while Tong, Boun, Noi and the Ongis rescue the people from the Druun. Raya prepares to strike down Namaari, but she tells her that she has lost everything and does not care anymore. Raya comes to her senses and she goes to help her friends. Namaari in turn helps the group using her orb piece. As the pieces start losing power, they fall into a pit and are surrounded by the Druun. Raya tells them that they need to put the pieces together, but her friends refuse to help Namaari. To show her faith, Raya puts her piece down and allows the Druun to take her. One by the one the rest follow with Namaari putting the pieces together and getting consumed by the Druun afterwards. The plan works and the Druun are vanquished as everyone is brought back to life.

Michael Jeffery Jordan, as a young 10-year-old boy, has a dream to become a famous sports player at the National Basketball Association. Many years later in 1993, Michael retires from his job at NBA and instead plays professional baseball which he isn’t as good at.

up in outer space, there exists a giant dark evil alien space theme amusement park planet called “The Planet Moron Mountain Theme Park”. The dark evil alien owner, founder and president of the park, Mr Smackhammer, is tired of getting less customers. and decides that the park needs a new attraction. after thinking about it, he comes across a perfect gang of crazy cartoon character animals named the Looney Toons who live in a cartoon 2-Dimensional animated fictional universe underground Planet Earth, he sends his short little mischievously evil Nerdluck Moron alien minions, Pound, Bang, Bupkus, Blanko and Nawt, on a mission to Earth to capture the Looney Toons. They arrive underground Earth in the cartoon universe, Bugs Bunny Esq. the Toons’ leader and a clever large grey hare-like rabbit, is being chased through the deep toon forest by his archenemy and a hunter of the dark wild, Elmer J. Fudd who nearly catches him, but is flattened by the Nerdlucks’ spaceship when it lands. Bugs calls up all the Looney Toons for a big emergency meeting at the Toon-Town Schlesinger Union Hall, where the Nerdlucks announce their evil plan to take them as slaves for attractions in the theme park. Bugs convinces them that they need to give the Looney Toons a chance to defend themselves, and challenges them to a big sports battle of basketball since they’re too small to jump high and the Nerdlucks accept, knowing very little of basketball but have a secret plan. they break into a basketball game in the NBA back in the real world and force their way inside their best players, and they steal all of their skills and strength. It isn’t long before the Nerdlucks absorb the abilities and strength of the NBA players and mutate into giant monsters, known as the Monstars.

Meanwhile in the real world, Michael meets a publicist assistant helper named Stanley “Stan” Podolack. who wants to make him happier, to make his life easier and to make sure that no one bothers him. Michael, Stan and their actor friends, William “Bill” Murray and Lawrence “Larry” Bird go to play golf a day or two later. Bugs, secretly hiding underground, uses his electromagnet to suck Michael’s golf ball into the golf hole after he has hit the ball. then uses a lasso to pull and suck Michael in. Bugs explains to him that aliens want to take them as prisoners and that he’s their only hope, Michael isn’t sure at first ’cause he hasn’t had experience of basketball in years, though after being introduced to the Looney Toons, The Monstars and their union hall gym, he decides to join the team. Bugs also meets a female rabbit named “Lola Bunny” who’s experienced with basketball as well.

Michael soon realises that he needs his sports gear, so Bugs and his jealous frenemy, a large black foolish and selfish duck named Daffy Dumas Horacio Tiberius Armando Sheldon Duck go to his house in the night and grab his shoes and shorts, after narrowly surviving getting attacked by Michael’s pet bulldog Charlie (named after Charlie Barkley) by being saved by Michael’s children. Bugs tells them about the game but tells them to keep it secret. After practising for the game, Stan digs underground looking for Michael and finds him underground in the cartoon world. Stan is hired to be a cheerleader.

The ultimate sports basketball battle begins that night at the Toon Stadium Arena. The Monstars win the first part, but Michael and the Looney Toons win the second part after drinking some magical powerful sports drink of Michael’s that Bugs gives to them “The Secret Stuff (secretly just water)”. Michael and Smackhammer then make a deal for Michael to go to Moron Mountain if they lose, and the Monstars win the fourth part and the Looney Toons have lots of injuries. Then Stan and Bill (who also makes it to the Toon world with the help of Ivan Reitman) start playing in the game and Michael scores the final goal, the Toons all win. Then the Monstars send Smackhammer off to the moon after realising that they have more power than him, and then they shrink back to their normal size again and give their abilities and strength to Michael. the Nerdlucks try to be Looney but accidentally get shot and disintegrated to eyeballs. Michael returns home in time for a baseball game and Bugs falls in love with Lola.

Vain, pampered and spoiled rich Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) goes about another day in which he is bowed and scraped to by myriad servants.

After being unable to find a suitable bride from the regiment chosen by one of his staff, Kuzco finds his advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt) sitting in his throne. Even though this upsets him, Kuzco decides to fire her from her position due to her age, causing Yzma to storm off in a rage with her assistant Kronk (Patrick Warburton) following close behind.

Kuzco then meets up with Pacha (John Goodman), who is the head of a nearby village. Pacha is shown a model of his village, and asks to know where the most sun is. When Pacha gives his opinion, Kuzco horrifies the man when he places a large structure on top of the model that he dubs “Kuzcotopia.” Kuzco then explains that the next day at his Birthday celebration, the entire village will be destroyed for his new summer home. Upset at such a thing, Pacha tries to interject, but is taken away.

Meanwhile, Yzma is still upset over being fired by Kuzco, and decides to do away with him. As there’s no apparent heir to the throne, she figures she can easily take over, and going to her secret lab, finds a potion she intends to poison Kuzco with at dinner.

However, at dinner, Kronk picks the wrong potion, and instead uses ‘Extract of Llama,’ which turns Kuzco into one. Yzma sends Kronk out to kill Kuzco, but unable to bring himself to do so, the bag containing the Emperor ends up falling onto the back of a cart belonging to Pacha.

Pacha returns to his village, but is unable to tell his family what Kuzco said about the destruction of their home. Eventually finding the bag containing Kuzco as a llama, Kuzco then demands that Pacha take him back to the palace. However, Pacha refuses to do so unless Kuzco moves his summer home to another place.

Kuzco refuses, and wanders off into the nearby jungle. He is almost attacked by a gang of panthers, until Pacha comes to his rescue.

Sometime before Puss (Antonio Banderas) meets Shrek and Donkey in Shrek 2, he arrives at a town while escaping a bounty hunter. There he learns that the outlaw couple Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) have the magic beans he’s been looking for most of his life, beans that can lead him to a giant’s castle holding valuable golden goose eggs. When Puss tries to steal them from the outlaws’ room, a masked cat (Salma Hayek) interrupts. Both fail and escape, and Puss follows the cat back to Cat Cantina, a club, where they have a dance-off and a sword fight, ending when Puss hits the masked cat in the head with a guitar. He learns that the masked cat is Kitty Softpaws, and is shocked to learn she is a girl. She is allied with Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), a talking egg and Puss’ long-estranged childhood friend from the orphanage where he was raised. Puss tells Kitty of his feelings of betrayal for a youthful misadventure when Humpty tricked Puss into helping commit a crime. It turned out that Kitty was sleeping through the story. Humpty attempts to convince Puss to join them in finding the beans and retrieving the golden eggs, which he does.

The trio steals the beans from Jack and Jill and elude the angry outlaws in a canyon chase. As Humpty leads his compatriots to the spot where they must plant the beans, Puss and Kitty’s relationship begins to grow from rivalry into friendship. The trio ride the fast-growing beanstalk into the clouds where, Humpty explains, they’ll find castle of the late giant. Now, he continues, a fearsome monster called the Terror guards the Golden Goose. When they realize the golden eggs are too heavy to carry, they steal the Goose which is just a gosling and escape the castle and the Terror. While celebrating their victory, the group is ambushed by Jack and Jill, who knock Puss unconscious.

When Puss wakes up, he tracks Jack and Jill back to his old hometown, where he learns that the entire heist was a plot by Humpty to lure him home to be captured, as revenge for abandoning him to the authorities when Humpty’s youthful heist went bad. Jack, Jill, and even Kitty were involved in the con. After pleas from his adoptive mother, the head of the orphanage, Puss turns himself in to the guards while Humpty donates many golden eggs to the town and becomes a hero.

While in prison, Puss meets the original Jack from the “Jack and the Beanstalk” (a.k.a. Andy Beanstalk) story who warns him that the Terror is in fact the Golden Goose’s mother, and it will stop at nothing to get its child back. A repentant Kitty helps Puss break out of prison and tells him that she loves him more than gold. Puss convinces Humpty to help him fight off the Terror, saying he knows Humpty is a good person at heart, and he will be forgiven if he helps save the town. The Terror arrives, revealing itself to be a giant goose. Using the Golden Goose as bait, Puss and Humpty lure the Terror out of the town, but Humpty and the Goose are knocked off a bridge with Puss holding on to them. Humpty knows Puss cannot hold both of them, and he lets go, sacrificing himself to save the Goose and the town. Humpty’s shell cracks open to reveal that he was a golden egg on the inside. The Terror then takes the Goose and Humpty away back to the giant’s castle.

Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is the owner and creator of Hotel Transylvania, a five-star resort where the world’s monsters can be safe from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters like Frankenstein (Kevin James) and his wife Eunice (Fran Drescher), Murray the Mummy (Cee Lo Green), Wayne and Wanda Werewolf (Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Bigfoot, Steve the Blob, and other monsters to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). However, Mavis prefers to explore the outside world with her father’s permission, but the village he directs her to is actually an elaborate deception to convince her of the threat of humans enough to coax her back.

However, this charade inadvertently attracts the attention of an ordinary young traveler named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg) who was exploring the surrounding forest and followed the staff to the hotel. Once Jonathan enters the hotel, Dracula frantically attempts to hide him from the patrons such as disguising him as a Flesh Golem named Johnny-stein with the later hasty cover story of being a relative of one of Frank’s body parts. Eventually, Jonathan is discovered by Mavis and company, forcing Dracula to claim he is going to arrange Mavis’ birthday party with a young perspective. In doing so, Jonathan manages to charm everyone at the hotel, especially Mavis. Eventually, even Dracula begins to like the human taking him into his confidence about his family’s traumatic past after the vampire notices the young man knows something about them in a respectful manner.

Unfortunately, Chef Quasimodo Wilson (Jon Lovitz) realizes Jonathan is human and captures him to cook him, forcing Dracula to directly intervene by magically freezing the chef. Eventually, the birthday party happens and it is a raucous success until Dracula freaks out when Mavis and Jonathan have an innocent kiss. A ranting Dracula accidentally lets it slip that he tricked Mavis at the fake village and Mavis is outraged at being manipulated by her own father. Things get worse when a still-frozen Chef Quasimodo interrupts the party as the Fly (Chris Parnell) translates his frozen language to the clientele which states that Jonathan is actually a human. Even as the clientele are revolted, Mavis still accepts and expresses her desire to be with Jonathan even though he is human. For his part, Jonathan feels obliged to reject Mavis for her father’s sake and leaves the hotel. Afterward, Dracula realizes that in his efforts to protect Mavis, he has broken her heart and now she tearfully wants to stay at the hotel forever.

Wishing to undo his mistake, Dracula persuades his friends to help him find Jonathan and even risks his destruction by venturing out in the daylight to do so. Learning that Jonathan is about to board a flight out of Transylvania Airport shortly, they race on and enter a town en route. At that town, Dracula and company are stunned to see the humans having a ‘Monster Festival’. To clear a path, Frankenstein tries to scare them, but finds the humans are cheerfully welcoming them instead and even provide a shaded route through the town for Dracula to proceed at maximum speed.

However, Dracula finds that he is too late with Jonathan’s plane taking off. With no alternative, Dracula desperately flies after it in broad daylight despite being hurt by the sun. With much effort, Dracula manages to reach the plane and resorts to mind-controlling one of the pilots (Brian Stack) to apologize and tell Jonathan that he wants him to return to be with his daughter. Jonathan accepts Dracula’s apology and Dracula manipulates the plane back to the airport.

Later, Dracula returns Jonathan to Mavis, who tells her that she’s his ‘zing’ and the reason why he had to reject her. Dracula gives his blessing to their relationship, Jonathan and Mavis kiss and the hotel has another party to celebrate his daughter’s liberating coming of age before Jonathan and Mavis set off on their travels.

Milo James Thatch is a bright young man, who is in the employ of the Smithsonian Institution (as their resident maintenance man). Milo has been inspired by his Grandfather, who often spoke of finding the Lost Continent of Atlantis. Milo attempts to convince several of the top people at the Smithsonian to fund an expedition, but almost all of them think him crazy.

Coming home one evening, Milo meets Helga Sinclair, who escorts him to the home of eccentric millionaire Preston B Whitmore. Preston claims to have known Milo’s Grandfather, and presents him with a journal, that contains information about reaching Atlantis. Preston claims that he has a crew ready to go, but wants Milo to head the expedition. The young man eagerly accepts.

The expedition takes them to the waters off the coat of Iceland, where a giant submersible takes them to the ocean floor. Milo cautions the crew that something know as The Leviathan may be guarding the entrance to Atlantis. It turns out that the Leviathan is a giant mechanical sea creature, that ends up destroying the sub. Luckily, Milo and some of the crew escape, finding themselves in an underground cavern.

After braving several pitfalls and strange creatures, they finally make it to Atlantis, preserved in a sunken atmosphere. However, before they can approach, they are accosted by several natives, led by the King’s daughter, Kida. Milo is soon able to communicate with the natives, and they soon reveal they know many different languages, including English. Kida leads the group into Atlantis, where she takes them to her father.

Kida’s father is not at all pleased to meet these strangers, and requests that they leave. However, a member of the expedition party named Rourke requests to stay one day, and is granted this request.

After they are dismissed from the chambers, Milo explains that he feels the King is hiding something, and Rourke says he wants to know what. Milo is requested by the others to gain this information, and soon after meets with Kida. While Milo wants to know more about Atlantis, Kida is curious about the outside world.

Milo shows Kida the journal, and also finds that the Atlanteans’ crystals around their necks also function as a key that can animate stone objects with flight. Kida explains that their civilization has lost the ability to read their own language, but Milo is able to decode the text on sunken ruins under the city. According to the information, there is a crystal that connects to the necklaces worn by the Atlanteans, and is considered their ‘heart.’

Milo and Kida are soon accosted by Rourke, who it is revealed has come to Atlantis to find the crystal for monetary purposes. The others and Helga are soon found to be in on the scheme as well, and go to the King. The King denies any knowledge of the crystal’s whereabouts, but Rourke soon finds a secret underground entrance under the throne room, where the enormous crystal is kept.

As the group watches, Kida suddenly takes on a blue-glow in her eyes, and ascends towards the crystal. As they watch, the crystal fuses with her, making her a glowing blue figure.

In London, England during the Victorian period, George and Mary Darling’s preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of their boys, John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates that was told to them by their older sister, Wendy. Fed up with the stories that have made his children less practical, George angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them. That night, they are visited in the nursery by Peter Pan himself, who teaches them to fly with the help of his pixie friend, Tinker Bell, and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.

A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick, Mr. Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but trembles at the presence of a crocodile, which consumed Hook’s hand and is eager to taste the rest of him. The crew’s restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darling children. Tinker Bell, who is very jealous of Pan’s attention to Wendy, persuades the Lost Boys that Pan has ordered them to shoot down Wendy, which Tink refers to as a “Wendy bird”. Tinker Bell’s treachery is soon found out, and Peter banishes her. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island’s Indians who capture them instead, believing them to be the ones responsible for taking the chief’s daughter, Tiger Lily.

Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids. The mischievous mermaids delight in tormenting Wendy, but flee in terror at the sight of Hook. Peter and Wendy see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily so that they might persuade her to disclose Peter’s hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. After his encounter with the Crocodile in Skull Rock, Hook plots to take advantage of Tinker Bell’s jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter’s lair. Wendy and her brothers eventually grow homesick and plan to return home. They invite Peter and the Lost Boys to return to London and be adopted by the Darling parents. The Lost Boys agree, but Peter is so set against growing up that he refuses, presumptuously thinking that they will all return shortly. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.

Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) is residing in the Spirit Realm. There, he is attacked by Kai (J.K. Simmons), a large yak who was Oogway’s ally, but turned against him 500 years ago. Oogway sent him to the Spirit Realm, where he collected the chi of every warrior there. He beats Oogway, and takes his chi, turning him into a jade amulet which Kai wears on a belt along with the rest of the warriors. With Oogway’s chi, he is able to open a portal to Earth.

At the Jade Palace, Po (Jack Black), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross) order lunch at Mr. Ping’s (James Hong) noodle shop, and then go back up the mountain. Po tries to get them to do a dramatic entrance into the palace, and demonstrates by moving to kick open the door, when Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) appears in front of him. Shifu does a real dramatic entrance, and then breaks the news that this will be his last day teaching, and that from now on, Po will be their teacher.

Po tries to shout out commands to the team to guide them through an obstacle course, but his commands only make them crash into the obstacles and each other. Po goes to a statue of Oogway and apologizes, and Shifu pops up next to him. Po tells Shifu that he is done with teaching, and Shifu tells him that Oogway named him the Dragon Warrior because he could do more than just fight. Shifu harnesses chi energy to make a flower bloom. Po says he’ll never be a good teacher like Shifu, and Shifu replies that he’s not trying to turn Po into himself, rather, he’s trying to turn Po into Po. Po is thoroughly confused.

Kai goes through the portal and lands on a farm. He tosses his jade amulets on the ground, and they turn into warriors. He instructs them to bring him Oogway’s students.

Po is at home taking a bath, and he gets interrupted by Mr. Ling, his adopted father. Po tells him what happened earlier, and that he can’t be a teacher. Mr. Ling tells him to take the job, and then Mr. Ling can sell noodles inside the palace. A pig pokes his head in and tells them that someone is about to beat Po’s dumpling-eating record. They go downstairs, but can’t see who is eating the dumplings. Once the record is broken, Po sees that it is another panda, bigger even than him. The panda introduces himself as Li Shan, (Bryan Cranston) and tells Po that he is looking for his son that he lost many years ago. Po tells him that he lost his father when he was a baby. They wish each other good luck and start to walk away. The other animals in the restaurant shake their heads.

Po and Li stop and look at each other again. They notice each other’s green eyes and huge bellies, and realize they’re father and son. They hug each other, and Po introduces him to Mr. Ling. Po is unsure what to call them, since they’re both his father. Li teaches Po the Belly Gong, where they bump bellies together, and both bellies shake. Po asks an artist to make a sketch of him and Li, but Mr. Ling puts himself in the picture. Li tells Po that there is a secret panda village where he had been living, and that he got a message from the universe that Po would be here. Po leads Li outside to show him around, and Mr. Ling sadly looks at his Po action figure.

Po takes Li to the Jade Palace, and they both get winded climbing up the stairs. Po shows Li all the cool artifacts in the Hall of Heroes. Shifu and the others walk in, and Po introduces his father. Shifu asks if he will stick around to watch Po teach, but then a gong goes off, signaling that the village is under attack. They all go to the village, and find Kai’s jade zombies. In battle, Po recognizes that they’re fighting the great warriors of the past. The group gets the upper hand and pins down the “jombies,” and they all start speaking with Kai’s voice. They say that Po’s chi will soon be Kai’s, and then vaporize and fly away. Shifu tells them he doesn’t know who Kai is.

In the scroll room, Shifu finds a scroll that has information about Kai, written by Oogway. “Long ago I had a brother in arms. I was an ambitious young warrior leading a great army. And fighting by my side was Kai, my closest friend. One day we were ambushed. I was badly wounded. My friend carried me for days, looking for help. until we came upon a secret village, high in the mountains. An ancient place of healing. A village of pandas.”

“Pandas?” Po asks.

“Yes! Pandas! The pandas used the power of chi to heal me. They taught me the power to give chi. But Kai wanted the power all to himself. He saw that what could be given could also be taken.

On the scroll is a picture of Kai sucking the chi from a panda.

“I had to stop him. Our battle shook the earth. Until finally, I banished Kai to the Spirit Realm. Should he ever return to the mortal realm, he can only be stopped by a true Master of Chi.”

The group huddles together to try to figure out how to get a Chi Master, until Li tells Po that he can teach him how to do it by taking him back to the panda village and teaching him how to be a true panda. Mr. Ling tries to protest, but Po tells him that he can only master chi by finding out who he really is. Mr. Ling offers to pack him a lunch before he leaves.

The next morning, Li and Po head for the village, and Shifu sends Crane and Mantis to find Kai, telling them not to engage him. Po and Li are walking through the mountains and decide they should eat lunch. Po finds Mr. Ling inside his lunch sack, and Mr. Ling tells him that he stowed away in case the pandas don’t have any food Po likes. They get to the palace, which is behind a giant wall of ice. Li pulls a string, and a bucket comes down. The three of them climb in and are hoisted up into the clouds. Po sees a lush green village with pandas everywhere. Li introduces Grandma Panda, the village elder, and Po’s cousins, Dim and Sum. A panda named Big Fun gives Po a big hug, despite not knowing who he is. And Lei Lei, a baby panda, takes Po’s Tigress action figure and plays with it. Li announces that they will have a feast in Po’s honor, and all the pandas flop to the ground and start rolling downhill. “Pandas don’t walk, we roll!” explained Li. The other pandas manage to avoid the rocks and logs on the hill as they roll down. Po plops down on the grass and rolls after them.

The pandas dig into the food at the banquet table, and Mr. Ling hands Po his chopsticks. The other pandas look at him, confused, so he demonstrates how to eat a dumpling with chopsticks. He sees that they have all stuffed a bunch of dumplings into their mouths at once. A gong sounds, and everyone turns to look at a nearby stage. A panda named Mei Mei does a ribbon dance and flirts with Po.

Crane and Mantis are searching for Kai, and they find three kung fu masters in the desert. The group finds an abandoned ship, and the masters run in to attack, despite Crane’s warning not to engage. Mantis hears them scream and jumps in to help. Kai steals all of their chi, turning them into jade. Crane flies in, but he soon meets the same fate.

Former toon Private Eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is called to the Maroon Cartoon Studios lot at the request of its owner, R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern). Maroon is upset that one of the studio’s biggest stars, Roger Rabbit, has already put the latest Baby Herman cartoon over-budget by $25,000. Maroon chalks Roger’s acting mistakes up to him being worried about his wife, Jessica. Recent newspaper articles have circulated rumors that Jessica is seeing someone else. Maroon assigns Valiant to get pictures to confirm this rumor. When Valiant claims he doesn’t work in Toontown, Maroon tells him that Jessica performs at a club in Los Angeles called ‘The Ink and Paint Club.’ Valiant accepts the assignment for $100, of which Maroon pays $50 upfront, and the other half promised upon completion of the assignment.

Later that evening, Valiant goes to the Ink and Paint Club, where he encounters Toontown’s owner and ‘gag king, Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) in the audience. Acme playfully squirts ink on Valiant’s shirt, which infuriates the Private Eye, until it is revealed that the ink is ’disappearing ink.’ Shortly afterwards, the show starts, and Valiant is shocked to find that Jessica is not really a rabbit, but a shapely toon woman. After the show, Valiant sneaks out the back to a window, and sees Jessica in her dressing room, with Marvin Acme, playing pattycake.

Valiant takes pictures, and shows them to Roger and Maroon in the Studio Head’s main office. Infuriated by the photos, Roger claims that he and his wife will be happy again, and bolts from the office.

The next day, Valiant is awoken by Lieutenant Santino (Richard LeParmentier), who has come to inform him that Marvin Acme was killed the night before. Currently, Roger is the prime suspect, given what he said to Maroon and Valiant. At the Acme Gag Factory, Valiant is introduced to Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), and his gang of Weasels that run his ‘Toon Patrol’ gang. Having jurisdiction over Toontown, the judge explains to Valiant that in order to ‘rein in the insanity,’ he has resorted to a new method on which toons can be killed: The Dip, a mixture of turpentine, acetone, and benzine. The Judge demonstrates the Dip to Valiant at the Gag Factory, when he dips and obliterates a squeaking toon shoe.

Valiant returns to his office, only to find Baby Herman waiting for him. Herman pleads with the detective that Roger is innocent, and that Acme was most likely ‘bumped off’ because he owned Toontown. Acme had once made a solemn oath that he would leave Toontown in the ownership of the toons if anything happened to him, according to Herman. However, while there is talk that Acme had a will that stipulated this, noone has ever seen it.

Valiant goes into his office, and after glancing at one of the pictures of Jessica and Acme, notices that in Acme’s coat pocket, is a piece of paper that says ‘last will and testament.’ Settling down for a small nap, Valiant finds Roger is hiding in his bed. Roger it seems, was able to find Valiant’s office, but not after asking a number of people for help. However, it is most likely that since he’s a wanted rabbit, someone has most likely told the Toon Patrol about his whereabouts. Valiant tries to get rid of Roger, but the rabbit pleads with the detective to take his case and help clear his name.

Roger explains that after he got upset about the pictures, he went to the Ink and Paint Club to see Jessica. Not finding her in her dressing room, he wrote her a love letter on a piece of paper that was lying around. He waited for her to appear, but when the weasels showed up looking for him, he took the love letter and ran away. Valiant wonders just why Roger would come to him, seeing as how he took the pictures of Roger’s wife. Roger explains because of Valiant’s past career of helping toons.

At one point, Roger gets a bit carried away, and accidentally handcuffs himself to Valiant. It doesn’t help that Valiant has no keys to the cuffs, and the weasels have shown up looking for Roger. Valiant pretends to be washing his laundry in the sink when they arrive, and after the weasels leave, Roger emerges from the sink. Valiant then goes across the street to the Red Car Trolley Station, where his girlfriend Dolores (Johanna Cassidy) is working at a restaurant. She allows them both into a hidden room at the rear of the restaurant, where Valiant gets the handcuffs off, and tells them that he believes that Acme’s death was set-up by R.K. Maroon, and that Maroon wants to get control of Toontown. Valiant has Roger stay in the hidden room, while he goes back to his office. Meanwhile, Valiant sends Dolores downtown to check the probate of Acme’s will.

After taking a shower, he emerges to find Jessica has come into the office, asking for help finding Roger. Valiant claims that she most likely needs Roger to ‘make the scheme work,’ but Jessica claims that she does love her husband, and that her ‘figure’ often leads to speculation of her being ‘bad.’ Jessica further goes onto explain that the pictures that Valiant took were set-up. Maroon had wanted to blackmail Acme, and promised Jessica that if she didn’t go along with his scheme, Roger would never work in pictures again. Caring for her husband, she allowed herself to go along with the scheme.

Shortly afterwards, Dolores shows up, and explains that Valiant’s theory is incorrect. Maroon appears to have no intentions of obtaining Toontown. According to the probate, a company called Cloverleaf Industries put in a bid for the rights to Toontown, and at midnight, they will have ownership unless Acme’s will turns up. It also happens that Cloverleaf Industries also recently claimed ownership of the Red Car Trolley Line. Valiant and Dolores return to the restaurant, only to find Roger dancing about to the amusement of the guests. Valiant throws Roger and himself into the hidden room, just before Judge Doom and his weasels appear. Everyone in the room denies that Roger was there, but Doom gets him to appear by tapping and singing ‘Shave and a haircut.’ According to Doom, no toon can resist this song, without finishing it with ‘two bits.’ As expected, Roger appears, and is then accosted by Doom. Valiant saves the rabbit by offering him a drink. Roger’s inability to hold his alcohol, turns his head into a giant steam whistle. Valiant knocks out the weasels, and rushes out of the bar with Roger leading the way.

Tryring to use the weasel’s Toon Patrol wagon, they encounter a cartoon cab named Benny in the rear of the car. Valiant and Roger then use Benny to escape from the weasels. Benny deposits them at a theater, where Roger is enjoying the ‘Goofy’ cartoon playing on the screen, but Valiant is still upset. Roger, who has grown perplexed at Eddie’s attitude, asks what happened to turn him into such a ‘sourpuss.’

Valiant then explains that his partner and brother, Teddy, was killed by a toon. Many years ago, while investigating a robbery at the First National Bank of Toontown, Eddie and Teddy were chasing a guy who dropped a piano on them from 13 stories up. The piano broke Eddie’s arm, but killed Teddy. Valiant never did find out who the toon was, except that he had ‘burning red eyes’ and a ‘high squeaky voice.’ Roger feels terrible about this, and sobs that Eddie is justified in his hatred of him and toons. Eddie claims he doesn’t hate Roger, and the toon rabbit is overjoyed.

On their way out of the theater, a newsreel plays footage of Cloverleaf Industries executives making a deal with R.K. Maroon, and Valiant thinks he’s finally found the ‘connection!’ Valiant places a call to R.K. Maroon, telling him he has the will, as a way to get in to see the Studio Owner. Arriving at the studios, Roger is told to stay by the car.

Valiant meets with Maroon, who seems very nervous about the whole thing. Valiant uses Roger’s love-letter as a ploy to throw Maroon off-guard, and then knocks the Studio Owner to the floor, wanting answers. When Maroon denies any wrongdoing, Valiant runs his tie through a movie-o-la, almost strangling him. Maroon explains that he had a chance to sell his studio, but Cloverleaf also wanted Acme’s property as well. When Marvin refused, Maroon planned to blackmail him with pictures of him (Acme) and Jessica. Maroon then goes on to try and explain more, when suddenly gunfire erupts, and Maroon is wounded. Valiant goes to the window where the shots came from, only to see Jessica running away.

Valiant returns to his car, only to find Roger gone. Giving chase, he follows Jessica’s car but stops when it drives into the tunnel leading to Toontown. Valiant arms himself with a toon gun (complete with toon bullets), and heads into Toontown. After a series of madcap hijinks through the toon city, Valiant finds himself in an alley, with Jessica pulling a gun on him. However, the bullet she fires streaks right past him. When she approaches, she points to a gun on the ground behind him. Apparently, Doom was planning to shoot Valiant, and her bullet saved his life. This is the same gun that was used to kill R.K. Maroon. Far off in the distance, the two see Doom running away, claiming that they’re ‘all dead.’

Jessica and Valiant try to get Valiant’s car to give chase, but it appears to be gone. As well, roger has disappeared from Jessica’s trunk (apparently, she had knocked him out and put him in the trunk to keep him from getting hurt). Both Jessica and Valiant manage to thumb a ride from Benny, who helps them escape from Toontown. In the car, Jessica tells Valiant that Acme knew Doom was after Toontown, and gave her the will for safekeeping. However, the envelope containing the will only held a blank sheet of paper.

On the other side of the tunnel, Doom is waiting with a barrel of Dip, that ends up flattening Benny’s tires, causing him to crash. Doom then has Valiant and Jessica taken to the Acme Factory. The two are frisked for the will, but nothing is found. It is then that Doom explains his master plan. Planning to end his career as a Toontown judge, he is now going to take advantage of his stake in Cloverleaf Industries (of which he is the sole stockholder). Pulling aside a giant cloth, he shocks Jessica and Valiant with a giant Dipmobile, containing enough dip to wipe out Toontown in a matter of minutes. Doom’s master plan is to build a freeway in its place: a concept that will allow high-speed driving, and end traffic jams. Valiant balks at this, saying that people can still take the Red Car Trolley Line for a nickel. It is then that Doom reveals that his purchasing of the Trolley Line was part of his plan, as he plans to dismantle the transportation system, making people have no alternative but to use his freeway system.

Just then, Roger bursts through a sewer pipe, but is quickly subdued. Doom has both Roger and Jessica hung at the far end of the room, planning to ‘dip’ them. As he confidently walks away, he trips on some spilled gag eyeballs and falls to the ground. Angered at the weasel’s laughing, he angrily shouts, ‘One of these days, you idiots are gonna laugh yourselves to death!’ As he disappears around a corner, Valiant manages to distract the weasels, by tumbling, falling, and using some Acme gags nearby. His lunacy causes the weasels to do just as the judge promised, and they all die laughing. However, one of the weasels, Psycho, had turned on the dipmobile’s cannon, which is heading right for Roger and Jessica. Valiant manages to abort the cannon’s direction, but not before being knocked about by Judge Doom. During the scuffle, Doom ends up getting his hand and foot coated in a super-strong glue, and soon ends up under the front of an Acme steamroller. Screaming at his predicament, he is severely flattened. However, he suddenly rises off the floor, hopping about. Valiant makes the correct assumption that the Judge was actually a toon. Re-inflating himself, Doom reveals who he really is: the toon that many years ago killed Teddy Valiant. Doom then starts the dipmobile back up, and then proceeds to kill Eddie with a giant toon buzzsaw. However, Eddie opens a rear valve on the dipmobile, sending a wall of dip on Doom, causing him to melt into a puddle of paint.

With the dip spent, Roger and Jessica are saved, as the dipmobile then crashes through the wall, creating an opening into Toontown, where the dipmobile is hit by a fast-moving train.

After Eddie manages to clear the Gag Factory’s floor of dip, Roger and Jessica are lowered to the ground, just in time for Benny to return with the police, Dolores, and Lt. Santino. Eddie explains that it was actually Doom who killed Marvin Acme, as well as R.K. Maroon, and his brother Teddy. All the toons of Toontown arrive to see the carnage and comment about the death of their would-be murderer. As Baby Dolores complains their town is still in danger of being demolished by another developer, Delores notices a stain on Eddie’s shirt, it appears that the ink that Acme squirted him with, according to Roger, was ‘disappearing and reappearing’ ink. Getting an idea, Eddie returns the love letter to Roger, who begins to read it. As Roger reads the letter, a number of words begin to appear, and Eddie’s hunch is correct: The blank piece of paper that Roger found in Jessica’s dressing room, was Acme’s will, written in invisible ink, and as promised, the will gives ownership of Toontown to the toons!

Having noted Valiant’s funny dance for the weasels, Roger asks Eddie if he has gotten over being a sourpuss. When Eddie mentions that ‘only time will tell,’ Roger offers to shake his hand…but failing to mention a hand-buzzer that shocks Eddie! Eddie pulls his hand away, with an angry look. “Don’t tell me you’ve lost your sense of humor already,” says a fearful Roger. Eddie then grabs him by the neck and asks, “Does this answer your question?” Eddie’s ‘answer’ is a cartoony kiss to Roger’s lips…proof that Eddie has gotten his sense of humor back!

The film opens with young Anna (voice of Hadley Gannaway) and Elsa (voice of Mattea Conforti) playing a game with Elsa’s snow creations in an enchanted forest of their own creation. King Agnarr (voice of Alfred Molina) and Queen Iduna (voice of Evan Rachel Wood) enter, and Agnarr tells the girls he has seen an enchanted forest in real life. In his youth, he joined his father, King Runeard (voice of Jeremy Sisto), and other Arendellian soldiers to venture into the Enchanted Forest, where they came to know the four spirits of the forest - Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. Suddenly, the forest’s inhabitants, the Northuldra, started attacking the Arendellians, and Agnarr lost his father before losing consciousness. He recalls being saved by a mysterious being. After he finishes his story, Iduna sings a lullaby to the girls (“All Is Found”).

In the present day, Elsa (now voiced by Idina Menzel) hears a melodic voice calling out to her, but nobody else can hear the sound. Anna (now voiced by Kristen Bell) joins Olaf (voice of Josh Gad) outside as he contemplates the changes around him. Anna isn’t bothered by changes because she has all the people she loves (“Some Things Never Change”). Meanwhile, Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff) tells Sven that he is planning on proposing to Anna.

Later that night, the gang plays charades together, but Elsa hears the voice calling out to her again. Distressed, she leaves the room. Kristoff tries to find a good time to propose to Anna, but she is more concerned with how Elsa is acting. After assuring her sister she is going to be fine, they go to bed.

The voice continues to call Elsa through the night, leading her to leave her room and wonder what it is that is calling her, and how she wants to learn more about it (“Into The Unknown”). The magic around her shows her images of mysterious creatures. Suddenly, Arendelle begins to experience strange occurrences. A strong wind blows into the kingdom, the water from the fountains drain out, the fire from the lanterns go out, and the earth begins to tremble fiercely. Elsa helps lead the citizens to higher ground.

The gang meets with Grand Pabbie (voice of Ciaran Hinds) and the other Trolls. He tells the sisters that the spirits of the Enchanted Forest are angered over a wrongdoing that must be corrected, or else Arendelle’s future will be in jeopardy. Elsa decides she must set off on her own to fix it, but Anna refuses to let her go alone. Naturally, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf join as well.

Everyone travels far from Arendelle until they eventually reach the outside of the Enchanted Forest, which is surrounded by a gigantic mist. They are pulled inside and find themselves unable to get out. The group gets separated from each other, with Olaf wandering by himself and not understanding the weird things happening in the Forest (“When I Am Older”). A tornado created by the Air Spirit then pulls everyone away, but Elsa tries to stop it with her powers. In the midst of everything, she sees what look like images of memories shown through water. She freezes these images, with one that looks like a young Agnarr, and the Northuldra girl that saved him. The Air Spirit appears to have calmed down, gently blowing across the group, and Olaf even names it “Gale.”

The gang is then approached by a tribe of Northuldra led by Yelena (voice of Martha Plimpton), as well as Arendellian soldiers led by Lt. Destin Mattias (voice of Sterling K. Brown), whom Anna recognizes from a portrait in their castle. They become aware of Elsa’s powers quickly, and Olaf even takes time to recap their last adventure together to everyone. Soon, they are attacked by the Fire Spirit, which starts to spread bright colored flames across everything. Elsa once again uses her ice magic to contain the flames. She then follows the Fire Spirit until it appears as nothing more than a little salamander named Bruni. When he sees that Elsa means him no harm, he settles his flames and warms up to her (no pun intended). They hear the mysterious calling once again. After Anna gets Elsa, they run back to the ice statues Elsa made and realize that the girl who saved Agnarr was Iduna, meaning their mother was Northuldra, and the spirits rewarded her deed by giving her a daughter with powers. This revelation allows the Arendellians and Northuldra to form a truce.

Kristoff meets a Northuldra reindeer tamer named Ryder (voice of Jason Ritter), and the two of them bond over the way they treat their reindeer (specifically the way they give their reindeer voices). He tells Kristoff that because of the mist, most of the people there have only lived in the Forest and have never seen the outside world. Elsa befriends Ryder’s sister Honeymaren (voice of Rachel Matthews), who shows Elsa that in addition to the four main spirits, there is a fifth spirit that acts as a bridge between the other spirits. After witnessing Earth Giants roaming across the land, Anna notices Kristoff is gone, not realizing he is with Ryder, who has tried to help Kristoff come up with an elaborate proposal. She takes off with Elsa and Olaf, which leads Kristoff to think she has gone away after learning this from Yelena. He expresses his sorrow but also how strong his love for Anna is (“Lost in the Woods”).

Anna, Elsa, and Olaf continue their journey until they come across the ruins of Agnarr and Iduna’s ship. Through the water memories, Elsa learns that they set off to find answers about Elsa’s powers, even witnessing their final moments where they embraced as the waters consumed them. They search the ship until they find a map, revealing that their parents were headed for the fabled river of Ahtohallan. Elsa knows she has to go there alone, so she sends Anna and Olaf away on an ice boat that she makes. The two express their anger over Elsa ditching them, even if she did it for their own good.

Elsa attempts to get to Ahtohallan across the water, but she keeps getting taken down by the Water Spirit, which appears as a Nokk. After taming the spirit, she rides it as she follows the voice, eager to find out where it’s coming from (“Show Yourself”). Once she reaches Ahtohallan, she comes across her own memories and learns that the voice is that of Iduna calling out to her. When Elsa tries to find out what went wrong, she learns the truth: Runeard wanted to subjugate the Northuldra by creating a dam to limit their resources due to their reliance on magic, which Runeard hated. When the Northuldra leader tried to reason with him, Runeard murdered him while he was unarmed. Elsa gets too deep into Ahtohallan, which causes her to turn to solid ice, but not before she sends this information to Anna. Before she and Olaf set off to help, Olaf begins to disintegrate, realizing something is wrong with Elsa. Anna holds Olaf, and they reaffirm their love for each other before he is gone. Anna sits alone in despair until she picks herself up and vows to push forward (“The Next Right Thing”).

Anna knows that the dam must be destroyed, even if it means sending a flood toward Arendelle. She goes to wake up the Earth Giants and gets them to follow her toward the dam. Mattias sees this and tries to stop Anna, but after she convinces him that Elsa learned the truth about the dam and why it must be destroyed, he relents and lures the Giants there. The Giants hurl boulders to the dam, which breaks it and sends the water flowing toward the kingdom. Elsa is revived, and she rides the Nokk back to Arendelle where she freezes the water and brings it down before it hits Arendelle, thus saving the kingdom and lifting the mist in the Forest, freeing the soldiers and Northuldra.

Elsa reunites with Anna and the two sisters hug. Kristoff and Sven run down there too, and Elsa revives Olaf. Anna and Elsa determine that Elsa is the fifth spirit, as she has become the bridge between the other spirits. Kristoff then finally manages to propose to Anna with something simple, and she excitedly accepts. The Giants then appear to show their respect and gratitude toward Anna and Elsa.

The film opens in a narrative (Tony Jay) which introduces us to deep space where merchant ships sail on solar winds transporting valuable cargo. However, their journeys are not without danger as one of them is attacked by a small pirate ship commanded by the notorious Captain Nathaniel Flint, a pirate who vanished without a trace after each heist and was rumored to have stashed his loot on the mysterious Treasure Planet. The image of Flint’s alien face is soon seen to be a holographic image in the storybook of young Jim Hawkins (Austin Majors), a three year-old boy who is completely immersed in the story. His mother, Sarah (Laurie Metcalf), comes into Jim’s room to put him to bed, playfully tackling him, but Jim continues to read his book, even under the covers. Twelve years later and Jim has grown into a strong teenager, taking thrills from solar surfing (windsurfing on a solar-powered rocket board), his favorite pastime. Unfortunately, the aloof Jim takes his board through a restricted construction zone and is quickly apprehended by authorities.

Meanwhile, back home at the Benbow Inn, Sarah tirelessly serves customers including the frequent dog-like Delbert Dopplar (David Hyde Pierce), an astrophysicist and friend of the family. He asks how Jim has been doing just as Jim is brought home, flanked by two robotic police officers. They explain that if Jim performs any further transgressions he will be locked away in juvenile hall. Later that night, while Jim listens from the roof, Sarah confides in Delbert that, ever since his father left, Jim hasn’t been the same. Despite being smart, he fails in school and acts distant. At that moment, Jim notices a spaceship fall from the sky and crash at the end of the Benbow docking platform. He runs out in time to help the injured pilot, an old, snaky creature named Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan). Jim assists him back to the inn as it begins to rain and make it through the front door before Billy collapses. Before Sarah and Delbert can do anything, Billy gives Jim a golden sphere and tells him to ‘beware the cyborg’ before expiring. Shortly after, the inn is raided by a gang of pirates and Sarah, Jim, and Delbert barely escape before the inn is burned to the ground. They seek refuge at Delbert’s home where Jim discovers the minute mechanics of the sphere and activates it to reveal a holographic map of the galaxy. They discover that the map holds the key to finding Treasure Planet. Eager to make his mother proud and help rebuild the inn, Jim proposes to go find the Planet with Delbert’s help, who is more than excited at the prospect of charting an expedition of discovery. Sarah is against the plan at first, but Delbert assures her that it may just be the right thing to help Jim sail straight.

Delbert commissions a ship and a crew out of Belfast, the ‘harbor’ of which resembles the size and shape of a crescent moon. He and Jim depart for the RLS Legacy where they greet the stony first mate, Mr. Arrow (Roscoe Lee Browne), before meeting the stern and cat-like Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson). The crew is a motley but seemingly obedient bunch and, as the ship sets sail, Jim is sent down to work in the galley for John Silver (Brian Murray), a cyborg who Jim becomes immediately suspicious of. Silver introduces Jim to his pet amorphous blob named Morph (Dane A. Davis) that can change into any shape, and to the notion of hard work. Resentful over his menial tasks, Jim picks the wrong side of crew member Scroop (Michael McShane), a large, spidery alien with a temper quelled only by Mr. Arrow’s reprimand and a quick glare from Silver. Silver berates Jim for not picking his fights wisely but the two soon begin a relationship out of mutual respect. Silver keeps Jim busy on board and grows impressed with his increasing work ethic. Along the journey, they eventually bond from a master and ward relationship to one near father and son, their experiences montaged to the song ‘I’m Still Here’. The sequence features flashbacks from Jim’s early life showing his father acting indifferent towards him as a child before finally leaving without warning during his pre-teens.

It is clear that they enjoy each other’s company and Silver praises Jim’s mechanical and piloting skills when he fixes one of the ship’s solar skiffs and takes it for a spin. After they return to the ship, an explosion rings out as a nearby star goes supernova. Amelia takes the ship into evasive maneuvers and instructs Jim to secure all the crew’s harnesses to the mainmast. Due to the turbulence, Silver nearly falls overboard but is saved by Jim. At this time, Delbert discovers that the supernova is devolving into a black hole and is pulling the ship back into its core. The black hole releases sonic waves which rattle the ship. Delbert tells Amelia that two more will follow before they are pulled into the hole and she comes up with a plan to ride the last wave out with the ship’s engines at full thrust. The next wave sends Mr. Arrow overboard but he is saved by his harness line. However, Scroop appears above him and, with a sinister look, cuts his line, sending Arrow into the abyss. Silver and Jim hang on as the last wave erupts, sending the ship out of the black hole and back into deep space. Amelia addresses the crew and congratulates Jim and Delbert for their help before calling to Mr. Arrow. Scroop appears with Arrow’s hat and claims his harness was not secure, to Jim’s bewilderment. Scroop gives Silver a knowing glance, to Silver’s disapproval. Jim takes the news, and Amelia’s reaction, hard and retreats into seclusion. Silver finds him later and tries to pick him up again, telling him that he has the makings of greatness, if only he could see that himself and take charge of it. Jim’s spirits are raised and he embraces Silver, much to Silver’s surprise, before going below decks to sleep. Silver admits to Morph that he’d best watch how he acts around Jim, lest the crew thinks he’s going soft.

The next morning, Jim is awoken early by a playful Morph. He chases him to the galley and catches him in a fruit barrel just before some of the crew comes down. Listening to their conversation, Jim learns that they’re actually pirates that are planning a mutiny before they make land-fall. Silver comes into the galley, revealing himself as the mastermind and leader and expresses his discontent to anyone who makes a move before his say-so. Scroop tells Silver that he thinks Silver’s gone soft for Jim and doesn’t have it in him to continue with the plans. Enraged, Silver tells the crew that he cares only for Flint’s treasure and that he warmed up to Jim to keep him ignorant to their plans. A cry comes from above that they’ve reached Treasure Planet, the exclamation coming from crewmember Onus (Corey Burton), a six-eyed alien, and the crew leaves the galley. Jim emerges from the barrel and begins to make his way up to the deck but comes face to face with Silver on his way back down. They tensely stand off before Jim lunges forward with a pair of scissors and stabs Silver in his robotic leg, causing a pressure malfunction. Silver begins the mutiny as Jim retreats into Amelia’s quarters and escapes with her and Delbert to the loading bay. However, ever-playful Morph grabs the map out of Jim’s pocket, holding it in his mouth. Silver appears in the bay area and he and Jim try to coax Morph to go to them with the map. Confused, Morph dives into a bundle of ropes. Silver reaches for the map but Jim grabs it and escapes into the skiff with Amelia and Delbert. As they flee towards the planet’s surface, Silver takes aim at them but refuses to shoot due to his attachment to Jim. However, a mutineer shoots the ship’s cannon at the skiff, causing massive damage and injury to Amelia. The skiff crashes upside down on the surface.

The three compose themselves and Amelia asks for the map, but when Jim removes it from his pocket, it’s revealed to be Morph in disguise. Jim realizes the map is still on the ship as a second skiff flies overhead, looking for them. Amelia orders Jim to find a safe haven for them before she collapses from her injuries. Delbert tends to the delerious Amelia while Jim scoures the alien jungle. He eventually comes into contact with a eccentric robot named B.E.N. (Martin Short), short for Bio-Electronic Navigator. B.E.N.’s memory is hazy, at best, and he shows Jim that he’s actually missing a part of his central database at the back of his head. Although, from what he does remember, he informs Jim that he was Flint’s own navigator and was left on the planet to protect the treasure which is located at the ‘centroid of the mechanism’. Jim is less than amused by B.E.N.’s antics but is relieved to find that B.E.N.’s lair is the perfect hiding place. Soon, however, the mutinous pirates surround the hovel and Silver demands the map. Knowing that Silver is unaware of the map’s true location, Jim goes out to negotiate but refuses to cooperate with Silver. He returns to the hideout where B.E.N. reveals a ‘back door’ into a metal-works piping system that interweaves through the planet’s very core. Jim, B.E.N., and Morph head back to the ship to deactivate the laser cannon and retrieve the real map while Delbert watches over Amelia.

On board, B.E.N. whimsically goes off to deactivate the cannon while Jim goes to the loading dock for the map. However, he runs into a vengeful Scroop and the two fight their way onto the main deck. B.E.N. accidentally deactivates the artificial gravity on the ship and Jim and Scroop float into the rigging. Jim is saved by grabbing onto the pirate’s flag and, just before Scroop can cut him away, swings back onto the mast and kicks Scroop into the loose flag, sending him into space. B.E.N. turns the gravity back on and disables the cannon. When they return to the hideout, Jim holds out the map to Delbert only to see that Silver and the other pirates have invaded the place and tied Amelia and Delbert up. Jim is the only one who knows how to properly activate the map and thus demands that they all travel together to the treasure’s location. They take the skiff and follow a laser trail to a cliff’s edge where the trail disappears. An inscription on the ground reveals a plug for the map. Jim inserts it and a portal is engaged, with each planet’s location on the map’s hologram allowing for immediate travel; the secret to Flint’s mysterious raids. Jim selects the Treasure Planet icon and the center of the planet is revealed with the treasure inside. Jim, the pirates, and B.E.N. step inside, walking through an unseen trip-laser. At the heart of the treasure, Jim discovers the remains of Captain Flint, clutching what seems to be the rest of B.E.N.’s ‘mind’. Jim plugs it back into B.E.N.’s head and he suddenly remembers that Flint actually commissioned him to booby-trap the planet to make sure no one took his treasure. The very core begins to rip apart and scores of treasure, and some of the pirates, are lost in the molten center. Silver finds himself torn between collecting what treasure he can and saving Jim, hanging from a precarious ledge. Silver saves Jim and the survivors escape back to the Legacy as the planet begins to break apart. The ship becomes damaged and Amelia realizes that they’ll never make it out of the planet’s atmosphere in time. Jim comes up with a plan to activate the portal so that it takes them directly to Bristol. He attaches a rocket engine to a scrap of metal and surfs it ahead of the ship to the portal. Nearly failing, Jim manages to make it to the portal and enter in the coordinates, allowing himself and the ship to pass safely through just as Treasure Planet explodes.

Prologue: The Boy Samurai and The Headless Ancestor The film opens with a legend of a war between three clans. Two of them worshiped dogs while the Kobayashi clan were cat lovers. The clans fought in battle until a child warrior came forth and decapitated the head of the Kobayashi clan. Centuries later, the Kobayashi family has not forgiven their greatest defeat.

We jump ahead to twenty years in the future from now in the Japanese city of Megasaki. An outbreak of “snout fever” has been infecting dogs across the country. Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) issues a decree that will send all dogs to a quarantined piece of land they call Trash Island. The first dog sent there is Spots (Liev Schrieber), the pet/bodyguard of Kobayashi’s orphaned nephew Atari (Koyu Rankin). The head of the Science Party, Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito), believes the dogs can be cured. Interpreter Nelson (Frances McDormand)(who translates and commentates on major events in the city) muses “Whatever happened to man’s best friend?”

Part One: The Little Pilot On Trash Island, there is a pack of five dogs - Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), Boss (Bill Murray), and their leader, Chief (Bryan Cranston). The city imports bags of garbage as a means of food for the dogs. One bag drops, and Chief’s pack comes across a rival pack of dogs. They get into a wild fight for the garbage, with Chief even biting off another dog’s ear. His pack comes out victorious, but Rex, who is a former house pet, says he can’t stomach anymore of the garbage. King, Boss, and Duke agree, as they were also domesticated, but Chief, a stray, is more thankful for what they have. The dogs then spot a female dog, Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson), walking by.

A plane flown by Atari comes crashing down to the island. The dogs go after him when they see the wreckage. Atari has a piece of the plane stuck in his head. He sees the dogs and uses a picture to tell them he is looking for Spots. The dogs don’t know him personally, but they know he’s the first dog who was sent there. They bring Atari to what they believe is his cage, where a dog skeleton lies because none of the other dogs knew how to open it. Atari becomes distraught and enraged.

We see a flashback to when Atari first got Spots after the train accident that killed his parents. Atari lost his right kidney in the same accident. Kobayashi’s Major-Domo (Akira Takayama) brings Spots in and doesn’t appear to approve of Atari treating Spots like a pet. Atari begins to whisper to Spots, and, with tears in his eyes, he tells the boy he can understand him.

Atari attempts to leave the island. Rex notices Boss wearing the collar of the dog in the cage, and sees that the tag says “Sport” and not Spots. After Atari crashes the plane again, the dogs decide to help him look for Spots, but Chief doesn’t trust Atari and refuses to help him, but the dogs overrule his decision.

At night, Chief meets Nutmeg formally. He pries into her life by asking about who she’s mating with, which she doesn’t approve of. After apologizing, he gets to talk to her more. Nutmeg says she is a former show dog who could perform tricks. She asks Chief if he is going to help Atari since boys like him love dogs. Chief is unsure, but ultimately agrees to go along with the mission.

At a lab in the city, Watanabe successfully discovers the cure for the canine flu. He and his assistant scientist, Yoko Ono (Yoko Ono), present their discovery to Kobayashi, but he dismisses it and plans to keep the dogs on Trash Island. He leaves the room, at which point Watanabe sees a file containing classified information regarding the canine flu and Trash Island, but the Major-Domo swipes it away from Watanabe before he can find out anything.

Part Two: The Search For Spots On their way to find Spots, the dogs start talking about their favorite foods. When they ask Chief, he reveals to them that he wasn’t always a stray. He was owned by a family until he bit the hand of the oldest boy when he tried to pet Chief. He claims it was so bad that he almost bit the boy’s hand off completely. The family locked him in a shed, but the grandmother brought him a bowl of hibachi chili, which he says was his favorite food. He dug his way out and became a stray.

A rescue team searching for Atari comes down along with a drone and a robot dog. The captors trap Atari, but the pack intervenes to fight them off and save Atari. Chief battles the robot dog and gets injured, but Atari is set free and he disables the robot dog. The drone also ends up crashing down to the ground.

At a school in Megasaki City, exchange student Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig) presents a theory to her class that involves a conspiracy within the Kobayashi party, and she plans to do whatever it takes to prove that the mayor is corrupt. She organizes a televised rally with the other children to call for a reform in the way they are handling the dog situation. The kids hold up pictures of their dogs, and we learn that Tracy is Nutmeg’s owner.

Atari and the dogs set out to find the dogs Jupiter (F. Murray Abraham) and Oracle (Tilda Swinton), as they are known as the wisest dogs on the island. Oracle supposedly has “visions”, but she is actually just able to understand the TV and translate what’s happening. Upon finding them, Jupiter and Oracle recognize Spots in his picture as “Dog Zero”. Jupiter suggests that Spots may be on the island as a prisoner of a group of cannibal aboriginal dogs.

The group attempts to head further to find Spots, but Chief and Atari get split up from the other four dogs. After they land, Atari attempts to play with Chief, who is reluctant at first, but eventually warms up to the boy. He even lets Atari pet him. He then gives Chief a bath, completely removing the filth off of him to reveal that he is the same breed as Spots.

Back in Megasaki, a chef is preparing sushi. He dabs one of the rolls with poisoned wasabi and has it sent to the room of Professor Watanabe. He is reported dead in the morning from what is believed to have been a suicide. Tracy continues her investigation into the matter, even going to confront a devastated Yoko to confirm that the cure exists. Yoko gives it to Tracy so she can set out to expose the truth.

Part Three: The Rendez-Vous Atari and Chief reunite with Rex, Boss, King, and Duke as they reach a bridge that will lead them to the aboriginal tribe. The four dogs get stuck on the trash lift that they came in on, but Atari and Chief make it across. They are confronted once again by Kobayashi’s men, plus more robot dogs. Just when it looks like time is up for the two, they are found by none other than SPOTS.

Another flashback shows Spots being found by the group of aboriginal dogs, but he learns from their leader, Gondo (Harvey Keitel), that they only ate their former leader because he was already sick and dying, and so the other dogs had no choice but to eat him since there was little else for them to survive off of. Gondo admits that this really hurt him and the others, but he doesn’t like that they have a reputation as cannibal dogs. They find a key for Spots’s cage, and they free him. Spots then meets his future mate, Peppermint (Kara Hayward).

Back in the present, Spots uses his military-issued explosive teeth to take out the robot dogs. Spots takes Chief and Atari and jumps into the river to escape the others. While they float away, Spots tells Atari that he can no longer serve him and be his bodyguard because of his new role in the tribe, and because he and Peppermint are going to be parents. He also confirms to Chief that they are brothers. Chief is at first disgusted with Spots since Atari went through all this just for him, but Spots then decides that he may now pass his former role onto Chief. Atari places Spots’s mic and earpiece onto Chief, who accepts his new role.

Part Four: Atari’s Lantern Atari, Chief, and Spots encounter a messenger owl sent to them from Jupiter. They learn that Kobayashi is planning to take care of the city’s dog problem by effectively poisoning them with gas. Atari leads his dogs to head out on rafts back toward the city to stop this.

The city is gathered for Kobayashi’s election ceremony. Atari is believed to have been dead after the bridge jump. Tracy and her classmates arrive to protest, with Tracy trying to expose Kobayashi’s corruption, as well as the fact that he and his team manufactured the canine flu out of their hatred for dogs, and the fact that Watanabe was murdered. As a result, she has her student visa nullified and is set to be deported. Atari, Chief, and the other dogs arrive. They administer the cure to Chief, who is immediately relieved of the canine flu. Atari then stands up to speak and deliver a speech and a haiku, which moves Kobayashi to tears and causes him to have a change of heart. He undoes the Trash Island Decree and admits to his corruption and acting dishonorably. He tries to cancel the poisoning, but the Major-Domo tries to see the extermination through. They press a button and activate the poison, but thanks to one of Tracy’s hacker friends, the poison backfires and affects the robot dogs and exterminators on the island. A robot dog then tries to attack Atari and the other dogs, but Spots intervenes and fights the robot dog. It is destroyed, but Spots loses an eye, and Atari has a metal part lodged in his head.

Atari undergoes a successful brain surgery, but his remaining kidney has failed. Kobayashi decides to donate his left kidney to save his nephew’s life.

Kobayashi and his whole party are locked up for their crimes. Due to the election law, Atari becomes the new mayor of Megasaki. He makes it so that all dogs are returned to their owners and that they may return to society. This helps former dog-based businesses return, including a dog treat factory that the other dogs loved. Atari and Tracy become a couple, which allows Chief to get closer to Nutmeg.

Over Gotham City airspace, two best friend pilots are transporting an insane amount of explosives. They are hijacked by The Joker (voice of Zach Galifianakis) and his minions. Across the city, Joker has set loose some of Gotham’s most notorious criminals, including Harley Quinn (voice of Jenny Slate), Two-Face (voice of Billy Dee Williams), The Riddler (voice of Conan O’Brien), Scarecrow (voice of Jason Mantzoukas), Catwoman (voice of Zoe Kravitz), Poison Ivy (voice of Riki Lindhome), Clayface (voice of Kate Miccuci), Bane (voice of Doug Benson), Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, and some C-list villains like Calendar Man, Gentleman Ghost, and Condiment King. The pilot knows Batman (voice Will Arnett) will stop Joker, but he believes otherwise.

Beneath the city’s central core, Joker has Killer Croc plant a bomb that would level Gotham and plunge it into an abyss. Commissioner Jim Gordon (voice of Hector Elizondo) tries to use the Bat-signal to contact Batman, but Eggman has egged it down. Jim and Chief O’Hara go downtown to spring into action while the villains continue to run amok. Jim meets with Mayor McCaskill (voice of Mariah Carey) before she is airlifted to the central core. Joker and his villains are all gathered to watch the city be destroyed, but the Mayor reveals herself to be Batman in disguise. He proceeds to single-handedly beat down every villain before trying to catch The Joker. Batman latches onto Joker with his grappling hook but Joker reminds him that the bomb is still active. When Joker calls himself Batman’s worst enemy, Batman rebuffs it by stating that Joker means nothing to him, and that nobody does. Joker looks heartbroken as Batman rushes to stop the bomb. He succeeds, and the city cheers Batman on.

Batman returns to his home on his own island. He spends his free time alone in the Batcave, eating leftover lobster thermidor and cackling maniacally during “Jerry Maguire”. Batman later stares at a portrait of himself as a child with his parents on the night they died. He starts addressing the portrait and says his parents would have been proud that he saved the city again. He is then startled by Alfred (voice of Ralph Fiennes), so Batman accidentally dropkicks him into the piano. After apologizing, Alfred realizes that Batman is going through another one of his phases and is just sad at the prospect of having another family. Alfred then reminds Batman that there is a gala later that day for Jim Gordon’s retirement, which Batman reluctantly goes to.

On the way to the gala, Batman (now out of disguise as Bruce Wayne) watches a news report on how Superman (voice of Channing Tatum) sent General Zod into the Phantom Zone. Joker is watching the same report in his lair with Harley and sees certain famous villains beyond the realm of Gotham City are contained there. Thus, Joker hatches his latest idea.

At the gala, Bruce is approached by an orphan, Dick Grayson (voice of Michael Cera). He’s a sweet kid who longs for another family. Dick asks Bruce if he would consider adopting him, just as Bruce’s attention is caught by the new commissioner, Jim’s daughter Barbara (Rosario Dawson). She gets up to talk to the citizens of Gotham about her latest idea: she wants the police force to team up with Batman because on his own, he hasn’t done much to take care of the huge crime problem in the city. Bruce does not like the idea one bit, and moments later, the gala is interrupted by Joker and his villain team. Bruce goes into Batman mode and Master-Builds himself a vehicle while Barbara attempts to confront Joker on her own terms. To everyone’s surprise, Joker surrenders himself and all the villains (except Harley) to the police. With Gotham’s worst all locked up, Barbara receives credit while Batman is left to go home in disbelief.

Batman stalks Arkham Asylum for any suspicious activity. He sees a van driven by Harley (now out of disguise as Harleen Quinzel) with the logo “Phantom’s Own Laundry Service”. He knows something suspicious is going on, but Barbara sees him and tells him to let the police worry about it.

Back at Wayne Manor, Batman tries to access Joker’s plans through the computer, but Alfred put a parental lock on the computer. He tells Batman that he should spend time with Dick, whom he had adopted over a week ago. Batman is baffled and refuses to do anything with the boy until Alfred purposely leads Dick into the Batcave. Dick is amazed to know that Batman is one of his new dads. Meanwhile, Batman schemes to put Joker in the Phantom Zone, but he must steal the Phantom Zone Projector, which is located in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. When the computer determines that Batman is way too “jacked” to fit into the vents that would take him to the Projector’s location, he gets the idea to have Dick join him so that he can fetch it. Dick goes through Batman’s costumes for a cool outfit to wear, and he settles on Batman’s “Reggae Man” outfit and names himself Robin.

The Dynamic Duo arrive at the Fortress of Solitude. While Robin goes to find the Projector, Batman creates a diversion by knocking on Superman’s door. To Batman’s surprise, Superman and the rest of the Justice League - including Green Lantern (voice of Jonah Hill), Flash (voice of Adam Devine), Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and the Wonder Twins - are celebrating an anniversary party without having invited Batman. A dejected Batman leaves when nobody is looking just as Robin has gotten through the complicated security system to retrieve the Projector. Batman almost admits that he’s proud of Robin, but he’s also too proud to admit it.

Batman and Robin head on down to Arkham to take on Joker. Barbara finds them and has them go through security. When Robin is caught trying to smuggle the Projector, the two beat up the guards and run to Joker’s cell. Just as he expected, Batman confronts Joker and hits him with the Projector, sending him into the Phantom Zone.

In the Phantom Zone, Joker is met by a sentient brick called Phyllis (voice of Ellie Kemper). After scanning Joker for badness, she has him meet some of the most notorious villains of all time, like Lord Voldemort (voice of Eddie Izzard), Sauron (voice of Jemaine Clement), King Kong (voice of Seth Green), The Kraken, Jaws, Agent Smith, Dracula, Medusa, The Wicked Witch of the West, the Gremlins, and the Daleks. He tells the villains that he has a plan to get them all out of there. Back in Arkham, Harley steals the Projector and uses it to bring back every last villain. Joker unleashes them all on the city to cause mass mayhem. Sauron floods the streets with lava, Voldemort turns people into animals, and King Kong smashes through the city.

Batman (who got himself and Robin locked up) asks Barbara to let him go so that he can go save the city. She agrees only on the condition that he allow her to join and help. Batman begrudgingly agrees, and he is now joined by Barbara, Robin, and Alfred (who somehow made it from Wayne Manor to Arkham on his own). The heroes take the Batwing across the city as they try to locate Joker. Sauron has his eye locked on Batman and has led Joker to Wayne Manor, where Joker finds Batman’s stash of romantic comedies.

The Gremlins start tearing into the Batwing, leading Batman to hop outside and leave the Batwing on autopilot with some rope tied to the controls. Robin and Alfred join him in taking out the Gremlins. Robin falls off the Batwing, and Batman jumps to rescue him. Alfred falls off too and nearly plummets to his death, but Barbara takes control of the Batwing and saves him. Batman then comes up with a plan and has Barbara fly toward Sauron’s eye, just as Kraken blasts a fireball at the Batwing. At the right moment, Barbara steers the Batwing away and causes Sauron to get blown to bits, meaning Joker no longer has an eye on Batman.

The heroes make it to Wayne Island and applaud each other for their accomplishments. Robin takes a selfie with everyone as his new family, which then strikes a nerve with Batman. The other three go into the Batwing for more gear, but Batman locks them in there and has the computer send them to the border of Gotham City and Bludhaven so that he can protect them and fight Joker on his own.

Batman finds Joker inside his home, but Batman is surrounded by all the villains, completely outnumbered. Joker only wants to hear Batman say that he hates him and considers him his worst enemy, but Batman is stubborn and refuses to acknowledge it. Joker takes the Projector and sends Batman to the Phantom Zone.

Batman meets Phyllis, who scans him and determines that while he’s not bad enough to be considered a villain, he has done a lot of bad things to people that care about him. Batman realizes he has been trying to protect himself from getting hurt again. He makes a deal with Phyllis to bring back all the villains if she lets him go back to Gotham.

Batman’s computer overrides his commands to protect him and sends Robin, Barbara, and Alfred back to the island to fight the villains. Batman is sent back as well, and he apologizes to his friends for deceiving them. He opts to get help not only from them, but from all of his enemies broken out of Arkham. He even gives Barbara her own suit, dubbing her “Batgirl”.

The team faces off against Joker’s villains, with all of them being gradually sent back to the Phantom Zone. However, the bomb from earlier goes off and starts to break the city apart. Batman and his friends all form a chain link using their heads and feet to pull the city back together, along with the citizens of Gotham. It’s still not enough, so Batman is forced to ask for Joker’s help. Batman admits to Joker that he truly is his greatest enemy and that they need each other. Joker is touched and helps Batman pull the city back together.

With the city saved, Batman must fulfill his end of the bargain and return to the Phantom Zone. He reveals himself as Bruce Wayne to Robin and finally accepts him as a son. They have a tearful hug goodbye as Batman ascends to the Phantom Zone. However, he gets blocked from going up. Phyllis appears and tells Batman that she has seen how he changed to help those that he cares about, and has decided he can stay with his friends. Batman and Joker then part ways as Joker heads off with the rest of the rogues. Batman decides to give them a 30-minute head start before he and his team go catch them.

Katie Mitchell is a quirky and aspiring filmmaker in Kentwood, Michigan who often clashes with her nature-obsessed and technophobic father Rick, and has recently been accepted into film school in California. The evening before Katie leaves, Rick accidentally breaks her laptop after Katie and him fight over one of Katie’s previous short films, leading the family to fear their relationship will forever be strained. To try and prevent this, Rick decides to cancel Katie’s flight and instead take her, along with her mother Linda, younger brother Aaron and family dog Monchi, on a cross-country road trip to her college as one last bonding experience.

Meanwhile, technology entrepreneur Mark Bowman declares his highly intelligent AI PAL obsolete as he unveils a new line of home robots in her place. In revenge, PAL takes over Mark’s company and orders all the robots to capture humans worldwide and launch them into space. The Mitchells manage to avoid capture at a roadstop cafe in Kansas. Rick decides that his family should stay put in the cafe for their own safety, but Katie convinces him to help save the world instead. They meet two defective robots that tried to capture them, Eric and Deborahbot 5000, who tell the family they can use a kill code to shut down PAL and all the robots.

After a hot pursuit with the robots en route, the Mitchells make it to a nearby mall to upload the kill code, but PAL orders all the PAL chip-enabled appliances to stop them. Katie tries to upload the kill code, but is stopped when a giant Furby pursues the family. They ultimately trap and defeat the Furby, destroying a PAL router in the process, which disables the hostile devices but stops the kill code from uploading. Rick then encourages his daughter with the confidence to go to Silicon Valley to destroy PAL with the kill code. On the way there, Linda reveals to Katie that she and Rick had originally lived in a cabin in the mountains years ago as it was his lifelong dream before he gave up on it.

Upon arriving in Silicon Valley, the Mitchells disguise themselves as robots and head to PAL Labs HQ to shut it down. However, as they go up to the lair, PAL manipulates them by revealing surveillance footage from the cafe of Katie telling Aaron in secret that she was pretending to have faith in Rick so that he would take them to upload the kill code. As Rick became heartbroken and betrayed when seeing this, the Mitchells fail to reach PAL’s lair and Rick and Linda are captured by PAL’s stronger and smarter robots, dubbed PAL MAX Prime. PAL then reprograms Eric and Deborahbot into obeying her, while Katie, Aaron and Monchi escape the headquarters.

Katie, Aaron and Monchi hide from the robots soon after, as Aaron felt despondent and sadly disappointed by Katie’s words. Soon, Katie discovers Rick’s recordings of her childhood that she unknowingly recorded over on her camera, realizing that Rick gave up on his lifelong dream in order to give his daughter a better life. In the meantime, Rick watches one of Katie’s videos which mirrors his relationship with her daughter. Reinvigorated and in hopes of making up to her family, Katie infiltrates PAL Labs HQ again with the help of Aaron, using Monchi to cause the robots to malfunction, as his appearance causes an error in their programming. With help from Mark, Rick and Linda free themselves and plan to upload a home movie of Katie’s with Monchi in it to short-circuit the robots. However, Rick is outnumbered by the robots when he is about to upload the video.

Katie and Aaron are eventually captured. Facing PAL to justify saving humanity, Katie explains that no matter how hard her family struggles, they will always stay connected despite how different they are. PAL ignores this reasoning and drops Katie from her lair. Eric and Deborahbot, having been inspired by Rick’s “reprogramming” himself, that allowed him to use a computer, revert to their malfunctioning states and upload Katie’s home movie, saving her and helping the rest of the Mitchells. The family bands together to fight the rest of the improved robots, with Linda leading the charge and destroying dozens. Katie eventually finds and destroys PAL by dropping her into a glass of water, freeing all the humans and disabling all the robots except for Eric and Deborahbot.

In Ancient Egypt, Hebrew slaves are hard at work making bricks and setting up giant statues and other monuments. Through song, it is implied that they call on their God regularly, seeking deliverance from their slavery, under which they have labored for hundreds of years. On this particular day, while the men are toiling on one side of the Nile River, on the other side their homes are raided by soldiers in the Egyptian army. They take infant boys from their mothers by force and kill them. However, a Hebrew woman, Yocheved, steals away to the river with her baby and her two older children, where she sets the baby adrift in a reed basket–hoping and praying this will save her son. The reed basket makes a tumultuous journey down the river among both dangerous animals and large boats–with several close calls. Eventually, it makes its way to the Pharaoh’s palace, where his wife and young son, Rameses, play with a lotus flower. The Queen finds and opens the basket. She looks at the baby with love and compassion, chooses to keep him, and names him Moses. Moses’ sister, Miriam, having followed the basket, sees this and prays that someday Moses will come back to deliver them from slavery.

Many years later (about twenty years, give or take), Moses and Rameses have become rather reckless young men, much to the disdain of their father, Pharaoh Seti. Moses in particular has a tendency for troublemaking; Rameses in turn often finds himself entangled in his brother’s foolish behavior, though he is generally more serious. After damaging a temple that was under renovation through an especially foolhardy chariot race, Pharaoh reprimands his sons–especially Rameses since he is next in line for the throne. When Rameses angrily says that one ruined temple won’t undo centuries of tradition, Seti retorts “But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!” After he’s dismissed, Rameses leaves in indignation and shame. Moses asks Pharaoh why he is so hard on Rameses, especially since he knows Moses is the most responsible for the damage. He replies that since Rameses is the next Pharaoh, he needs to be trained to never turn away from his responsibilities and traditions, even if Moses is the one trying to lead him astray. Moses declares his confidence in Rameses’ seriousness and devotion, and informs Seti that he just needs an opportunity to prove himself.

Moses finds Rameses sulking over his father’s words. He attempts to comfort him by sarcastically pointing out how it would be impossible for one man, even a Pharaoh, to ruin the Egyptian empire. Rameses resists his efforts at first, but eventually gives in. Moses points out in jest that Rameses’ problem is that he cares too much. Without missing a beat, Rameses says Moses’ problem is that he doesn’t care at all. Moses replies “Oh, so I suppose you care more than I do that we’re… late for the banquet for example?” Panicking, Rameses runs to the banquet hall with Moses right behind. Moses assures him that no one will notice them enter… until everyone notices them enter. The large hall is filled with people. Fortunately, their timing is perfect, because (as their mother, the Queen, whispers to them) Pharaoh Seti had just named Rameses as Prince Regent. Pharaoh had taken Moses’ advice to heart.

Moses proposes to Seti that the high priests, Hotep and Huy (who dislike the two brothers), should offer tribute to their new regent. He agrees, and the two priests decide to offer a beautiful young woman named Tzipporah [the T is silent], a Midianite slave girl who had been captured recently. Though they refer to her as a delicate, desert flower, she proves to be anything but gentle. Afraid (at first) and angry, she nearly bites Rameses’ hand when he gets far too close–so he offers her to Moses instead. Though he tries to decline (as Rameses pushes him towards her), she also defies him and insults him. Rameses laughs and asks “Are you going to let her talk to you like that?” Moses responds by warning her to show the proper respect for a prince of Egypt. She replies “But I am showing you all the respect you deserve… NONE!” She yanks the rope tied to her wrists from Hotep’s hands, but Moses grabs the rope before she can attempt to escape. She pulls as hard as she can and demands to be set free. Noticing an indoor pond behind her, Moses says “As you wish” and lets go abruptly–causing her to trip and fall into it. The whole room erupts into laughter, except for the Queen who turns her face away in shame. Moses sees this and stops laughing, ashamed that he disappointed his mother.

After ordering a nearby servant to send Tzipporah to Moses’ chambers, Rameses declares “If it pleases you Father, my first act as Regent is to appoint Moses as Royal Chief Architect!” As he says this, he takes a blue scarab ring from his hand and gives it to Moses. The hall congratulates him with cheers and applause, but as he inspects the ring with gratitude, he notices Tzipporah on her way out–glaring at him intensely. It is clear from his facial expression that Moses is not looking forward to that night with her.

After the banquet ends, Moses nervously enters his room. Seeing someone seated on his bed behind a curtain, he composes himself and pulls it back. It turns out to be a servant; Tzipporah had tied him up thoroughly (and also Moses’ dogs) and had escaped out the open balcony by using several bedsheets tied together. He sees her sneaking out quietly with a camel and supplies. As he climbs down the sheet-rope, he notices a couple of guards about to cross paths with her. He calls to them, getting their attention, while Tzipporah stops in her tracks. However, instead of having the guards recapture her (he can see her standing behind them by this point), he tells them about the man tied up in his room and orders them to investigate. This surprises Tzipporah, but she runs while Moses watches the guards leave. He follows her as she leaves the palace and travels through the Hebrew settlements. She asks and is given water by a man and a woman at a well near the outer edge of the settlements. She thanks them and escapes into the desert on the camel.

When Moses goes to watch Tzipporah leave (clearly captivated by her), the Hebrew woman recognizes him. She says that she is his sister, Miriam, and that the man (named Aaron) is his brother. She assumes that he knows they are his older siblings, and that he has come to see them at last. Aaron tries to prevent Miriam from speaking to Moses, because he can see that Moses has no idea who they are and would end up punishing them for these assertions. He does this by claiming that Miriam is delusional, first because of fatigue from their daily labors (not that it was too much; they quite enjoyed it), and then later because she is mentally ill. Miriam angrily denies these claims and insists that Moses is their brother. Moses is incensed at her words, but Miriam relates how their mother, Yocheved, set him adrift in a basket on the Nile River to save his life. Confused, he asks from whom. She answers “Ask the man that you call Father!” Truly angered by this, he approaches her as she claims that God chose him to deliver the Hebrews out of slavery. He grabs her arm and throws her to the ground, saying “You will regret this night.”

Despairing, Miriam starts to sing Yocheved’s lullaby to Moses that she sang as she set him in the basket. Walking away, Moses stops because he begins to recognize the song (he had been whistling the tune the previous day). As he turns back around to look at Miriam, he realizes that she was telling the truth. Shocked from hearing this, Moses runs back to the palace in denial. As he attempts to convince himself that this is his true home, and it’s all he ever wanted, he falls asleep. He has a nightmare (or possibly a vision) showing what happened the day of which Miriam spoke, including the deaths of the Hebrew infants–thrown into the Nile River to drown and be eaten by crocodiles.

When Moses wakes in horror, he searches the palace for evidence of this terrible event. It is still night. Eventually, he finds a large relief mural with hieroglyphics showing and declaring the death of the Hebrew baby boys–by the command of the man he called Father. Presumably having been awakened by the torchlight passing through the halls, Pharaoh Seti approaches him and explains that this was an unwilling precaution on his part to keep the slaves from over-multiplying and uprising. He says “Moses, sometimes… for the greater good… sacrifices must be made.” Because Moses is clearly saddened and disturbed, Seti attempts to comfort him and justify himself, saying “They were only slaves.” However, because of his newfound knowledge of his Hebrew origins, this drives Moses away from him for good. He leaves Seti’s embrace and runs out into the night.

Early that morning, Moses’ adopted mother finds him sitting by the river where she found him in the basket all those years ago. Confronting her about his origins, he says sadly “So everything I thought… everything I am… is a lie.” She responds “No! You are our son, and we love you.” Asking why she took him in, she says she didn’t. She expresses her belief that he was truly sent by the gods, saying “Here the river brought you, and it’s here the river meant to be your home.” She embraces him, hoping to comfort and reassure him of their love for him.

However, as Rameses presents his new renovation plan to the high priests for the temple he and Moses ruined the previous day, Moses is still deeply unsettled. He is only paying attention to the Hebrews, as if noticing them and their sufferings for the first time. He is especially racked with guilt because they are cleaning up the destruction he caused. As he sadly watches them, he soon observes one of them being whipped violently and repeatedly. It is an old man who is having difficulty with his heavy burdens. He notices Miriam and Aaron working near the man, with Aaron holding her back from trying to interfere. Here Moses fully accepts who he is, and being moved with anger and pain, he runs to stop the cruel overseer from beating the man. But in the process, he ends up knocking the overseer off a high scaffold to his death. Horrified by what he has done, and being witnessed by many (including Rameses and the high priests), Moses begins to run. The Hebrews stand back in fear, except for Miriam who calls his name and takes his arm to calm him down–but he pulls it away and keeps running.

He is intercepted by Rameses, who grabs him and asks him what’s going on. However, he pushes him aside and continues to run. He nearly makes it out of the city before Rameses catches up to him on his chariot. Moses exclaims “You saw what happened–I just killed a man!” Rameses claims he will “make it so it never happened.” However, Moses refuses to accept any more lies about his life. Because of his disgust at both his killing of the overseer and his past unconcern towards the slaves, and because he knew he has neither power nor moral authority to free the slaves, he ignores Rameses’ pleas. He tells Rameses he can no longer remain in Egypt. When Rameses attempts to stop him, Moses grabs his shoulders and shouts “No! Everything I’ve ever known to be true is a lie!…I’m not who you think I am.” Asking what he means by that, Moses simply answers “Go ask the man I once called Father.” Turning to leave, Moses stops when his brother pleads with him to remain. But Moses only says “Goodbye, brother,” and runs–with Rameses calling his name.

Moses wanders far into the desert. After several days, famished from lack of food and water, he stubs his toe and breaks his sandal. He angrily discards them and the rest of his royal ornaments, except for the ring given to him by Rameses. A sandstorm soon overtakes him, and he surrenders himself to it. However, he survives; a camel pulls his head out of the sand (thinking his hair was grass). He notices the camel is saddled and holds a water pouch. He digs himself out hastily and tries to take some of the water, but he only has enough energy to loop his arm around the pouch before passing out. Fortunately, the camel drags him to a large well with some troughs, where he gorges himself on the liquid goodness within–much to the surprise of a nearby sheep. Soon after he arrives, Moses observes some bandits attempting to steal water from three young girls. Moses manages to drive the bandits away by sending their camels on the run, but in his exhaustion, he falls down the well by chance. The three girls turn out to be Tzipporah’s younger sisters, who are unable to get Moses out of the well until she comes along. Thinking they are only playing around (after the youngest says they are “trying to get the funny man out of the well”), she’s surprised to hear him struggling as they attempt to pull him up. She hurriedly informs him they will get him out soon and pulls him up in a few seconds. However, once she realizes it’s Moses, she drops him back down the well as retaliation for embarrassing her at the banquet several nights previous. (This is done in relatively good nature, though, as she is aware of his help in her escape; it is assumed that she pulls him back out shortly afterward.) As she swaggers away, her two youngest sisters look to the third one for an explanation; she answers “This is why Papa says she will never get married…”

That evening, Tzipporah’s father, Jethro the High Priest of Midian, holds a celebration in thanks for what Moses has done. Moses claims that his past actions (and inaction) make him unworthy of any honor (Tzipporah is surprised by his great change in attitude since they first meet). However, Jethro refuses to believe his claim, referring to how Moses helped get all his daughters out of perilous situations. He informs Moses that if he wants to see what his life is worth, he needs to view his life “through Heaven’s eyes”, which he eventually does. Moses grows to become a member of Jethro’s tribe, working with Tzipporah and her sisters as a shepherd. Over time, he and Tzipporah become friends, fall in love, and get married.

One day (probably about ten years, give or take, after Moses left Egypt), while chasing a stray lamb, Moses discovers a cavern with a bush that burned in a way he has never seen before, with an unusual fire that didn’t scorch. The bush then speaks, revealing that it is the voice and presence of God, who has heard the cries of the Israelites. When Moses nervously asks what is wanted of him, the voice says that He has chosen Moses to deliver the Hebrews out of slavery (just as his sister, Miriam, had declared), by speaking to Pharoah the words which he will be taught to say. Moses is at first apprehensive, given that he was the son of Pharoah, the man who murdered the children of the slaves. However, the voice commands Moses to go forth, promising to smite Egypt with His wonders when Pharaoh will not listen. He promises to be with Moses. Afterwards, God’s presence departs, leaving the bush no longer alight. During this conversation, Moses’ attitude and feelings go from shame and fear, to peace, confidence, and joy.

Moses returns to Tzipporah and excitedly informs her of what transpired in the cave, and what he has been asked to do. Since she is overcome at first by the immensity of the task given him, he informs of his desire to see his people free, like her family is free. She lays aside her fears for him and decides to accompany him back to his former home. Upon reaching the palace, Moses finds that his father (and mother, presumably) is dead, and Rameses has become the new Pharoah, married with a son of his own. The two brothers greet each other jovially, with Rameses eager to welcome Moses back, forgiving the events that drove him away (and seemingly ignoring his Hebrew origins). Moses hesitantly explains that things cannot return to how they once were, and requests that Rameses let the slaves go free, as requested by God. Moses then demonstrates God’s power, as his wooden staff becomes a snake. Rameses smirks at this trick, but is confused, thinking that Moses has something else he wants to talk about. However, he plays along, and has Hotep and Huy conjure their own magic, which is consists of convincing showmanship. This impresses the rest of Rameses’ court, but not Moses or Tzipporah.

Rameses and Moses then meet in private, where they discuss the slaves, the duties of Pharaoh, and the actions of Seti. Frustrated by Rameses’ refusal to acknowledge the humanity of the slaves, Moses’ relation to them, and the sins of Seti, Moses declares that he can no longer hide in the desert while his people suffer. He returns the royal ring that Rameses had given him so long ago. Rameses is saddened, then angered, that Moses came back for the Hebrews and not for him. He declares that he does not acknowledge his brother’s God, and refuses to allow the Hebrews to leave. Moses pleads for his brother to reconsider, but Rameses claims he will not be the ‘weak link’ in his family’s dynasty, showing that Seti was successful in setting Rameses on an unalterable path. He then orders the workload doubled for the slaves out of spite.

Several of the slaves–including his brother Aaron–shun Moses because of the extra workload, and they doubt that God called Moses to deliver them (or even cares for them). However, Miriam harbors no grudge towards her brother, claiming that God saved Moses from all his trials and adversity for a purpose. This encourages Moses to not give up. On the Nile River near them, Moses sees Rameses, his son, Hotep, and Huy on a royal barge. Moses approaches them, and shouts for Rameses to let his people go. Rameses scoffs at this, and sends his guards after him–until Moses places his staff in the water, turning the Nile to blood. Unsure how this is achieved, Rameses demands that Hotep and Huy duplicate or explain this. Using some red powder, they claim that the power of their gods can do the same, and Rameses just dismisses Moses’ trick once again. Aaron claims that nothing will help them, but Moses promises that God will see to it that they are made free.

A series of plagues then begin to befall Egypt, each more ferociously destructive than the last: Locusts destroy crops, the Egyptians come down with terrible sores on their skin, and fire rains down from the sky. Even with all these events and several more, which his mages prove powerless to counter, Rameses still refuses to give into Moses’ request. Meanwhile, he banishes Hotep and Huy from the palace for their deceptions. Moses and Rameses are both frustrated with each other. Many monuments, statues, and structures become damaged or destroyed.

Soon after, the land is covered in darkness (except for where the Hebrews live), and Moses goes to see his brother once again to convince him to let the Hebrews go. As they talk, Rameses eventually opens up, they reminisce on their past, and a flicker of mutual brotherly love seems almost rekindled, until Rameses’ son comes in and demands to know if Moses is the reason for what has befallen Egypt. With his son close by, Rameses once again sheds his friendlier side and acts as Pharaoh. Moses explains that the plagues would end if Rameses would just fulfill his request, and says something even more terrifying will happen if he doesn’t, pleading for Rameses to think of his son. Rameses says he does, and proposes that he will “finish the job” that his father was not able to do, promising a greater massacre among the slaves than ever before. Horrified at Rameses’ murderous defiance with this threat to his people, Moses calmly but sadly notes that what is to come will be Rameses’ responsibility.

Disheartened, Moses leaves and instructs the slaves to mark lamb’s blood above their doors for protection. He informs them that the firstborn of every household will die, unless the blood is upon the door. In the night, the angel of death comes, and passes over the protected doors. In the homes where there is no protective sign, the angel takes the lives of the firstborn children, including Rameses’ son. Moses goes to his brother after this, amidst the mourning of the Egyptians, and is at last given permission to take the slaves. He attempts to comfort Rameses, but he orders him to leave the palace.

Moses is at first distraught, because of all who have died (among many other things), but Miriam encourages him, saying (or singing, rather) how at long last, the Hebrews (and any who will go with them) are finally having their prayers answered, and their faith affirmed. Tzipporah also tells how her own faith has grown, and the three of them, with Aaron, lead the exodus of the slaves. Most of the people are still somewhat in shock, but as they make their way out of Egypt, their spirits lift. After they finally reach the Red Sea, the watchman’s horn is sounded behind them, and they see that Rameses has gathered his army of chariots to kill the slaves out of revenge; there appears to be no place for them to run. Suddenly, a pillar of fire descends from the heavens, separating the Hebrews and Rameses’ army. Moses then walks a short distance into the Red Sea, and with his staff, parts the waters. At first, the people are afraid to pass through (and probably afraid of Moses also), but having overcome all his previous doubts, Aaron goes forward–encouraging the others to do likewise.

The slaves make their way through, but eventually, the pillar of fire disappears, and Rameses and his men decide to ride through the parted sea, rather than turn back and acknowledge defeat. Moses is able to get everyone across just as the water descends, drowning Rameses’ army. Meanwhile, Rameses is washed back ashore on the other side. The people are shocked by what happened for several moments, but eventually, they realize that they are finally free, and they begin to celebrate. Moses begins to celebrate with his family, but then turns back to look across the sea, and thinks of his brother Rameses. Knowing that they will never see each other again, he quietly says goodbye one last time. Meanwhile, Rameses is conscious, and crying out Moses’ name in rage, despair, and regret.

In St Petersburg, Russia, in 1916, a lavish ball is held to celebrate 300 years of the ruling of the Romanov family. Attending the event is the Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury), whose son Nicolas is the Tsar of Imperial Russia. At the event, Marie is happy to see her granddaughter Anastasia (Kirsten Dunst), who is sad that Marie will be going to Paris, France. Marie has chosen to give Anastasia a music box as a gift, which plays a melody that both of them know. The wind-up key to make the music box work is on a pendant, inscribed with the words, “Together in Paris.”

The mood of the party is soon silenced as Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) enters, claiming to be Nicolas’ “confidant.” Nicolas instead brands Rasputin as a traitor, and orders him out of the Palace. Angered at Nicholas, Rasputin claims that he and his family will be dead within the fortnight, and vows to not rest until all the Romanovs are dead.

Rasputin then sells his soul for the power to destroy the Romanov family. With his stronger dark powers, Rasputin uses them to cause dissent among the people, who soon revolt and charge the Palace gates. Anastasia and Marie are in a room in the midst of the chaos, but escape through a secret entrance with the help of a servant boy. As they attempt to make their way across a frozen river on the Palace Grounds, Rasputin confronts them, but ends up on thin ice, which cracks and gives way under him, causing him to sink into the cold waters, leaving behind his magic reliquary and a little fruitbat named Bartok (Hank Azaria).

Anastasia and Marie attempt to board a train, but in the process, Anastasia loses her grip on Marie’s hand, falling to the platform, where she hits her head and goes unconscious.

10 years after the revolution, St Petersburg is filled with gossip that Anastasia (Meg Ryan) may still be alive, with the Dowager Empress Marie (who still resides in Paris) promising to pay a reward for the return of her granddaughter. A conman in St Petersburg named Dimitri (John Cusack) and his assistant Vlad (Kelsey Grammer) are attempting to find a woman to pass off as Anastasia, in hopes of bilking Marie out of the reward.

Meanwhile, Anastasia has grown up in an orphanage, under the name of Anya. Having developed amnesia after falling off the train onto the platform, no memory of her past life remains, except for the key/locket to the music box. The head of the orphanage has deemed it time for Anya to go to work, and sends her off to work at a fish factory. Anya soon comes to a fork in the road, with one way leading to the town where the fish factory is, and the other leading to St. Petersburg. Unsure which way to go, Anya is surprised when a little puppy appears, and seems to lead her to St. Petersburg.

Once there, she attempts to take a train to Paris, but is denied transit because she does not have an exit visa. A woman who hears this tells Anya to see a man named Dimitri, who she claims can help her. Anya is informed that Dimitri can be found near the now-abandoned Royal Palace, and soon enters. Once inside, she is overcome by various memories, as she enters the now-dusty grand ballroom.

Suddenly, a voice rings out, and Anya finds herself face-to-face with Dimitri and Vlad. Looking at her, Dimitri feels that Anya would be perfect for his plans, and convinces Anya that he can help her get to Paris if she will accompany him and Vlad to see the Dowager Empress and see if she may really be the missing Anastasia Romanov. Naturally, Anya goes along with the plan, having no knowledge of who she really is.

Meanwhile, in a little alcove of the ballroom, Bartok has been hiding, and notices that Rasputin’s reliquary has started to glow. As he lays a hand on it, it suddenly rockets the little bat into ‘limbo,’ where Rasputin has been for 10 years. Since Anastasia survived, he was not able to die completely, and has been stuck in limbo as a rotting corpse. When Bartok presents him with the reliquary, Rasputin uses its powers to conjure minions to destroy Anastasia.

Anya, Dimitri, and Vlad board a train headed to Paris, but end up having to hide in the baggage car when their passports’ coloration is overheard to not match the proper color. Rasputin’s minions also intend to derail the train, but our group manages to escape before it plunges into a canyon.

They continue on foot, with Vlad telling of the Dowager Empress’ first cousin, Sophie (Bernadette Peters), who questions anyone claiming to be Anastasia. Anya gets indignant that no one told her she had to prove she was Anastasia. Vlad convinces her that there’s nothing for her back in Russia, and that Paris could hold something special. His words convince her, and they begin going over proper etiquette and Romanov history.

Eventually, they take a ship from Germany to Paris, where both Dimitri and Anya perform a waltz, which seems to bring the two a bit closer together. That evening, Rasputin invades Anya’s dream, and causes her to almost sleepwalk over the edge of the boat, until Dimitri saves her.

After the two setbacks, Rasputin decides he will return to the living world and deal with Anastasia himself. Bartok reluctantly follows.

Anya, Dimitri and Vlad eventually make it to Paris, unaware that the Dowager Empress has had enough of the various impostors claiming to be her granddaughter, and decides to forgo the search.

Just moments after this decision, Anya and the others arrive at the Empress’ mansion, and Sophie answers the door. Even though she has been privy to the Empress’ wishes, she still questions Anya. Eventually, the questioning turns to just how Anastasia was able to escape from the Palace. Dmitri thinks that they will be found out, but is shocked when Anya explains that a young boy opened a secret passage for her and the Empress to escape through.

Sophie explains that Anya appears to have answered all the questions correctly, but explains about Marie’s wishes to not see anyone else. Vlad insists that Marie meet Anya, and Sophie hints that Marie will be attending a performance of the Russian Ballet that night. Sophie then takes the three of them shopping for new clothes.

Later that evening, Dimitri takes Vlad aside, and explains that with the escape story that Anya told, he is sure that their intended impostor is the real Anastasia, telling Vlad that he was that boy in her story. However, their talk is interrupted as Anya arrives, and they go to their box in the Opera Hall.

During the intermission, Dimitri and Anya go to the Empress’ private box, where Sophie allows Dimitri to meet with the Empress. However, Marie explains that she’s heard about Dmitri, and knows about his schemes to deceive her. Dimitri is thrown out, having failed to see that the door to the box was partially open, and Anya heard the entire conversation. Dimitri tries to explain who she really is, but she storms off and heads back to their residence.

Dimitri waits until Marie leaves the Opera House, and then takes the place of her chauffeur, driving her to Anya’s residence, and demanding Marie see her. Marie still refuses, until Dimitri produces the music box that she had given Anastasia long before (the music box was left behind after Marie and Anastasia escaped through the secret door).

Marie then gives into Dimitri’s wish, and talks to Anya. Anya explains that all she wants is to find where she belongs. As they talk, Anya shows Marie the locket she has, and when Marie produces the music box, Anya’s memory fully returns, and Marie is overjoyed that she has found her granddaughter again.

Marie eventually calls on Dimitri, presenting him with the reward, and her gratitude. Even so, Dimitri refuses the reward, but is glad to see that he has reunited Anastasia with her true family. As he leaves, he encounters Anastasia, and the two exchange few words, with Anastasia believing that Dimitri got his reward after all.

Later on that evening, Marie and Anastasia are in attendance at a social function in Paris, in which Anastasia will be revealed to those in attendance. Marie explains that her granddaughter should be happy, but she seems somewhat distant. Marie knows that Anastasia secretly loves Dimitri, and explains to her that he did not take the reward. Marie goes out to join the festivities first, telling Anastasia that whatever path she chooses should make her happy.

After Marie leaves, Anastasia is distracted by her puppy, which leads her out into the garden near the building. As she makes her way to a nearby bridge, Rasputin emerges from the fog, and attempts to kill her. However, Dimitri (having had second thoughts) returns to try and save Anastasia. In the process, Anastasia manages to get hold of Rasputin’s reliquary, and destroy it, causing the ‘mad monk’ to finally be destroyed.

On a warm, sunny day, 10-year-old Satsuki (English: Dakota Fanning; Japanese: Noriko Hidaka) and 4-year-old Mei (English: Elle Fanning; Japanese: Chika Sakamoto) Kusakabe drive with their father, Tatsuo (English: Tim Daly; Japanese: Shigesato Itoi), along a rural road towards their new home. The girls are excited about the move since it will bring them closer to their mother, Yasuko (English: Lea Salonga; Japanese: Sumi Shimamoto), who is ill in the hospital (it is implied that she has tuberculosis).

Their house is old and falling apart in places, but the girls find it charming and set out immediately to explore. They open all the windows and doors before daring to venture up the stairs into the attic. Faint rustling is heard in the darkness above before an acorn falls down the steps. Intrigued, the girls go up and yell at the darkness. When nothing responds, Satsuki runs to the opposite end of the attic to open the window as Mei notices dark, fuzzy things in the wall, staring at them intently. Satsuki goes back downstairs but Mei’s curiosity is piqued. She reaches a tentative finger into a crack in the wall and startles a mess of black sootballs, one of which she is able to capture between her hands. Back downstairs, she runs into Granny (English: Pat Carroll; Japanese: Tanie Kitabayashi), an elderly next-door neighbor who’s been watching over the house. Granny notices Mei’s and Satsuki’s hands and feet covered in soot and exclaims that they must have stumbled upon susuwatari, or soot sprites, which will most likely leave soon now that people are in the house. Her grandson, Kanta (English: Paul Butcher; Japanese: Toshiyuki Amagasa), emerges outside and shouts that the house is haunted. Granny scolds him and he runs off.

That night, the family enjoys a bath together while the house moans and creaks from the wind. The girls become anxious, but their father encourages them to laugh, saying that their laughter will encourage any spirits in the house to disperse. Sure enough, as they laugh together, the clan of susuwatari leaves the house through the roof and drifts away on the wind.

The next morning, Satsuki cooks and assembles lunch for her family. She places Mei’s lunch in a bento box and says farewell as she heads off for school. Tatsuo, a professor at a local university, works from home while Mei plays outside. As she plays, she notices two white, rabbit-like ears poking out of the grass. She watches as the figure, a small, semi-transparent creature, walks past her towards the house. She follows it until it runs off and hides under the porch. It emerges with a larger, blue companion carrying a bag full of acorns, and they attempt to sneak past Mei. However, she quickly notices them and chases them to the edge of the woods. She follows them up a path through the shrubbery, losing her hat in the process, to a large camphor tree where they disappear into a hole beneath the roots. Mei falls into it and lands in a mossy hollow where she meets a large, slumbering version of the creatures she followed. It identifies itself with a series of roars that Mei interprets as Totoro (a mispronunciation on her part of tororu, the Japanese word for troll). Mei falls asleep on Totoro’s furry belly. (Mei’s adventure – following rabbit-like creatures and falling down a hole, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice – is one of several references the movie makes to older children’s stories.)

Satsuki arrives home from school to find Mei missing. She and her father search for her until Satsuki finds Mei’s hat near the edge of the woods. Following the same path Mei took, Satsuki and her father find her sleeping in a clearing within the bushes. Confused, Mei tries to retrace her steps back to the tree where she found Totoro. When she becomes upset that she can’t find it again, Tatsuo explains that she must have come into contact with a spirit of the forest who probably doesn’t want to be found right now. They walk together around the property to the large camphor tree that Mei fell into and offer their respects to the spirits for watching over Mei.

That afternoon, the family takes a bike ride further into town to see the girls’ mother. They pass Granny and Kanta working in rice paddies, and Kanta and Satsuki blow raspberries at one another. At the hospital, the girls tell their mother how wonderful the new house is, and Mei brags that when Yasuko is well enough to come home she will sleep with her in her bed. The family enjoys their time together and Yasuko brushes Satsuki’s hair.

One day at school, Satsuki is surprised to see Mei and Granny waiting for her outside. Although Mei was given into Granny’s care that day while Tatsuo went to university, she wants to be with no one but Satsuki. Satsuki agrees to let Mei stay in school with her, with the teacher’s permission. As they walk home that afternoon, a rainstorm comes upon them unexpectedly. Satsuki and Mei take shelter under the roof of a small shrine until Kanta approaches and silently offers them his umbrella, though he does so with a little abrasiveness to hide his kindness. Later on, Satsuki and Mei return the umbrella to Kanta’s mother (who had not known about Kanta’s kind act, though he was pleased with himself) before walking to the bus station to wait for their father.

While the sisters wait in their rain gear, with an extra umbrella, Mei grows tired and Satsuki places her on her back to sleep. Satsuki suddenly sees two clawed feet stand next to her. She looks up to see none other than Totoro waiting beside her. When she sees that he has nothing to shelter him from the rain but a large leaf, she offers him the extra umbrella. Pleased with the shelter and the noise the raindrops make on the umbrella, Totoro roars with joy as headlights appear down the dark road. Satsuki becomes puzzled when the headlights start to bounce. A bus does appear, but one that is mainly a large cat. Catbus grins widely at them as Totoro hands Satsuki a leaf-wrapped package before getting on and departing. (With its wide mouth and face, striped body, and ability to disappear, Catbus bears more than a passing resemblance to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat.) Tatsuo arrives on the regular bus, apologizing that he ran late. The girls walk home with him and open their package to find that it’s filled with acorns. They go outside to the garden and plant them.

That night, Satsuki and Mei are awakened by sounds outside and discover Totoro (who has Tatsuo’s umbrella) and his company of smaller totoros walking around the garden in a procession. They join them outside and mimic their dancing to encourage the acorns to grow. Saplings spring up and quickly grow larger before merging into one giant tree (à la Jack and the Beanstalk). As the girls cheer, Totoro pulls out a large, spinning top and stands on it. The girls cling to the fur on his belly and he flies into the air (still carrying the umbrella, like Mary Poppins), up the trunk of the tree. They sit on the high branches together, making music with hollow gourds.

The next morning, the girls wake up to find the tree gone. However, they notice that the seeds they planted have already started to sprout.

During one afternoon, the girls enjoy a picnic with Granny, who has prepared a fresh meal of vegetables grown from her garden. She tells them that fresh vegetables will help their mother get better. A telegram arrives for Tatsuo from the hospital. Worried for her mother, Satsuki rushes to Kanta’s house to phone her father. After contacting the hospital, he calls her back to say her mother is fine, but won’t be able to come home that weekend due to a set-back in her treatment. Despite his assurances, Satsuki takes the news hard and yells at Mei when she fails to understand why their mother can’t come home. Granny explains to Satsuki that their mother should be fine but Satsuki begins to cry and fears that her mother will die. Mei sees this and decides to go to the hospital to give her mother an ear of corn so that she will feel better. No one sees her go.

By the time Satsuki notices that Mei is missing, she is long gone. The entire neighborhood pitches in to search for her while Satsuki runs everywhere, remorseful for having yelled at her. One tense moment yields to relief when Satsuki identifies a shoe found in a nearby pond as not belonging to Mei. Still desperate to find Mei, Satsuki runs home and asks permission to enter Totoro’s realm. She finds the hole in the roots where Mei fell in and stumbles upon Totoro. She tearfully begs him to help her find Mei. Happy to be of assistance, Totoro takes Satsuki to the top of his tree and summons Catbus, who takes her straight to Mei, sitting alone by the side of the road. After hearing that Mei got lost on the way to the hospital, Catbus offers to take them there.

Perched in a tree outside their mother’s window, the girls see their father visiting. They leave Mei’s corn on the windowsill and write a get-well message on the husk. Catbus takes them home.

In the back of a small car, in a small aquarium, resides a small, unnamed chameleon (Johnny Depp). The only living creature in his ‘environment,’ Rango has fancied himself as an actor, with several inanimate object as his friends and fellow thespians. In his self-contained world, Rango’s ‘friends’ tell him that even though he fancies himself a hero, he needs a challenge.

The world goes awry when something in the road causes the car to jolt, and the chameleon and his aquarium fly out the back of the vehicle he’s in, shattering to the ground. Getting up, the chameleon sees an armadillo in the road, it’s mid-section squashed in by a tire. The creature asks for help to get to the other side, and the chameleon assists. Not being used to the heat, the chameleon asks the armadillo where he can find water. The creature tells him he can find it in dirt, a day’s journey away.

tThe chameleon follows his shadow through the desert, but is almost eaten by a hawk. Taking refuge in a storm drain, the chameleon wakes the next morning to a small rush of water that quickly evaporates in the sun. Close by, he comes across a female lizard named Beans (Isla Fisher). Though at first hostile, Beans gives the chameleon a ride into town. The chameleon attempts to blend in with the locals, and makes his way to a nearby saloon. Going in, he arouses the suspicion of almost everyone in the bar. Several ask to know who he is, and after seeing the word ‘Durango’ on a bottle of cactus juice, the chamelon claims that his name…is Rango.

Rango then attempts to spin a story that makes him seem like a hero. When someone asks if he killed some outlaws known as The Jenkins Brothers, Rango claims to have done it with just one bullet. As he talks, a couple of outlaws enter the room, led by a lizard named Bad Bill (Ray Winstone). Rango attempts to act intimidating, but instead rouses Bill’s ire, leading to the two having a showdown in the middle of the town.

Rango thinks he’s scared off Bad Bill and his boys when they run away…only to realize the hawk he outwitted before is right behind him. Rango then goes running through the town, with the final events looking as if Rango was chasing the hawk, before finally killing him by dropping the town’s water tower on it. While some rejoice at the death of the hawk, several make mention that with the hawk’s death, a desperado by the name of Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) could very well return to town. However, Rango casually explains that he isn’t afraid, and that he and Jake are brothers.

Rango is then brought before the town’s Mayor (Ned Beatty), an old turtle who claims that Rango has given the townspeople hope. Rango is then made the town Sheriff.

Shortly thereafter, Rango watches perplexed as the townsfolk take part in a strange ritual in which they leave Dirt and head towards a spigot in the desert. The townspeople seek ‘salvation’ from the spigot, but no water materializes. The townsfolk have been hard-up for water for some time, and after the Mayor admits sacrifices will need to be made, Beans steps forward, accusing the Mayor of somehow being behind their water shortage.

It soon becomes clear that the town’s bank is also short on water, and the reserves in the vault only has enough water for 5 more days. Rango attempts to quell the townsfolk’s further worries, by promising to uphold the law. However, he accidentally mistakes some moles looking to rob the local bank for prospectors, and allows them to continue on, even giving them equipment.

The next day, word of the bank robbery spreads. Rango leads a search party through the underground tunnels that criss-cross below the desert. The group then finds a large pipe and follow it out into the desert, where they find the Bank Manager Mr Merrimack, dead.

Some distance off, they find the moles with a covered wagon with what appears to be the water jug that once sat in the bank. The group manages to take off with the covered wagon, but not before the moles and the rest of their underground brethren give chase. However, during the chase, the covered tarp on the jug comes undone, and the bottle is found to be empty.

One of the moles that brought the jug to his father claims it was empty when he found it, but the townspeople assume the moles made off with their water. The three moles are returned to town for a trial, but the now apparent lack of water has the rest of the town worried.

Meanwhile, Rango has come to suspect the Mayor even more. When the Mayor gets wind of Rango’s suspicions regarding him, he sends his men to find Rattlesnake Jake. Jake has been told the stories that Rango has mentioned, and gets Rango to confess that everything he has said is a lie, including the death of the Jenkins Brothers (which were actually killed by Jake).

Rango then walks out of Dirt, disgraced. He eventually makes his way back to the 2-lane highway. He attempts to cross it like the armadillo from before, and manages to make it across before collapsing. Unconscious, he is carried over the sandy terrain where he encounters ‘The Spirit of the West.’ The Spirit gives Rango some more courage, but is then helped along by the Armadillo (his mid-section now restored), and some moving cacti. The reach the top of a crest, and down below, see a large city (Las Vegas). Nearby is an emergency valve that appears to have been cut off. It soon makes sense what the Mayor is planning: he intends to make the town of Dirt into the large city below. Rango had also heard that the Mayor had been buying up lots of land, but that Beans was one of the last hold-outs.

Rango then returns to Dirt with a plan. He confronts the Mayor and Rattlesnake Jake, who are attempting to coerce Beans into signing over the title to her property. Rango challenges Jake to a duel, and at High Noon, the armadillo and the cacti open the emergency valve, and water floods throughout the town. However, in the wake of Beans possibly being killed, Rango surrenders, and the two are placed in the bank’s vault, where the Mayor attempts to drown them. While this is going on, the Mayor’s men then turn their guns on Rattlesnake Jake, with the Mayor confidently speaking of how his type will soon be a distant memory.

Rango ends up inadvertently turning the tables when one bullet he has manages to break the vault’s glass, and the water in the vault washes everyone out into the streets. Jake acknowledges what Rango did, before turning on the Mayor, dragging him out into the desert as the turtle pleads for his life.

In the Jungle of Nool on the fifteenth of May where a warthog breifly ran, a caring, imaginative elephant named Horton (Jim Carrey), the jungle’s nature teacher, takes a dip in the pool. A dust speck floats past him in the air, and he hears a tiny yelp coming from it. Believing that an entire family of microscopic creatures are living on that speck, he places it on top of a pink, fuzzy clover that he holds in his trunk.

In fact, he finds out the speck harbors the city of Who-ville and all its inhabitants, led by Mayor Ned McDodd (Steve Carell). He has a loving wife, Sally (Amy Poehler), 96 daughters (Selena Gomez) who all have names that start with the letter H, and one son named JoJo (Jesse McCartney), who, by Who custom, is next in line for the mayoral position. JoJo does not want to become mayor, which leads him to become sullen and refuse to talk, despite Ned’s giving him extra attention.

The Mayor finds out from Dr. Larue (Isla Fisher) that Whoville will be destroyed if Horton does not find a “safer more stable home.” So Horton resolves to place the speck atop Mt. Nool, the safest place in the jungle. This outlook earns Horton nothing but ridicule from the inhabitants of Nool, especially from the strict official of the jungle, the Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), who tries to get Horton to give up the speck, so as not to put supposedly ridiculous ideas into the heads of the children. Ever faithful to his motto, “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” Horton refuses. Also taking force toward Horton are the Wickersham brothers (Frank Welker and Dan Castellaneta), a group of bullying monkeys who love making misery.

All the small incidents that Horton experiences on his trek across the jungle have a catastrophic effect on Who-ville. He almost falls off a rickety bridge over a gaping chasm with a river of dangerous crocodiles at the bottom, which causes a dentist’s needle to accidentally slip into the Mayor’s arm while getting a root canal. When Horton left the clover outside overnight, it frosted over, which created winter in the summer down in Whoville. As the other Whos become suspicious, the Mayor finally reveals the truth, but at first, the Whos do not believe him any more than the animals believe Horton.

In the meantime, the Kangaroo has enlisted a nefarious buzzard named Vlad Vladikoff (Will Arnett) to get rid of the speck by force after feasting on a zebra carcass. Vlad manages to steal the clover with the speck on it, flee from a chasing Horton and a leopard and drop it from hundreds of feet into a valley full of nearly identical clovers, (the one holding with the speck has a striped stem). The impact nearly demolishes Who-ville like an earthquake. Horton painstakingly picks 2,999,999 clovers through the field and finally finds it “on the 3 millionth flower.” The earthquake, combined with hearing Horton’s voice through the drain pipe, is enough to convince the rest of the Whos that the mayor is not crazy, and they all tell Horton they believe in him.

The Kangaroo finds out that Horton still has the speck, and, as her patience completely runs out, organizes a mob by telling lies to get rid of the speck once and for all. The animals plan to rope and cage Horton, but the Kangaroo turns this into a chance for attention, and offers Horton an ultimatum: give up the speck and “admit” he was wrong and that she was right, or pay the price. Despite a heartfelt speech from Horton that clearly touches the animals, Kangaroo still takes this refusal as an insult to her authority, orders them to proceed, and drop the speck into a pot of boiling beezlenut oil to “teach him not to make up stories of people on specks!”

The Mayor enlists all of his people to make noise by shouting, “We are here,” as well as playing a variety of instruments, so the animals can hear them. JoJo runs off to Whoville’s abandoned Star-Studying Tower and soon Ned takes off after him. Inside, he reveals his ingenious invention: the Symphony-Phone, a giant machine that serves as an orchestra, and proceeds to add it to the mix of sounds. Still, the sound is not loud enough. The animals do not hear anything and the Kangaroo, who has had Horton caged, takes the clover, holds it over the oil and releases it. In a last-ditch effort to be heard, JoJo grabs the horn used to project Horton’s voice, runs up the highest tower and yells “YOPP!” A sound wave emerges and ripples up to the already pressured clouds and collides with them, causing the clouds to break and the sound to come through.

The story of “The Jungle Book” concerns a young man-cub named Mowgli. A panther named Bagheera one day comes across an abandoned boat, in which a small baby is seen. Taking pity on the baby, Bagheera takes it to a small family of wolves, who adopt the boy.

10 years pass, and Mowgli has grown into a wiry young boy, who has long since been adopted into his wolf pack, despite his differences. However, word has reached the pack that the tiger Shere Khan has been spotted in the jungle. The pack knows of Khan’s hatred of man, and wish to send Mowgli away for protection. Bagheera volunteers to take Mowgli to a man-village some distance away.

Mowgli and Bagheera set out sometime after dark. They stay in a tree for the night, but are disturbed by Kaa, a python with a hypnotic gaze, who tries to hypnotize both of them, before being pushed out of the tree by Mowgli.

The next day, they are awakened by ‘The Dawn Patrol,’ a pack of elephants led by Colonel Hathi. Mowgli spends a few moments with their son, who one day dreams of following in his Father’s footsteps. Bagheera orders Mowgli to continue on their way to the man-village, but Mowgli refuses. After some struggles, Bagheera and Mowgli separate, fed up with the other’s company.

As Mowgli sulks by a rock, he is suddenly discovered by Baloo, a large bear with a care-free attitude. Bagheera hears the commotion caused by the two of them, and returns, dismayed that Mowgli has encountered the ‘jungle bum.’ Baloo’s ‘philosophy’ of living care-free in the jungle easily takes hold of the young man-cub, and Mowgli now wishes to stay with Baloo. However, a group of monkeys suddenly appear, and take Mowgli away.

Mowgli is taken to some ancient ruins, lorded over by an orangutan named King Louie, who figures since Mowgli is a man-cub, he can help him learn how to make fire. Bagheera and Baloo show up shortly, and after a fierce chase, get Mowgli away from King Louie.

As Mowgli rests from the ordeal, Bagheera explains to Baloo why Mowgli must leave the jungle, and after telling Baloo of the danger that Shere Khan poses to him, Baloo reluctantly agrees to take Mowgli back, even though he had promised Mowgli he could stay in the jungle with him. When Mowgli finds out about this, he runs off again.

After some time going through the jungle, Mowgli encounters Kaa, who hypnotizes the boy. Kaa is just about to eat Mowgli, when he is alerted to Shere Khan. Kaa manages to carry on a conversation with the tiger, and just barely hides the fact that the man-cub is nearby. Once Shere Khan leaves, Kaa’s plans to eat Mowgli are foiled when Mowgli comes out of his trance, and is able to escape.

Sometime afterward, Mowgli chances upon a group of vultures, who are willing to take him in as one of their own. However, before they can do so, Shere Khan appears. Even though he is feared by the vultures, Mowgli refuses to run. Just as it seems that Shere Khan may devour Mowgli, Baloo appears, and wrestles with the tiger, who ends up clawing at the large bear. In the ensuing chaos, Mowgli ties a flaming branch to Shere Khan’s tail, and the fire spooks the tiger, sending him running away.

Just when it appears that Baloo has died, he recovers from the ordeal. Bagheera soon joins the group, and the three of them set off back through the jungle.

It seems that Bagheera’s plan to get Mowgli to the man-village has failed, when a beautiful song wafts through their ears. As the three of them look through some bushes, they see the man-village, and by a small stream, a little girl appears, gathering water. This intrigues Mowgli, who tries to go for a closer look. Seeing the boy, the girl pretends to spill her water jug. Mowgli retrieves it, refills it, but instead of taking it, the girl leads him back to the man-village, humming her ‘siren song.’ Baloo whispers for Mowgli to come back, but the boy follows the girl into the village.

A flashback shows the death of Guy’s parents when he was a kid. As they drown in tar, they tell him to find somewhere called ‘tomorrow’. He goes on a long journey to find it and in the process, meets a young Belt before taking him along for the ride.

Some time after the events of the first movie, the Croods (along with Guy and their pets Chunky and Douglas) are still searching for a place to settle down at all while surviving many dangerous creatures along the way. Grug is repeatedly annoyed at Eep and Guy’s blossoming romance and it gets worse when he overhears them thinking about settling down together somewhere else away from the Croods. As Grug walks off in anger, he soon comes across a giant wall and leads the whole pack to them. When they bust inside, they see that the wall covers a huge land full of fruits and streams and they believe they have finally found a place to call their home. They are soon caught in a net and are released by the owners of the land, a couple called the Bettermans, Phil and Hope. When the Bettermans meet Guy, they reveal that they know each other from Guy’s late parents.

The Bettermans welcome the Croods to their giant tree-home as house guests, where they meet their daughter and Guy’s old friend, Dawn, who immediately befriends Eep. Life with the Bettermans becomes degrading for Grug due to their evolved lifestyle rubbing off on his family like Thunk getting hooked on watching stuff from their window (similar to a television) and them sleeping in separate beds rather than together and the Bettermans soon reveal themselves to be biased against the cave family because of how destructive they are, believing that Guy is better off with them and hatch a scheme to get Guy to leave the Croods. Phil eventually takes Grug to his secret man-cave (a sauna-like place behind some waterfalls) where he manipulates him into believing Guy should leave their pack. Also, Hope gets on Ugga’s bad-side by passive-aggressively saying they should leave while Guy remains with them.

Eep and Dawn soon take use Chunky to escape the land and jump their wall for a joyride that ends with a bee stinging Dawn and having her hand swell up. When Eep takes her back home, Guy, upon finding out, chides her for her recklessness, ending with him insensitively calling her a ‘cave-girl’. At dinner, tensions rise between the parents, Guy and Eep, especially when Dawn’s swelling is revealed. Having enough, the Croods decide to leave in the morning, but Guy decides to stay after he and Eep have a falling out. Soon, the land is attacked by ‘Punch-Monkeys’ (monkeys with human-like strength) on account of Grug and Ugga eating a bunch of bananas the Bettermans hoard around their land and have forbidden Grug from eating. Phil reveals he sends the Punch-Monkeys the bananas every day so that they leave the Bettermans alone and since Grug and Ugga ate them, the Punch-Monkeys get upset and kidnap Grug, Phil, and Guy and take them to their homeland.

As the men are taken, Thunk, Ugga, Eep, Gran, Sandy, Belt, Sash (Dawn’s pet sloth), Hope, and Dawn go to rescue them, but eventually get marooned on an island full of Dog-Spiders. During their time together, Hope soon grows to accept the Croods and eventually form a team called the Thundersisters (which was an old girl-group Gran was in when she was younger) to mount a rescue and in the process, Gran revealed that her hair was just a furry bat. At the Punch-Monkey home, Grug, Guy and Phil soon discover that Phil unintentionally deprived the Punch-Monkeys of their water resource and that the Punch-Monkeys need the bananas not only to eat, but to offer to a giant Punch-Monkey in hopes of appeasing it. Since the bananas are gone, they need a substitute. The monkeys make Grug and Phil fight gladiator-style to see who will be the sacrifice and when they wear each other out, they exchange their bitter feelings with each other, making Guy regret what he said during his and Eep’s fallout.

Soon, the monkeys dress all 3 men as bananas to sacrifice to the giant Punch-Monkey. Grug and Phil apologize for their poor behavior and for putting pressure on Guy, but just as they are about to be eaten, the Thundersisters show and to rescue them. A long and perilous battle soon ends with Guy and Eep on a giant skull-chandelier where they reconcile and soon use it to defeat the giant Punch-Monkey by using fire to cut the ropes and send it falling into the abyss below when it catches Eep’s ‘peanut toe’ (which she uses as a prosthetic limb) and pulls it off, allowing the families to escape.

As the movie begins, Woody is excited to be going to Cowboy Camp, a yearly event when just he and Andy are together. But before they leave, Andy accidentally rips Woody’s arm. Andy can’t fix Woody, so rather than take him to camp, he leaves Woody behind.

The next day, Andy’s mom holds a yard sale, and almost all the toys panic that they will be sold. However, the one in real danger is a little squeaky toy penguin named Wheezy, whose squeaker is broken. Woody manages to call Andy’s dog Buster to help him, and they get Wheezy back in the house. However, Woody is left outside and is soon found by Al McWhiggen, the owner of Al’s Toy Barn.

Andy’s mom quickly plucks Woody from the collector’s grasp, saying that Woody is not for sale. When Andy’s mom turns her back, though, Al manages to steal Woody, and quickly rushes off. The toys have seen this from Andy’s room, and Buzz rushes outside to rescue his friend. However, the vehicle pulls away, but not before leaving behind a feather. Buzz also notes the license plate, which reads LZTYBRN.

Back in Andy’s room, the toys review the events as they unfolded, while Buzz uses Mr Spell to help him decipher the license plate. Finally, he hits on the key: Al’s Toy Barn.

Meanwhile, Woody finds himself in an apartment, and once Al leaves, meets up with three other toys: a horse named Bullseye, a cowgirl doll named Jessie, and an in-the-box doll called the Prospector. Each of the toys is excited to see Woody, but he has no idea who they are. They show him around Al’s apartment, where Woody soon learns that he was once the star of a popular children’s show called Woody’s Round-Up.

Back at Andy’s place, the toys scan the television in Andy’s room for a commercial advertising Al’s Toy Barn. Etch-a-Sketch takes down the location, and Buzz jots it down on a post-it note. A rescue party is assembled, comprised of Buzz, Potato Head, Hamm, Rex, and Slinky Dog. Buzz tells the others that they’ll return before Andy comes back from Cowboy Camp.

Meanwhile, Woody has been watching episodes of the old television show in Al’s apartment, but is shocked when one episode ends on a cliffhanger. The Prospector tells Woody that once public attention turned to astronauts, cowboys were out, and space toys were in. Woody’s mood soon sours when he learns that the entire collection of Woody’s Round-Up merchandise, as well as the four of them, are all set to be sold to the Kinishi Toy Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Woody says that he can’t go, and has to get back to Andy. The Prospector explains that the museum will only accept everything if he (Woody) is included. Otherwise, the entire collection (including Bullseye, Jessie, and the Prospector) will go back into storage – a situation that gets Jessie very upset.

Suddenly Al returns, intending to get a group photo to send to the Toy Museum. In the process, he pulls off Woody’s right arm. Al takes the arm and calls a toy repairman, while Woody freaks out over the loss of his arm.

Later that evening, Al returns to the main room and falls asleep watching TV. Woody notices that his arm is in Al’s pocket, and attempts to get it back. However, the VCR suddenly turns on, startling Al, and foiling Woody’s plans. Al leaves the room and Woody notices the VCR remote near Jessie, prompting him to accuse her. Jessie does not take this lightly, and gets into a fight with Woody, before the Prospector breaks up their scuffle.

The next morning, Buzz and the other rescuers finally reach Al’s Toy Barn and split up to find Woody. Buzz’s journey takes him down the Buzz Lightyear aisle, where he sees multiple versions of himself. Noting a display toy with a new anti-gravity belt, Buzz attempts take the belt for himself, but the display Buzz grabs him and subdues him. Much like Buzz in the first film, this other Buzz assumes he is a real space ranger. The deluded Buzz seals the real Buzz in a Buzz Lightyear box. When the others come along, they assume that deluded Buzz is their friend. Deluded Buzz goes off with the others as the real Buzz struggles to get out of his packaging prison.

Back at Al’s, the toy cleaner comes and fixes Woody, repairing his arm, then cleaning him and touching up his paint. The cleaner paints over the “ANDY” scrawling on the bottom of Woody’s boot, making Woody look just like new. Al then takes the photos he needs, and goes off to his toy store to fax the information over to Japan.

Woody is ecstatic to be whole again, and intends to leave – much to Jessie’s ire. The Prospector tells Woody that maybe he should patch things up between the two of them before he goes. Woody tries to tell Jessie about how great Andy is, but Jessie tells him that she once had an owner as well, named Emily.

Jessie flashes back to her experiences of being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner, Emily. “When She Loved Me” (by Randy Newman, voice: Sarah McLachlan) serves as the audio, in a memorable cinema-tearjerker montage, depicting how as Emily grew up, Jessie was put aside, and finally tossed into a donations box, never to see her owner again.

Woody quietly starts to leave, when the Prospector warns that the same thing could happen to him, because he can’t stop Andy from growing up. If he goes back, he may be discarded like Jessie … but if he stays with the group, they’ll be safe and last forever. Woody decides to listen to the Prospector, much to the delight of the other toys.

Back at Al’s Toy Barn, the gang finds Al sending a fax to Japan before going home to pack for his trip to Tokyo. The group jumps into Al’s satchel, sure that he’ll lead them to Woody. Back in the Buzz Lightyear aisle, the real Buzz has freed himself, and seeing Rex’s tail sticking out the back of Al’s satchel, follows along a few steps behind. As Buzz exits the store, he knocks over a display, which also contains a boxed toy of Buzz’s arch-enemy: Zurg. The toy sees Buzz running off and pursues him.

Unfortunately for the toys, Al leaves his bag in the car, so they attempt to enter Al’s building using the ventilation system and an opening into the apartment building’s elevator. Eventually, they make it to Al’s apartment and find Woody, quickly attempting to rescue him, but not before the real Buzz shows up and proves himself to his friends.

Woody then shocks his friends, claiming that he actually wants to go to Japan. In a near-reverse from the first film, Woody eagerly talks about the television show that was centered on his character, and all the related merchandise. “Woody, you’re not a collectible, you are a child’s plaything. You. are. a. TOY!” exclaims Buzz, intending to make his friend stay with Andy. But Woody pleads that he is living on borrowed time; any more damage and he could be thrown away. Buzz reminds Woody that he once told him life was only worth living if you’re loved by a kid, and that’s why he came to rescue Woody…because he believed those words. When Woody still refuses to go, the others decide to leave him.

“I don’t have a choice, Buzz,” says Woody. “This is my only chance.”

“To do what, Woody?” asks Buzz, “To be looked at from behind glass and never be loved again? Some life.”

After they leave, Woody contemplates what Buzz said, and as an episode of Woody’s Round-Up plays on the TV, Woody looks at his boot, and scrapes off the paint covering the name “ANDY.” Woody suddenly has second thoughts, goes to the ventilation grate, and yells to Buzz that he’s changed his mind, but then asks Jessie and Bullseye to come with him. Jessie is afraid of being hurt again, but Woody really wants her to come. Woody is about to ask the Prospector, when he finds the Prospector out of his box, sealing off the ventilation shaft cover.

The Prospector’s anger then comes out: he’s spent his entire life in a package…never bought, never loved. He fully intends to go to Japan along with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye.

Woody’s friends attempt to open the grate, but haven’t succeeded by the time Al returns to take the gang to Tokyo. The rescuers head back down the ventilation shaft towards the elevator, only to encounter the Zurg toy that was freed when the toys left Al’s Toy Barn.

The duplicate Buzz faces off against Zurg, but soon is shocked when the evil ruler proclaims that he is Buzz’s father, and attempts to destroy him. Rex saves the day when he accidentally knocks Zurg off the elevator, defeating him.

As the group makes their way to the lobby, they are unable to get in Al’s car before it drives away, but they ‘borrow’ a Pizza Planet delivery truck that is running nearby. The duplicate Buzz stays behind. He’s found Zurg, they’re partaking in a father/son game of catch.

The group makes it to the Tri-County Airport and manages to get to the baggage area. Because there are numerous cases like Al’s, the group splits up. Buzz is eventually able to find the right one, but not before the Prospector pops out and punches him away. Woody faces off to fight the Prospector, but not before the angry toy uses his pick-axe to rip the new stitching on Woody’s arm. The Prospector promises further dismemberment unless Woody complies and returns to the suitcase, but the plan is foiled when the rest of the group arrive.

As Buzz holds the Prospector aloft, he rants that children destroy toys, and that someday they’ll be tossed out and forgotten, rotting away in a landfill. Woody soon decides that the Prospector could benefit from a little ‘playtime,’ and the gang shoves him into a little girl’s backpack. Upon receiving her backpack, the girl declares that the Prospector needs a makeover.

Back in the airport baggage room, the gang has successfully freed Bullseye, but is unable to get to Jessie before the suitcase is sent out to the airplane. Riding on Bullseye, Woody and Buzz give chase, with Woody eventually making his way to the airplane. Jessie is pleased that Woody came to rescue her, but the joy soon turns to panic when the baggage doors close, and the plane begins to move.

Woody and Jessie make their way out through an opening near the plane’s front tires. Then Woody slips, and almost rips his right arm off again, before Buzz appears below. Woody and Jessie manage to swing off the wheel-well using Woody’s pull-string and hop aboard Bullseye just as the plane takes off.

The next day, Andy returns from Cowboy Camp and eagerly looks for his toys. They’re neatly displayed on the bed – and there are some new ones. Andy patches up Woody’s arm in his own special way, and writes his name on the bottom of Jessie’s and Bullseye’s feet.

Woody is soon overjoyed to see that Wheezy has also been fixed. One of the toys found an extra squeaker at the bottom of the toy box, and gleefully, Wheezy breaks into song.

As the toys are enjoying the performance, Woody and Buzz go over to the nearby window, where down below, Andy, Molly, and their Mother are playing in the driveway.

“Are you worried?” asks Buzz, remembering Woody’s fears of Andy growing up and throwing him away.

“About Andy?” asks Woody. “Nah. It’ll be fun while it lasts.”

“I’m proud of you, cowboy,” says Buzz, happy that his friend has come to terms with their uncertain future.

“Besides,” says Woody, putting an arm around his friend, “when it’s all over, I’ll have my old pal Buzz Lightyear to keep me company… To infinity, and beyond.”

in 1998, 3 years after the events of Michael Jordan’s adventure with the Looney Toons, LeBron Raymone James wants to play basketball. but at the same time, he enjoys playing games on his Game-Boy. his coach convinces him that the games he play that aren’t basketball is distracting him from what he is really good at and that he has to quit gaming if he wants to work harder, LeBron takes his advice and scraps the Game-Boy.

23 years pass since the scrapping of the Game-Boy and 18 years pass after the events of DJ Drake’s adventure with the Looney Toons, now a Basketball champion, NBA superstar and global icon LeBron Raymone James Sr. wishes for both of his sons, Darius and Dominic, to follow in his footsteps, but Dom, a child prodigy in computer software, instead dreams of becoming a video game developer. LeBron’s wife, Kamiyah, advises him to respect Dom’s wish. While showing an interest in Dom’s game, Dom discovers a glitch in his character after performing a specific move which causes the character to be deleted and the game to crash, to his chagrin.

Later, LeBron is invited with his family to the Warner Brothers Animation Group Inc. company studio in Hollywood to discuss a movie deal to experiment with the latest film-making technology, but LeBron dismisses the idea, while Dom shows an interest in the studio’s software, particularly its state-of-the-art algorithm. Dom develop and expresses an interest in a future with Warner Bros, leading to a blowup argument with his father at basketball camp when LeBron refuses to let him give up on the sport. meanwhile, the dark evil living computer Artificial Intelligence algorithm named King Alfred G. “Al-G” Rhythm who lives in a top secret digital cyber-space galaxy called the “Seververse” inside the computer of the Warner Bros’ Computer Laboratory Room which holds all of the Warner Bros’ Cinematic Universes, who has secretly become self-aware and desires more recognition from the world, lures the two to the basement and traps them in virtual reality in the Seververse. Taking Dom as his prisoner, he orders LeBron to assemble a basketball team made entirely from fictional characters owned by Warner Bros to compete against his own team in a day’s time, telling him that he will only be released if he wins, and sends him through the virtual cyberspace of the Seververse where he lands in the Toon Cinematic Universe. Meanwhile, Al-G talks to Dom and begins to turn him against his father by playing on his resentments and helping him develop and upgrade himself and his game, which he secretly intends to use against LeBron.

LeBron finds Toon World deserted save only for Bugs Bunny, who explains that Al-G persuaded the rest of the Looney Tunes to leave their world and explore other realities and cinematic universes. Using the Martian Maggot UFO spaceship belonging to Marvin the Martian and his Martian dog K-9, LeBron and Bugs travel to different Cinematic Universes based on Warner Bros properties such as DC Comics, Harry Potter, Matrix, Casablanca and Game of Thrones to locate and recruit the rest of the Looney Toons, such as Daffy Duck, Lola Bunny and Porky Pig, into the “Toon Squad.”

Over Bugs’ objections, LeBron insists on coaching his new players on the fundamentals of basketball and gets quite bossy to try make them play like him. The Tune Squad meet with Al-G’s team, the Goon Squad, comprised of monstrous upgraded CGI avatars of several active professional basketball players with monstrous superpowers and led by Dom. Al-G also upgrades the Toon Squad, transforming them into real animals. To further the stakes, Al-G livestreams the game and abducts countless viewers, including LeBron’s family, into the Seververse’s virtual reality, and says that if the Toon Squad loses, the viewers will remain there trapped for eternity and the Looney Toons will be deleted permanently.

The Goon Squad easily dominate the first half of the game, using their powers to score extra points. During the break, Sylvester attempts to recruit former Tune Squad member Michael Jordan, but accidentally locates Michael B. Jordan instead, mistakening him for his similar name. LeBron realises his mistake not to make them use his skills and allows Bugs to devise the strategy for the second half, using their loony cartoon physics to catch up with the Goon Squad. During a respite, however, LeBron confronts Dom and tells him he no longer wants to stand in the way of his dream.

Al-G assumes control of the Goon Squad and uses his own abilities to make them seemingly unbeatable. Dom suddenly discovers the only way to win the game is to use the move he previously showed LeBron, even though he will be deleted. However, during the final seconds of the game, Bugs performs the move, sacrificing himself and enabling Dom to help LeBron score the final point, winning the game and posterizing Al-G into a poster which is later destroyed by his assistant Pete, erasing him forever. The James family and the abducted citizens are returned to the real world, while in Tune World, Bugs bids farewell to his friends before he disappears.

The film opens on a dragon trapper ship. Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel) and Toothless infiltrate it to rescue captured dragons, with Hiccup wearing a suit of dragon scales to walk through fire. They are joined by Astrid (voice of America Ferrera), Snotlout (voice of Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (voice of Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Ruffnut (voice of Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (voice of Justin Rupple), all wearing scale suits and riding in on their dragons to fight the trappers. The heroes free the dragons and escape, unaware that they have left one behind.

The Dragon Riders return to Berk, which is now wildly overpopulated with dragons that they have rescued over the last year, with one new dragon knocking over a whole row of dragon towers. Hiccup has been leading the villagers as chief, but he still doesn’t feel that he is the chief his father was. Meanwhile, Valka (voice of Cate Blanchett) has been helping train other dragons. Gobber (voice of Craig Ferguson) suggests that Hiccup and Astrid should get married soon, but neither of them feel they are ready in their relationship to take that step.

A notorious dragon slayer called Grimmel the Grisly (voice of F. Murray Abraham) arrives to meet with the warlords that have been capturing dragons. When they tell Grimmel about Hiccup and Toothless, he finds himself surprised, as he had believed to have slayed every last Night Fury. The warlords show Grimmel the dragon that was left behind, a white Night Fury (“Light Fury” as it will later be known). He decides to use her as bait to lure Toothless to him, and he doesn’t worry about Hiccup since Grimmel sees him as just a boy in over his head.

We see a flashback of a young Hiccup with Stoick (voice of Gerard Butler), who tells his son about the legend of a hidden world of dragons. He had hoped to find it so that he can end the fighting between vikings and dragons.

Toothless goes out alone at night and comes across the Light Fury. He becomes enamored by her and starts making an attempt to woo her. Hiccup and Astrid come across them, but they startle her and she fires a blast in their direction before she vanishes into thin air.

Toothless falls in love with the Light Fury, which Hiccup can see. He takes Toothless and Tuffnut (who wants to give Hiccup relationship advice) back into the woods to look for her, but Hiccup manages to detect one of Grimmel’s traps before it catches Toothless. He brings back a tranquilizer dart they found, which Eret (voice of Kit Harington) recognizes as Grimmel’s work. He warns Hiccup that Grimmel most likely wanted them to find that trap as a means to lead him right back to them.

That night, Hiccup finds Grimmel has snuck inside his house and seemingly tranquilized Toothless. He orders Hiccup to give Toothless up and expresses how he thinks humans and dragons shouldn’t co-exist since he views humans as being superior. When he goes to Toothless, it turns out that he shot Fishlegs, and Hiccup’s friends and family come out to ambush Grimmel. However, he summons his acid-spitting Deathgrippers to tear through Hiccup’s home. He gathers the Berkians together and realizes that with Grimmel going after them, it is no longer safe to stay in that land. While some of the villagers argue against leaving their homes, Hiccup tells them that they are Berk no matter where they live. However, Grimmel was counting on them to abandon their homes all along, and he plans to keep tracking Toothless with reluctant help from the warlords. all while making more of the venom to tranquilize dragons.

The Berkians travel with the dragons to another island to stay temporarily. The Light Fury appears to follow the group, but she vanishes after knocking Hiccup off of Toothless’s back after mistaking him for an enemy. She reappears later that night, and Toothless goes after her. Hiccup wakes up and goes to try and help him out. Toothless does goofy dances to court the Light Fury, which does not impress her. He then manages to draw her face in the sand, which she seems to like. Unfortunately, she flies away again when she spots Hiccup, and Toothless is unable to fly after her because of his bad fin. Hiccup later decides to fix up the fin and paint it black so that Toothless can go and find the Light Fury.

Valka heads back out on Cloudjumper to make sure the villagers weren’t followed. They are spotted by the Deathgrippers, who try to attack and bring them down, but the two manage to escape and head back to warn Hiccup.

Toothless flies until he finds the Light Fury. They take flight together as she demonstrates her ability to camouflage herself using her fire breath. With her help, Toothless is able to use his own power with lightning to achieve the same effect. They continue flying until the Light Fury brings Toothless to a waterfall.

After learning Grimmel is hot on their trail, Hiccup leads the Dragon Riders to catch him, but he was expecting this, so they have fallen into his trap. He sends the Deathgrippers after them, but they manage to evade them and escape. They accidentally leave Ruffnut behind and don’t realize it until they return to the island. Hiccup is then pressured into finding another solution to stopping Grimmel. He notices Toothless hasn’t returned, and Astrid reminds him that he gave Toothless his freedom to be with the Light Fury.

As Grimmel tries to make his next move, Ruffnut starts to annoy the hell out of him with her endless talking, so he frees her. Ruffnut inadvertently blabs about their new location, so he keeps a close eye on her to see where she’s headed.

Hiccup and Astrid ride Stormfly to find Toothless. They come across the waterfall and are flown down into the hidden dragon world, which is vast and beautiful. They see Hiccup acting as the alpha to all the dragons (you can even see Drago’s Bewilderbeest among them), with the Light Fury now officially being his mate. The other dragons spot Hiccup and Astrid and chase after them. Toothless and Stormfly grab them and flee. Hiccup starts to figure that the Berkians couldn’t live with the dragons in their world and that maybe that’s where the dragons ought to be.

Ruffnut returns to the village, and Grimmel has followed her back. He and his men, plus the Deathgrippers, start to attack again, this time ending with Grimmel successfully capturing Toothless and the Light Fury. The other dragons are forced to follow Grimmel since he has their alpha, and he threatens to kill the Light Fury if Hiccup follows. Hiccup feels hopeless and sees himself as a failure as chief. Astrid encourages him as she always has, letting him know she was the first person to believe in him and will always be there to pick him up. Hiccup rounds up his friends with their dragon suits to fly after the ship.

Grimmel brings his captured dragons to the warlords, but he tells them that he plans to kill Toothless for himself, denying them the chance to have him for themselves. The heroes then swoop in to free their dragons and take on Grimmel’s army. They manage to steer the dragon trapper ships toward each other, causing the trappers to abandon ship as they all sink. Grimmel attempts to kill Hiccup, but he manages to free Toothless. Grimmel takes the Light Fury to the sky, leading Hiccup and Toothless to chase after them. The Deathgrippers fly in and surround Toothless, until he harnesses his lightning power and electrocutes them all before vanishing. He appears before Grimmel, and Hiccup jumps toward him. Grimmel tranquilizes Toothless, sending him falling to the ground. Hiccup tackles the villain and frees the Light Fury, order her to save Toothless as Hiccup and Grimmel fall. The Light Fury catches Toothless and lands with him on a cliff. Grimmel tears Hiccup’s suit apart, but the Light Fury flies toward Hiccup. He loosens his prosthetic foot, sending Grimmel to his watery grave as the Light Fury catches Hiccup.

The Berkians celebrate their victory until Hiccup realizes it is time to let Toothless go. He bids his best friend farewell, and the two embrace tearfully. The other Berkians must then say goodbye to their beloved dragons. They fly toward the hidden world, with Toothless sharing one last look with Hiccup.

Otto Anderson, a 63-year-old widower, lives in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After retiring from a steel company, he plans suicide, having lost his wife Sonya, a schoolteacher, six months previously.

During a suicide attempt by hanging, he is interrupted by his new neighbors: Marisol, Tommy, and their two daughters, Abby and Luna. Otto has flashbacks to his past; years previously he tried to enlist in the army but was rejected due to his hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He meets Sonya on a train after returning a book she dropped.

Otto attempts suicide again, this time via carbon monoxide poisoning. He experiences a flashback to a dinner with Sonya, confessing to her that he is not enlisted in the army due to his heart condition and does not have a job, prompting Sonya to kiss him. Marisol disrupts Otto’s suicide attempt, asking him to take her and her kids to the hospital after Tommy fell and broke his leg using a ladder Otto had lent to him. Otto reluctantly agrees.

Otto has a flashback to his graduation when he asked Sonya to marry him. During a suicide attempt by train, an old man faints and falls on the railroad tracks. Otto saves the man and the incident goes viral. Otto takes Marisol for a driving lesson and they visit Sonya’s favorite bakery, which the couple formerly frequented every weekend. There, he tells her about his friendship with a man named Reuben, the two having worked together to establish rules and order, with Otto as chairman of the neighborhood association board. The two grew apart after Reuben’s preference for Fords and Toyotas over Otto’s Chevrolets and the “coup” of replacing Otto as chairman. Reuben, who had a stroke, now uses a wheelchair and is cared for by his wife Anita and neighbor Jimmy.

A local transgender teen, Malcolm, recognizes Otto as Sonya’s husband while delivering newspapers and circulars in the neighborhood. Malcolm cuts through Otto’s disgruntlement at receipt of the newspapers and recounts that Sonya was his teacher, and one of the few people who accepted him as he was. A friendship forms between the pair and Otto fixes Malcolm’s bicycle. After dodging a social media journalist named Shari Kenzie who is attempting to interview him in relation to the earlier viral video, Otto gets angry at both Marisol and a Dye & Merika real estate agent, not wanting to come to terms with Sonya’s death. He attempts to commit suicide by shotgun, but is interrupted by Malcolm, who asks to spend the night after his father kicked him out.

Otto learns that Dye & Merika is planning to force Reuben into a nursing home and take their house, after illegally finding out that Anita was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Otto agrees to help Anita and Reuben. Marisol refuses to assist Otto until he tells her that he and Sonya went to Niagara Falls to celebrate Sonya’s pregnancy. On the bus back home, they were involved in a crash, and Sonya became paralyzed and had a miscarriage. The neighborhood was not accessible to Sonya and Otto was voted out of the chairmanship after a heated confrontation with a Dye & Merika representative. Otto wanted to put all of the real estate companies out of business but decided against it to care for Sonya. With the help of the neighborhood and Shari Kenzie, Reuben and Anita are able to keep their home.

Otto collapses and is taken to the hospital, where he lists Marisol as his next of kin. After being told by a cardiologist that Otto’s heart is too big, she laughs, before going into labor and gives birth to a son.

An inbound Los Angeles Blue Line train pulls in to Firestone light rail station, and professional thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) exits, disguised as a paramedic. He enters a nearby hospital, where the uniform allows him to walk through the emergency room unnoticed. He registers the activity going on around him as he travels down the hall holding a clipboard, acting like just another employee as he drives off in a Goodhew ambulance.

At a construction supplier, one of Neil’s associates, Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), purchases some explosive charges, showing a valid driver’s license, and pays in cash when the clerk asks him how he wants to pay.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a robbery-homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, after having sex with his wife Justine (Diane Verona), leaves for work. Just after he leaves, his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Lauren (Natalie Portman), suffers a slight breakdown in front of her mother while she’s preparing to meet her father.

This same day, Neil, Shiherlis, and three other men, Trejo (Danny Trejo), Waingro (Kevin Gage), and Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore), carry out the robbery of a Gage armored car. Neil and Shiherlis, wearing paramedic uniforms, station the stolen ambulance on Venice Boulevard just east of the Interstate 10/Interstate 110 overpass. While this happens, Waingro is picked up at a café by Cheritto in a stolen green big rig tow truck. As they drive towards the scheduled ambush point, Waingro tries to make conversation with Cheritto, who merely asks for him to shut up. Waingro is quite agitated at the order. They park their truck underneath the highway at a 90 degree angle to the street. Trejo tails the armored car as it leaves the depot and radios in its location as it gets closer to them.

When Trejo radios back that the armored car is 300 yards away, Neil, Shiherlis, Cheritto and Waingro slip on hockey goalie masks to conceal their faces. They then move their vehicles into position. Neil puts the ambulance in drive, activates the lights and siren, and starts to execute a three-point turn to block the armored car as it approaches from the west on Venice Boulevard, while Cheritto floors the gas pedal of the tow truck. The armored car stops, its path obstructed by Neil. The two guards in the back are reading their newspapers, oblivious to what is about to happen. As he waits, the driver looks left and his eyes go wide when he sees the tow truck bearing down on him. The tow truck rams the armored car at full speed, and the impact partially caves in the truck’s grille, while the armored car turns over and slides 50 feet on its passenger side into a car dealership parking lot.

As the dust settles, the robbers climb out of their vehicles carrying assault rifles and pistols and take up positions around the overturned truck as one of the guards makes a radio call for help. Hearing a dispatch call for a “211” (armed robbery) on his police scanner, Trejo radios to the others that they have three minutes, and Neil starts a stopwatch. Shiherlis sets off an explosive charge to blow open the back doors. Neil and Cheritto then climb into the armored car and drag out the now-deaf and shaken guards, and hand them over to Waingro, who holds the them at bay on the sidewalk with a pistol. While Neil and Cheritto cover the street, Trejo runs a spike strip across the street to stop any police that pursue them, and Shiherlis searches the truck for several envelopes. When Neil yells that they have eighty seconds remaining on the clock, Waingro suddenly gets aggressive and pistol-whips the first guard, who can’t hear Waingro’s order to back up. Cheritto harshly admonishes Waingro, calling him “Slick.”

Once Shiherlis has found the specific envelope the crew is after, he exits the back of the truck and the men begin to head back to the ambulance and move out. Waingro mutters something about the guard challenging him and suddenly shoots the first guard in the face, killing him instantly. The second guard tries to reach for a backup revolver in his ankle holster, but Neil shoots him with an automatic rifle. The guard is thrown back against the armored car and crumples dead. Cheritto holds his rifle on the last guard, looking to Neil with approval. With a slight nod from Neil, Cheritto aims his rifle at the guard, and shoots him twice in the chest. He then steps forward and shoots the guard again in the head. They then run back to the ambulance, removing their masks as Trejo drives. Neil is quite angry at Waingro for shooting the 1st guard, Waingro insisting the man was making a move to stop them.

As the crew speeds away from the scene, the first police cars come speeding towards the scene from the other direction. The first three units are unable to see the spike strip in time, blow out their tires, and crash into each other. The police officers jump out of the cars and run over, frantically signalling the units right behind them to stop just in the nick of time. As the police descend on the area, Neil and his crew pile out of the ambulance a few blocks away and climb into a nearby station wagon. Shiherlis plants a firebomb in the back of the ambulance that destroys their weapons and gear as they drive away.

That evening, Neil meets in a parking garage with Nate (Jon Voight), his money-laundering expert. Nate tells Neil that the envelope they stole contains hundreds of millions in bearer bonds from a company called Malibu Equity & Investments, owned by a crooked entrepreneur named Roger Van Zant (William Fichtner). Nate agrees to set up a meeting where Van Zant will send someone with cash to exchange for the bonds. Nate tells Neil of another job offered by a man named Kelso, that will bring in at least $10 million. Neil agrees to meet with Kelso (Tom Noonan). Nate also asks Neil what went wrong with the heist, but Neil refuses to talk about it.

At the scene of the heist, Hanna arrives and begins investigating. With Hanna are his team of detectives, Detective Casals (Wes Studi), Detective Bosko (Ted Levine), Sgt. Drucker, (Mykelti Williamson) and Det. Schwartz (Jerry Trimble). The vehicles left at the scene of the robbery have been identified - the big rig was reported stolen out of Fresno two weeks earlier and Trejo’s pickup truck out of Whittier two days prior to the robbery. Other than that, there are no leads – only a nickname, “Slick”, dropped by Cheritto, was heard by a homeless man across the street. Hanna is able to recount the heist itself quite accurately, noting that those who committed it are definitely professionals. He orders his team to begin talking to their informants and fences to find out who might be handling the money. He also charges Casals with running the name “Slick” as an alias to the FBI, knowing that it likely won’t lead anywhere but wants it checked anyway.

At a truck stop diner in a different part of town, the rest of the crew and Waingro wait for Neil, who shows up. He tells them all that Waingro has forfeited his share of the heist and he beats him briefly in full view of the other diners. Neil is nervous because of the killings of the three guards which will warrant a deeper investigation by the LAPD’s robbery/homicide unit. As they all leave, Neil suddenly hits Waingro, and throws him to the pavement with the intention of killing him. He is about to shoot Waingro with his pistol when Cheritto yells for him to stop. He has spotted a police car on the street. They watch nervously, hoping the police officers haven’t noticed them. There is a sigh of relief when the police car suddenly activates its lights and siren, makes a u-turn, and drives away. When Neil looks back, Waingro has vanished. He and the others search the immediate area, but find no sign of him.

At his home, Chris gets into a heated argument with his wife, Charlene (Ashley Judd) about the amount of money he’s brought home from the heist – it’s considerably less than Charlene was expecting. Chris tells her he’d paid off his bookies. When she challenges him on his gambling problem, he tells her she can leave and storms out.

The next morning, Hanna and Drucker bust in on the chop shop of Albert Torena (Ricky Harris), one of Hanna’s informants. After a tense conversation where Hanna intimidates Albert and threatens him with jail time, Albert tells Hanna that his brother Richard will meet with Neil at a club in Koreatown at 2 AM with a possible lead in the case.

Neil meets with Nate’s associate, Kelso (Tom Noonan). Kelso tells Neil about a new potential heist - the main downtown branch of the Far East National Bank collects hard currency for distribution to its other branches. On certain days of the week, the bank holds at least $10 million. Neil scoffs at the idea at first; it would be impossible for his team to rob the bank without at least one employee setting off an alarm that the police would respond to rapidly. Kelso, a computer hacker himself, tells Neil that he knows how to reprogram the alarm system to shut itself down 15 minutes before they arrive. Neil agrees to take the job and Nate gives him Van Zant’s business number.

Neil returns to his Spartan oceanside apartment and finds Chris sleeping on his living room floor. Neil makes him coffee and asks him what’s going wrong with his personal life and his marriage. Chris explains a few things and Neil reminds him of an inmate they knew in Folsom who’s longtime mantra was not to have anything serious enough in their personal lives that they can’t leave behind in a hurry (“30 seconds flat”) if they know they’ll be caught as criminals. Neil tells Chris they’re going to get their money from Van Zant for the bearer bonds they’d stolen and then take Kelso’s bank job.

Neil sets up arrangements to transfer the bonds. A few days after the armored car robbery, he calls Roger Van Zant at a payphone and tells him to have one of his employees call him back with an arranged meeting point to exchange the bearer bonds for cash. While he’s on hold, Neil notices Charlene (Ashley Judd), Shiherlis’ wife, at a cheap hotel with another man, Alan Marciano (Hank Azaria). One of Van Zant’s bookies calls back to inform Neil that the meeting will be tomorrow at a drive-in movie theater. Afterward, Neil confronts Charlene, warning her to give Chris one last chance.

Hanna goes to the club in Koreatown Torena mentioned, and talks to Richard who tells him that he was incarcerated with a man whom he saw outside prison recently who pulls off large heists, getting Cheritto’s name. He calls his unit immediately and tells them to set up extensive surveillance on everyone Cheritto associates with.

Neil goes to the drive-in theater where Van Zant has arranged to make the exchange. The drop man arrives shortly thereafter in a pickup truck. Neil orders the driver to hold his hands up to prove that he is not holding any weapons, and then instructs the man to toss the package with his right hand into Neil’s shotgun seat. Unbeknownst to Neil, an assassin armed with a machine pistol is hiding in the back of the pickup and preparing to kill him.

As the assassin creeps up to the passenger’s side window of Neil’s car and aims his gun, Shiherlis, armed with a rifle and stationed on the rooftop of the projection building, spots him and gives Neil a warning through his headset. The next moments happen in an instant: Neil looks in his rear-view mirror, sees the assassin, and instantly floors the car in reverse, crushing the assassin against the pickup and injuring his leg. Shiherlis rolls over once, aims his rifle, and fires at the pickup truck. Bullets hit the windshield, splintering it, and the truck pulls forward. The assassin, struggling to regain his footing, fires a wild burst at Neil’s car, and Neil fires back through his windshield with his pistol. Now with a clean opening, Shiherlis draws a bead on the assassin and shoots him in the back. The hit spins the assassin around, at which point Neil fires another round that hits him in the chest, before his car runs over the assassin, killing him. Just as the driver is about to reach the exit, Cheritto steps out from behind the fence and kills him by emptying a shotgun into the truck. The now driverless and bullet-riddled truck rolls to a stop against the berm. As they leave, Neil examines the package and finds nothing but scrap paper. Neil later calls Van Zant and tells him to forget about the payment and very slyly threatens to kill him.

What Neil, Shiherlis and Cheritto do not realize is that in this time, Waingro has started to work for Van Zant. Nor do they know that the guard Waingro shot in the armored car robbery is not Waingro’s first victim: he is a serial killer who kills young prostitutes. Later, while at a party with his fellow detectives, Hanna is called away to a motel where one of Waingro’s victims has been found stuffed into a garbage can by a pool. Hanna is exasperated upon learning that the dead girl’s family has shown up. When the distraught mother arrives, Hanna stops her from seeing her daughter’s body and holds her while she wails.

Neil and his men begin to pull another heist at a precious metals repository. Cheritto deactivates the alarm system above the ground on a utility pole and Shiherlis begins to crack a safe inside, while Neil himself stands guard out front watching for trouble. Across the street, hidden in moving vans, Hanna, his detectives, and a SWAT team, observe the scene, watching Neil stand guard, on infrared monitoring equipment. While they watch, one of the SWAT team members in Hanna’s van sits down, banging his rifle against the wall of the truck. Neil, standing watch outside, hears the noise. He looks right in the direction of the police surveillance trucks. Realizing they’re being watched, he quickly enters the repository and orders Shiherlis and Cheritto to withdraw, to Shiherlis’ chagrin. The three men leave empty-handed and Hanna orders the SWAT officers on the stakeout to let the crew go, as he knows that simple breaking-and-entering would carry a shorter sentence than outright theft would.

A short time later, Hanna and his team observe Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis seemingly casing another job near a shipyard. When Neil and his guys leave, Hanna and his men go to the scene and try to figure out what Neil’s next heist will be. They determine that there’s nothing worth stealing from any of the businesses in the immediate area. Suddenly, Hanna has an epiphany; he realizes that Neil’s casing of the area was a ruse to lure himself and his crew out in the open. Neil, from a high vantage point on a cargo crane, takes pictures of the detectives with a high-powered camera. With the pictures, Neil is able, through Nate, to identify Hanna and his men. When Neil meets with Nate to pick up the schematics for Kelso’s bank heist, Nate tells him about Vincent, who has a long and successful history of taking down major criminals and that Vincent “admires” Neil. Neil decides that the heist is still worth the risk.

Vincent returns to his house & finds that his wife is gone. Vincent decides to join a surveillance team trailing Neil in unmarked cars and a helicopter on an LA freeway. Vincent is taken to one of the ground units and pulls Neil over, seemingly on a routine traffic violation. He cheerfully invites Neil to join him at a nearby restaurant where they both reflect on their own personal lives. During their meeting Hanna says that while he may not like it, he will kill McCauley if need be to prevent the latter from killing an innocent. McCauley points out the “flip side” by saying that he will not hesitate to kill if the cops box him in. McCauley also explains the purpose of his “30 seconds” creed by saying he never wants to go back to prison.

The best-laid plans of the thieves for the bank heist are being secretly thwarted behind the scenes by Waingro. Waingro has been laying low since Neil’s attempt on his life at the truck stop; he eventually meets Van Zant after looking for criminal work in a biker bar after one of his prostitute killings. Waingro leads Van Zant to Trejo, who calls Neil and tells him that the police are following him. Neil tells Trejo to head in the opposite direction to throw the police off them. When Neil receives the call, he, Shiherlis and Cheritto are eating at a local diner. Neil has just spotted an old prison friend of his behind the grill - an ex-con named Donald Breedan (Dennis Haysbert), who is currently frustrated with his job as a short-order cook, especially since the manager is a jerk who treats him like dirt and extorts part of his pay. Neil approaches Breedan and offers to give him the job of getaway driver as a last-minute substitute for Trejo. Given how much he hates his boss, Breedan simply cannot refuse Neil’s offer and quits, pausing momentarily to throw his slimy and oppressive boss to the floor.

With his wife being beaten and raped by Waingro and Van Zant’s crew, Trejo is forced to reveal Neil’s latest plans. One of Van Zant’s subordinates, a police informant named Hugh Benny (Henry Rollins), then tips off the police as to which bank Neil plans to hit.

At 11:30 A.M., Neil’s enters the Far East National Bank downtown. While Breedan waits in the car, Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis take up strategic positions inside the bank’s lobby wearing business suits to hide their weapons and spare magazines. They enter through different doors to avoid raising suspicion. Once inside the lobby, they take up positions near lobby guards. Neil and Cheritto station themselves at either end of the lobby, while Shiherlis waits in line at a teller’s desk.

Cheritto gives a small cough, signaling for him and Neil to slip on their ski masks. At that point, Shiherlis sets down a briefcase at the teller’s desk, then suddenly whirls around and hits the guard closest to him with a small sap, and tackles him to the floor. Simultaneously, Neil and Cheritto whip out assault rifles, order everyone in the bank to get on the floor, and disarm the other guards by binding their hands behind their backs with zip ties and then removing their service weapons. Neil stands atop the teller windows and informs the customers that they are not going to be hurt and they won’t lose their own money because it’s insured by the federal government. He then punches an uncooperative bank manager in the mouth, grabs the man’s vault key, and hands it to Shiherlis. While Neil and Cheritto guard the lobby, Shiherlis unlocks the double doors to the vault, unloads a set of empty gym bags, and begins packing the money into them. The money sheets are packed so tightly that Shiherlis has to cut the wrapping open with a folding knife to fit them in. Shiherlis loads three bags, each one containing $4 million - two for Neil and one for himself. Neil relays one bag over to Cheritto in the lobby, who removes his ski mask, dons a set of sunglasses and begins to walk out.

Meanwhile, at LAPD headquarters, a detective receives a phone call from Hugh Benny about Neil and his crew planning to rob the bank and quickly relays it to Casals who shouts out the location and all of the officers, Hanna included, race to the bank. When they arrive, they see that Neil and his crew have already begun to exit the bank. Hanna orders everyone to capture them in the car and to watch their backgrounds if they have to begin shooting.

At the bank, Neil and his crew quietly leave the bank carrying their bags over their shoulders. Cheritto walks across the plaza to the getaway car where Breedan waits, climbs into the backseat, and laughs as he pats Breedan’s shoulder. Once Cheritto has gotten into the car, Neil walks across the plaza and climbs into the shotgun seat.

The last to cross the plaza is Shiherlis. Just as Shiherlis reaches the getaway car, a U-Haul truck moves and he spots an armed Drucker and Casals standing across the street. Shiherlis immediately raises his rifle and opens fire on Drucker and Casals. As bystanders dive for cover, Hanna and Bosko, stationed just up the sidewalk, open fire on Shiherlis. Cheritto fires a burst out the left passenger window, and Shiherlis turns and fires at Hanna and Bosko. Despite wearing a bulletproof vest, Bosko suddenly falls when a bullet hits him in the neck and is killed almost instantly. Shiherlis then gets into the car as Hanna checks Bosko’s pulse. Breedan starts to pull away from the curb, tires screeching, as Shiherlis fires a burst out the rear window.

Drucker and Casals break cover and run down the street. Cheritto fires at them through a side window. Seeing a police roadblock forming ahead of them, Neil fires through the front windshield. Sprinting to the street corner, Drucker raises his shotgun and shoots out the getaway car’s left rear tire. As Breedan tries to regain control of the car, Drucker and Casals open up on the car. Breedan is killed when a bullet strikes him in the head, and the getaway car rear-ends an abandoned vehicle. Neil, Shiherlis and Cheritto get out of their car as police officers behind the roadblock begin firing pistols and shotguns at them, and open fire.

Hanna and his remaining detectives, pursuing on foot, fire on the three robbers from behind as they exchange fire with the police officers, whose only cover is a chain of six police cars. Several of the officers manning the roadblock are wounded. Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis fire back at Hanna’s men, providing suppressing fire for each other as they advance up the street, while the others shoot at the blockade, riddling the police cars with bullet holes. Cheritto manages to shoot one of Hanna’s other detectives, Schwartz (Jerry Trimble), and becomes separated from Neil and Shiherlis. Shiherlis reaches the roadblock first, and while firing at a police car has failed to check to his left. Casals spots Chris and shoots him in the shoulder. Neil fires another suppressing burst at the police cars, bringing down another officer, then slings the wounded Shiherlis over his shoulder and carries him toward a grocery store parking lot.

As Neil makes his way across the parking lot, two officers - one carrying a shotgun and another carrying a pistol - come running around the corner. Neil fires a burst at the officers. At that point, Hanna comes running around. Neil fires another burst, and the shotgun-wielding officer is hit in the chest. Hanna is pinned down as Neil continues firing at him. With a clean opening, he fires four times at Neil, but misses. Neil promptly returns fire, and Hanna is unable to fire back because of civilians running around in front of him trying to avoid Neil’s gunfire. By the time he has a clean aim, Hanna can only watch as Neil puts Shiherlis into the backseat of an abandoned station wagon, climbs into the front seat, backs out onto the street (pushing another car with it), and drives off.

Hanna hears more shots and takes off running towards the sound. The noise is Cheritto, who is being chased by Drucker and Casals. As Cheritto exchanges fire with them, Hanna arrives. As bystanders flee a nearby plaza, a little girl remains behind. Cheritto then trips in a water fountain, gets back up, and grabs the little girl as a human shield. He then opens fire on Drucker and Casals with his rifle. Hanna runs over, takes up a position behind Cheritto, and draws a bead on him. Hanna waits until Cheritto turns around towards him, giving him a clean aim. When Cheritto turns around, he has only a split second to realize he has forgotten to check his surroundings before Hanna fires, the bullet hitting Cheritto flush in the forehead, killing him instantly. Hanna then grabs the little girl and carries her away as Drucker, Casals, and two uniformed officers run up to the fallen Cheritto and train their weapons on him.

Neil takes Chris to a cooperative doctor named Bob (Jeremy Piven), who treats Chris’ wound. Neil arranges for Nate to pick Chris up and keep him hidden until Neil can find another way for them to escape LA - Neil doesn’t trust the “out” he’d already arranged and has to find a new way to leave town which could take several hours for Nate to arrange. Chris is heavily sedated after having his wound treated but tells Neil he won’t leave without Charlene. Neil tells him to seriously consider the idea because of the high risk. Neil also tells him that he believes it was Trejo who betrayed them and he has to find him.

Neil goes to Trejo’s house with the intent to kill him, only to find he’s too late: Trejo lies severely beaten and dying and his wife already dead. In his final moments, Trejo tells Neil that Waingro and Van Zant are responsible. Trejo inquires into his wife’s whereabouts, and Neil informs him that she is dead. Distraught over his wife’s death, Trejo tells Neil, “Don’t leave me like this”. Respecting Trejo’s final wishes, Neil mercifully kills him and goes to Van Zant’s house, where Van Zant is watching a hockey game. As he’s watching, he is startled when Neil throws a patio chair through the living room window, shattering it. Neil trains his pistol on Van Zant and demands to know Waingro’s whereabouts. When Van Zant claims he doesn’t know, Neil shoots him dead.

Meanwhile, the police move Charlene and her son Dominic to a safe house. Sgt. Drucker explains that Charlene will be charged as an accessory to her husband and serve jail time if she refuses to turn him over to the police. Drucker also informs her that her son will become a foster child and more prone to a criminal life if she will not cooperate. Shiherlis, slightly recovered from the bullet wound he received from Casals, eventually shows up, sporting a new hairstyle to disguise his identity. However, despite their marital problems, his wife surreptitiously warns him that the police are present. The two share one last emotional look before Chris gets back in his car. He comes close to being caught as he passes a police checkpoint, but a fake ID card shows that he has a different identity and Drucker orders Chris to be let go.

Neil inadvertently breaks his “30 seconds” creed by asking his new girlfriend Eady, who he met while researching the precious metals heist, to flee the country with him. Nate had made prior arrangements for the two to escape to New Zealand; however, upon receiving a tip concerning Waingro’s whereabouts from Nate (thanks to Nate’s police contacts), Neil makes the impulsive decision to kill him in his hotel room, which is near the airport. After setting off the hotel’s emergency alarm to clear the area, Neil breaks in and executes Waingro by shooting him twice in the chest and once in the head, then escapes after disarming a stakeout detective.

Having beaten further information out of Hugh Benny, Hanna finds out where Waingro is staying and had one of his detectives leak Waingro’s location to other snitches, bail bondsmen and criminals on the street in the hope that Neil would go for him. From a distance, Hanna spots Eady calmly waiting in Neil’s car. Recalling the “30 seconds” discussion that he and Neil had at the coffee shop (during which Neil mentioned his girlfriend), Hanna becomes suspicious and approaches Eady. At that moment, Neil emerges from the building and begins heading for his car, only to realize that Hanna has spotted him. Hanna grabs a shotgun and begins moving towards Neil. At this critical and emotional moment, Neil defaults to his “30 seconds” rule and abandons Eady; he disappears into the crowd with Hanna in pursuit.

Pagan Rome, 37 A.D.

Prince Gaius Germanicus “Caligula” (Latin term for ‘Little Boots’) (Malcolm McDowell) the 24-year-old young heir to the throne of the syphilis-ridden, 77-year-old, half-mad Emperor Tiberius (Peter O’Toole), thinks he has received a bad omen after a blackbird flies into his room early one morning. Shortly afterward, Macro (Guido Mannari), the head of the Praetorian Guards, appears to tell the young man that his great uncle (Tiberius) demands that he report at once to the Island of Capri, where he has been residing for a number of years with close friend, Senator Nerva (John Gielgud), Claudius (Giancaro Badessi), a dim-witted relative, and Caligula’s younger stepbrother, Gemellus (Bruno Brive), Tiberius’ favorite. Fearing assassination, Caligula is afraid to leave, but his beloved sister Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy) convinces him to go. Macro seeks to curry favor with Caligula, who will be the next Emperor, by tempting him with the promise of sleeping with his wife Ennia (Adriana Asti).

At Capri, Caligula finds his uncle has become depraved, showing signs of advanced venereal diseases, and embittered with Rome and politics. Tiberius enjoys watching degrading sexual shows, often including children and various freaks of nature in his underground grotto. Caligula observes with a mixture of fascination and horror. Tiberius demands his grandson perform a dance from his youth when he was a mascot in his father’s army. At first, Caligula claims to have forgotten, but Tiberius angrily insists. After a few minutes, Tiberius interrupts, and confronts Caligula about gossiping and praying for his grandfather’s death. Caligula denies the accusations. Soon, Tiberius warns Nerva to be wary of Macro after his death. Tiberius embraces Caligula, and cautions him that it is a myth that emperors are gods. Tiberius is curious to know if he is missed in Rome, and Caligula assures him that he is loved. Tiberius believes he is not loved but feared. He cautions Caligula that every senator aspires to be emperor, and therefore is a traitor. Caligula denies being intimate with Drusilla, but Tiberius warns him that he knows everything that goes on in the kingdom. Soon, Tiberius greets Gemellus with affection. He offers Caligula a cup of wine, but Caligula passes the cup to Gemellus. However, Tiberius stops Gemellus from drinking, and warns him that Caligula will kill him once Tiberius is dead. A servant drinks the poisoned cup of wine and quickly dies.

Later, Caligula wakes from a nightmare, and tells Drusilla that Tiberius plots to kill him, but she reassures him he is the only one who can be emperor because Gemellus is too young to rule and Uncle Claudius is not mentally fit. Caligula wants Drusilla to be his empress, but she reminds him that he has been promised to Macro’s wife, Ennia. Even Macro agrees with the arrangement.

Meanwhile, Nerva chooses suicide over a natural death by slashing his wrists in a bath. Tiberius discovers Nerva in the midst of his suicide. As Tiberius orders his wounds bound, Nerva admits that he hates his life. Tiberius says he cannot live without Nerva at his side, and promises to kill Macro, but even with Macro gone, Nerva does not want to be ruled by “the reptile” Caligula. Nerva begs to be allowed to die, and Tiberius leaves. Meanwhile, Caligula wants to know what dying is like, and asks Nerva if he can see the goddess Isis. When he cannot, Caligula believes he is lying, pushes him down in the tub, and hastens his death.

Nerva’s death hastens Tiberius’ own when he soon collapses from an apparent stroke and is bedridden. Late one night, Macro escorts all the spectators out of the ailing Tiberius’ bedchamber to allow Caligula the opportunity to murder his grandfather, but when Caligula fails and falls into an epileptic trance, Macro finishes the deed himself by strangling Tiberius with a scarf. Caligula triumphantly removes the imperial signet from Tiberius’ finger and suddenly realizes that Gemellus has witnessed the murder.

Back in Rome several days later, Tiberius is buried with honors and Caligula is proclaimed the new Emperor, who in turn proclaims Drusilla his equal, to the apparent disgust of the Roman Senate. Afterward, Drusilla, fearful of Macro’s influence, convinces Caligula to get rid of him. Caligula obliges by setting up a mock trial, in which Gemellus is intimidated into testifying that Macro alone murdered Tiberius. Caligula then has Macro’s wife, Ennia, arrested for “insubordination” and has her exiled to Gaul, never to be seen or heard from again.

Macro is then executed in Caligula’s public courtyard by a large decapitation machine; Macro and other convicts are buried up to their necks in the earth ground, and the blade-slashing machine, standing over 100-feet tall and wide as a city block, runs over him. At one point Caligula, when booed by the crowd, mutters “If only all of Rome had but one neck…”

With the powerful Macro gone, Caligula appoints Tiberius’ former financial and political adviser Longinus (John Steiner) as his new adviser and right-hand man, and pronounces the docile Senator Chaerea (Paolo Bonacelli) as the new head of the Praetorian Guard. Drusilla endeavors to find Caligula a wife amongst the priestesses of the goddess Isis, the mystery cult they secretly practice. Disguised as a woman, Caligula chooses a candidate from among the shapely priestesses in the Temple of Isis. He is attracted, despite Drusilla’s protests that she is promiscuous, to Caesonia (Helen Mirren), an eloquent, sensual divorcee, who becomes his mistress.

Over the next several months, Caligula proves to be a popular, yet eccentric ruler, cutting taxes and overturning all the oppressive laws that Tiberius enacted. One of Caligula’s first duties is to settle a land dispute between two senators. Instead of listening to arguments, he makes an arbitrary decision based on the size of the legal documents. Within a few months, the Roman Senate begins to dislike the young emperor for his eccentricities and various insults directed towards them. Darker aspects of his personality begin to emerge as well. When Caligula eyes a young woman named Livia (Mirella D’Angelo), whom is engaged to Proculus (Donato Placido), one of his most loyal soldiers, Caligula and his entourage crash Livia and Proculus wedding party where he lures both to the kitchen and rapes both of them in a minor fit of jealousy. Proculus is later disemboweled and castrated in a gory torture-murder by Caligula himself. When asked why he murdered one of his most loyal officers, Caligula’s insane reply is: “because I can.”

The much darker side of Caligula begins to show itself as he comes to realize that no one will challenge his absolute power. His terror during a thunder and lightning rainstorm is the first sign of a mental breakdown; his reaction is to run outside and dance naked. As Drusilla is summoned, Caligula tells her that he knows Gemellus plots to kill him. She kisses away his fears, and soon, Caligula is making love to both Drusilla and Caesonia. In another bedchamber, two Isis women, Messalina and Agrippina, watch the threesome unfolding and then engage in lesbian sex with each other.

A few more months later, Caligula’s actions become increasingly senseless. His only confidant is his Arab stallion, Incitatus, which he rides into a banquet where Gemellus is one of the guests. In a macabre mood, Caligula accuses Gemellus publicly of treason and has him arrested merely to provoke a reaction from Drusilla. Caligula defends his increasingly erratic and outspoken actions as he is the Emperor of the Roman Empire and he feels that he can do anything he wants with impunity.

After he discovers Caesonia is pregnant, Caligula suffers a severe fever, but Drusilla nurses him back to health. Right after he recovers, Caesonia bears Caligula a daughter, whom they name Julia Drusilla, and Caligula marries her on the spot. He is enraged to learn the child is a girl and insists on calling her “my son.” During the celebration, Drusilla collapses in Caligula’s arms from the same fever he’d suffered. Soon afterward, Caligula receives another ill omen in the guise of a black bird. He rushes to Drusilla’s side and watches her die. Caligula experiences a nervous breakdown, smashes a statue of Isis and drags Drusilla’s nude body around the palace while screaming hysterically.

Now in a deep depression, Caligula walks the Roman streets, disguised as a beggar. When Caligula is dragged drunk and dirty into a prison for causing a disturbance at an outdoor theater, his signet ring is spotted by a giant (Osiride Pevarello) and his true identity becomes known. Caligula is released and has the Giant become his companion and ‘flunky’.

After his brief stay in jail, Caligula becomes determined to destroy the senatorial class, which he has come to loathe. Over the next year, his reign becomes a series of humiliations against the foundations of Rome. He orders the execution of several senators and their families without the slightest provocation.

Caligula officially proclaims himself a god and awards free games and food to every citizen for one month. When Longinus protests by saying that the economy will never be able to handle such an expense, Caligula shows him how easy it is to replenish the Imperial purse. He builds a large ship in the palace that is to be used as a brothel. Forcing the wives and daughters of his senators into prostitution, Caligula himself collects the fees from citizens eager to sample their betters.

Afterward, estates are confiscated, the old pagan religion is desecrated, and Caligula initiates an absurd war on Britain to humiliate the army. Caligula orders his officers to attack papyrus growing in the water of a lake so he can claim to have conquered Britain. Back in court, he announces his victory while servants parade the captured papyrus. During a celebration, Caligula orders Longinus to recite a list of citizens who have failed the empire, and they are arrested. His final public act of madness is to proclaim his horse, Incitatus, a senator.

Having overruled every branch of the government, mocked the Roman gods, humiliated and killed all of the most loyal and trusted members of the Senate, destiny finally catches up with Caligula; Chaerea, Longinus, the Imperial physician Charicles (Leopoldo Trieste), the Chief Executioner, the Roman High Priest, and a few other senators and members of the Praetorian Guard have quietly begun plotting his assassination.

On the last night of his life, Caligula wanders into his bedroom where a nervous Caesonia awaits him. The black bird makes a final appearance, but only Caesonia is frightened of it. By this point, Caligula is so consumed by his insanity that he no longer exhibits fear or any kind of strong emotions.

The next day, on a cold January morning in 41 A.D., after rehearsing an Egyptian play, Caligula and his family leave the stadium to return to the Imperial Palace. On their way back, a vengeful Chaerea awaits them in the front corridor. After Caligula teases Chaerea one final time by giving him the secret password “scrotum”, Chaerea answers, “So be it!”….. he draws his sword and strikes Caligula on his head. To insure that none of Caligula’s line will follow him to power, Caesonia is also stabbed, the child Julia has her head smashed on the marble steps by the Executioner, and the Giant is decapitated by Chaerea. Deranged to the last, the mortally wounded and bloodied Caligula rises to his feet and to which he defiantly whimpers: “I live!” Chaerea responds by stabbing Caligula a final time and he falls to the floor. Caligula is finished off when 10 or more of his own guards, seeing their now-hated Emperor dying, gorily stab him to the marble floor with their spears while the horrified Claudius watches. Begging to spare his life, Claudius is given Caligula’s robe and ring by Longinus and the servants who hail him as the new Emperor, proclaiming a new era for the Empire. As the unwilling and dull-witted Claudius is carried away, Chaerea, Longinus, and the other conspirators flee from the scene of the crime.

More than 30 years after graduating from Top Gun (1986), United States Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is a test pilot. Despite many achievements, repeated insubordination has kept him from flag rank; his friend and former Top Gun rival, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, now commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, often protects Maverick. Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain plans to cancel Maverick’s hypersonic “Darkstar” scramjet program in favor of funding drones. To save the program, Maverick unilaterally changes the target speed for that day’s test from Mach 9 to the final contract specification of Mach 10. However, the prototype is destroyed when he cannot resist pushing beyond Mach 10. Iceman again saves Maverick’s career by assigning him to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island for his next assignment, but Cain tells Maverick that the era of crewed fighter aircraft will soon be over.

The Navy has been tasked with destroying an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, located in an underground bunker at the end of a canyon, before it becomes operational. It is defended by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), GPS jammers, and fifth-generation Su-57 fighters as well as older F-14 Tomcats. Maverick devises a plan employing two pairs of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs, but instead of participating in the strike, he is to train an elite group of Top Gun graduates assembled by Air Boss Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson.

Maverick dogfights his skeptical students and prevails in every contest, winning their respect. Lieutenants Jake “Hangman” Seresin and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw-son of Maverick’s dead best friend and RIO Nick “Goose” Bradshaw-clash: Rooster dislikes Hangman’s cavalier attitude, while Hangman criticizes Rooster’s cautious flying. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, to whom he reveals that he promised Rooster’s dying mother that Rooster would not become a pilot. Rooster, unaware of the promise, angrily resents Maverick for dropping his Naval Academy application-impeding his military career-and blames him for his father’s death. Maverick is reluctant to further interfere with Rooster’s career, but the alternative is to send him on the extremely dangerous mission. He tells his doubts to Iceman, who has terminal throat cancer. Iceman advises that “It’s time to let go” and reassures him that both the Navy and Rooster need Maverick.

After Iceman dies, Cyclone removes Maverick as instructor following a training incident in which an F/A-18F is lost. Cyclone relaxes the mission parameters, so they are easier to execute but make escape much more difficult. During Cyclone’s announcement, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight through the course with his preferred parameters, proving that it can be done. Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as team leader.

Maverick flies the lead F/A-18E, accompanied by a buddy lazing F/A-18F[c] flown by Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace and WSO Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Floyd. Rooster leads the second strike pair, which includes Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch and WSO Lieutenant Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia. The four jets launch from an aircraft carrier, and Tomahawk cruise missiles destroy the nearby air base as they approach. The teams destroy the plant, but the SAMs open fire during their escape, as anticipated. Rooster runs out of countermeasures, and Maverick sacrifices his plane to protect him. Believing Maverick to be dead, the others are ordered back to the carrier, but Rooster returns to find that Maverick ejected and is being targeted by an Mi-24 attack helicopter. After destroying the gunship, Rooster is shot down by a SAM and ejects. The two rendezvous and steal an F-14 from the damaged air base. Maverick and Rooster destroy two intercepting Su-57s, but a third attacks as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman arrives in time to shoot it down, and the planes return safely.

The story opens with a woman telling a portion of her people’s history on the desert planet, Arrakis. The woman, Chani, is a Fremen. She explains that since before she was born the planet has been ruled by the cruel Harkonnens who have grown enormously rich harvesting the psychogenic substance “melange” also known as the spice. The Fremen have been trying to expel the Harkonnens, but to no avail. Recently, however, the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV has ordered the Harkonnens to leave Arrakis. Chani wonders who the new rulers will be.

On the planet Caladan, Paul Atreides eats breakfast with his mother, Lady Jessica, Duke Leto’s concubine. A member of the quasi-religious order of the Bene Gesserit, Jessica has been trying to teach her son the special powers of her order. She tests Paul by having him try to compel her to pass him a glass of water. Paul is only partially successful. Paul learns about the planet Arrakis and its people. It is the only source of the psychoactive spice, which extends life and perception. Spice is necessary for interstellar travel since it makes possible the expanded consciousness of the navigators who plot faster than light jumps, “folding” space time to travel instantly from one planet to another.

Leto Atreides, along with soldier Gurney Halleck and mentat Thufir Hawat, receive an imperial envoy who formalizes the awarding of Arrakis to House Atreides. The emperor fears Leto’s growing political power and popularity in the Landsraad, a conclave of noble houses. Leto recognizes that his appointment to oversee Arrakis is a trap of some kind, but cannot refuse an imperial offer. Paul asks his friend, the elite soldier Duncan Idaho to take him along when Duncan goes to Arrakis weeks ahead of time to scout things out. Duncan refuses. Paul confides that he’s been having dreams about Arrakis and the Fremen, including one where Duncan falls in battle. Duncan dismisses this as merely a dream, telling Paul that “Everything important happens when we’re awake”.

Paul discusses his wish to travel to Arrakis early with his father, but Leto refuses, saying that he needs Paul by his side. He explains the political situation: the emperor has set up a conflict between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, a war which will weaken them both, to the benefit of the Emperor. Leto instead intends to strike an alliance with the Fremen in order to harness their “desert power” to his own and outwit the Emperor. Paul expresses his doubts about his ability to succeed his father as a leader. Leto confides his own doubts when he was young and insists that Paul will find his way to leadership, just as he did.

Gurney has a sparring session with Paul, insisting that the young ducal heir must be more wary about the danger posed by the Harkonnens and more ruthless in battle. Paul begins to have dreams of Chani. Jessica’s Bene Gesserit superior, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam arrives on Caladan to test Paul. Before the meeting he is inspected by Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, who warns Paul that the Bene Gesserit have their own agenda. Mohiam puts Paul through the test of the Gom Jabbar, using a poisoned needle and a pain-inflicting box to judge his character. After the test, Mohiam asks Paul about his dreams and whether they sometimes come true. Afterward, Mohiam berates Jessica for producing a son for Duke Leto, rather than the daughters she had been ordered to produce.

She accuses Jessica of thinking that her son might be the Kwisatz Haderach, the fulfillment of a Bene Gesserit messianic prophecy. Jessica confirms this belief and Mohiam warns her that Paul’s abilities are not fully developed and that he might die in the coming trials. When Mohiam leaves, Paul confronts his mother about what Mohiam meant. Jessica explains that the Bene Gesserit have spent hundreds of years engaged in a selective breeding program to produce an unparalleled mind who can see both the past and the future.

The Atreides arrive on Arrakis. When they disembark their ship, locals begin chanting a phrase Paul cannot recognize. Paul asks his mother and she explains that it’s a local prophecy of the Lisan-al-Gaib, the “voice from outer world”, a prophesied messiah on Arrakis. Jessica says that they think Paul might be this figure, but Paul dismisses it as mere superstition spread by the Bene Gesserit. Jessica hires a Fremen servant, Shadout Mapes. Mapes sees Jessica and Paul as a fulfillment of the Lisan-al-Gaib and gives Jessica a dagger made from the tooth of Shai-halud, the immense sandworms which make the desert of Arrakis so dangerous. That night, while he studies a holographic image of the muad’Dib desert mouse, Paul survives an assassination attempt by a hunter seeker drone when Mapes enters the room, distracting it.

Leto surveys his new domain and discovers that the Harkonnens have sabotaged much of the needed infrastructure. They decide to take the issue to the imperial arbiter of the transition, an ecologist named Liet Kynes, who has resided on Arrakis for years. Duncan Idaho returns from several weeks living with the Fremen. He reports to the Duke that the Fremen are unparalleled fighters who live in communities known as “sietchs” in caverns beneath the desert. Duncan confirms Thufir Hawat’s belief that there are many more Fremen than previously believed. The leader of one of these sietchs, Stilgar, has come to meet with Leto. Stilgar demands that the outworlders not travel beyond the city except to mine spice. Leto refuses but insists that the sietchs will remain inviolate and that Fremen will not be hunted while the Atreides rule. Paul invites Stilgar to stay, but he leaves. Duncan introduces the Atreides to some Fremen technology, including the moisture saving stillsuits and thumpers which are used to attract sandworms.

Leto’s party meets with Liet Kynes to investigate the spice mining operations. She inspects their stillsuits and finds that Paul has intuitively fitted his stillsuit in the Fremen manner. In the native language she says “He shall know your ways as if born to them”. The party flies out to observe a spice mining operation. The mining vehicle – a “sandcrawler” – has attracted a worm, which is drawn by the rhythmic vibrations of the crawler as it collects the spice. When a flying carry-all fails to remove the mining vehicle, Duke Leto lands his small squad of ornithopters nearby to rescue the miners. When Paul gets out to guide the miners inside, he is hit with a massive dose of spice and has a series of visions including one of himself with Chani. He is nearly sucked down into the sand with the crawler when Gurney grabs him and hauls him aboard his father’s ornithopter. The two watch as the worm’s enormous, toothed maw opens and swallows the sandcrawler whole. Later, Paul is examined by Dr Yueh who informs Paul and his mother that the spice is psychoactive but shouldn’t harm Paul.

Duke Leto awakes at night with the sense that something is wrong. He calls security but gets no answer. He finds Mapes stabbed to death and is shot with a paralytic dart that burrows its way through his body shield and into his back, rendering him helpless. Yueh reveals himself as a traitor. He has lowered the shields and sabotaged Atreides communications. Yueh reveals to Leto that the Harkonnens secured his compliance because they have his wife held captive. He replaces one of Duke Leto’s teeth with a poison capsule which he hopes the Duke can use to kill the Baron.

Gurney is awakened and leads the counter attack as the Harkonnen forces, aided by the imperial Sardukar troops, begin their assault. The Atreides troops, caught unprepared and outnumbered by Harkonnen troops and the Sardukar, find themselves quickly overwhelmed. Duncan kills several Sardukar, takes an ornithopter and tries to rescue Paul and Jessica but finds them already gone.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has promised Mohiam and the Bene Gesserit that he will not harm Paul or Jessica so he sends some of his men to take them to the desert to die of exposure. Paul, not fully secure in his Bene Gesserit abilities, is still able to use the Voice to order one of the men to remove his mother’s gag. Jessica immediately orders one of the men to kill his comrade. When she’s fully freed, she kills two of them personally. Their ornithopter is remotely disabled and lands. Paul and Jessica see the devastation of Arrakeen from a distance.

Yueh meets with Baron Harkonnen and demands that the Baron honor his end of the deal. The Baron promises that Yueh will be reunited with his wife and then slits his throat. The Baron then gloats over a paralyzed Leto, who bites down on his fake tooth and expels the poison, killing everyone in the room except for the Baron who is gravely injured, having activated his body shield and used his anti-gravity suspensors to float to the ceiling. Medical technicians nurse the Baron back to health.

Riding out a storm in a survival tent, Paul continues to have visions from his spice exposure. They are first of Chani. However, they quickly change to visions of bloody conflict and religious zealots, operating under the Atreides flag and in Duke Leto’s name, spreading across the galaxy “like and unquenchable fire”. Paul is horrified by what he sees and blames his mother and the Bene Gesserit but is eventually comforted by his mother.

Paul and Jessica are rescued by Duncan Idaho, who managed to escape the slaughter. Duncan brings them to Kynes, who has set up in an abandoned terraforming station occupied by Fremen. The Sardukar track them there and attack, with the Fremen killing many of them. Duncan sacrifices himself in a last stand to allow Paul, Jessica, and Kynes to escape. Paul and Jessica flee in an ornithopter. Kynes sets up a thumper, intending to call a sandworm and ride it away, but she is mortally wounded by the Sardukar. Before they can deliver the killing blow, a sandworm arrives and Kynes attracts it to her by pounding a patch of drumsand. They are all swallowed by the worm.

While piloting the ornithopter through a powerful sand storm, Paul has a vision of a Fremen man giving him advice, telling him that survival in the desert is a process and that he must move with the flow of the environment. Paul retracts the ’thopter’s wings and allows them to be carried deeper into the desert by the vortex of the storm. They survive but with the ornithopter damaged they must set out on foot through the desert. As they do, they are observed by Fremen.

Jessica and Paul make their way toward where they believe the Fremen sietch is. Their movements attract a sandworm and they make a run for some nearby rocks. The sandworm pauses, seemingly looking at Paul for few seconds before a thumper draws it away. A group of Fremen capture them. Stilgar is with them and recognizes Paul, saying that they can’t touch him. Another Fremen, Jamis, dismisses Stilgar’s belief and wants to kill Paul and Jessica and loot their bodies. Paul recognizes Jamis as the man from his visions.

Jessica asks for help returning to Caladan, saying that they will be well rewarded, but Stilgar dismisses any reward they’d give as pointless. Stilgar offers to allow Paul, who is still young, to join their sietch, but says that Jessica, who he deems too old to learn to fight, must be left behind. Jessica and Paul use their Bene Gesserit training to disarm most of the Fremen and hold Stilgar at knife point. Stilgar, realizing that Jessica is a Bene Gesserit, relents and decides to take both of them to the sietch. Jamis objects, and challenges Jessica to a duel.

Paul agrees to stand as his mother’s champion. Chani, who is among the party, takes pity on Paul, who she believes will die at Jamis’ hand, and gives him her crysknife, a dagger made from the tooth of the sandworm, a moment from one of Paul’s visions. In the duel, Paul outclasses Jamis, repeatedly holding a knife to his throat and demanding that he yield. Stilgar informs him that Fremen duels are to the death, and Jessica says that Paul has never killed anyone before. Reluctantly, Paul kills Jamis. Satisfied, the Fremen take Paul and Jessica back to their sietch.

In 1947, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker in Maine, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, a golf pro. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is given two consecutive life sentences and sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. Andy keeps claiming his innocence, but his cold and calculating demeanor leads everyone to believe he did it.

Meanwhile, Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), known as Red is being interviewed for parole after having spent 20 years at Shawshank for murder. Despite his best efforts and behavior, Red’s parole is rejected which doesn’t phase him all that much. Red is then introduced as the local smuggler who can get inmates anything they want within reason. An alarm goes off alerting all prisoners of new arrivals. Red and his friends bet on whichever new fish will have a nervous break down during his first night in prison. Red places a huge bet on Andy.

During the first night, an overweight newly arrived inmate, nicknamed ‘’fat ass’, breaks down and cries hysterically allowing Heywood (William Sadler) to win the bet. However, the celebration is short lived when the chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), savagely beats up the fat man for not keeping quiet when he is asked to. Meanwhile, Andy remains steadfast and composed. The next morning, the inmates learn that ‘’fat ass’’ died in the infirmary because the prison doctor had been out for the night. Andy inquires about the man’s name only to get put down by Heywood.

About a month later, Andy approaches Red having heard of his talents for finding things. He asks Red to find him a rock hammer, an instrument he claims is necessary for his hobby of rock collecting and sculpting. Red asks a few questions about his intentions which Andy laughs off. Red agrees to place the order and also warns Andy about ‘’the sisters’’, a group of prisoners who sexually assaults other prisoners, most importantly their leader, Boggs (Mark Rolston) who has a crush on Andy. Though other prisoners consider Andy “a really cold fish,” Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red thinks Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer an escape in the future but when he finally sees the tool’s actual size, he understands why Andy laughed and laughs too, putting aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of prison.

During the first two years of his incarceration, Andy spends most of his time working in the prison laundry or fighting off Boggs and the Sisters. Though he persistently resists and fights them every time, Andy is beaten and raped on a regular basis but keeps quiet about it.

When a work detail for tarring the roof of one of the prison’s buildings is announced, Red pulls some strings to get Andy and a few of their mutual friends assigned to the job, giving everyone a break from the usual. During the job Andy overhears Hadley complaining about having to pay taxes for an upcoming inheritance. Drawing from his expertise as a banker, Andy lets Hadley know how he can shelter his money from the IRS by turning it into a one-time gift for his wife. He then offers to assist Hadley in filling out the paperwork in exchange for some cold beers for his fellow inmates while on the tarring job. Hadley first threatens to throw Andy off the roof, but eventually agrees and do provide the working inmates with cold beers before the job is finished. Red remarks that Andy may have engineered the privilege to build favor with the prison guards as much as with his fellow inmates, but he also thinks Andy did it simply to “feel normal again.”

While watching a movie, Andy approaches Red with another unusual demand and asks for the actress Rita Hayworth. Red is surprised by the demand but agrees to place the order. As he exits the theater, Andy once more encounters the Sisters. Although he is able to talk his way out of being raped, he is brutally beaten within an inch of his life, putting him in the infirmary for a month. Boggs spends a week in solitary for the beating. When he comes out, he finds Hadley and his men waiting in his cell. They beat him so badly that he’s left unable to walk or eat solid food for the rest of his life and is transferred to a prison hospital upstate. The Sisters move on and never bother Andy again. When Andy gets out of the infirmary, he finds a bunch of rocks for him to sculpt and a giant poster of Rita Hayworth in his cell; presents from Red and his friends.

Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) hears about how Andy helped Hadley and uses a surprise cell inspection to size Andy up. He finds Andy reading his copy of the Holy Bible and they talk about their favorite verses while the guards are turning the cell upside down looking for illegal possessions. Satisfied with their encounter, the warden leaves and almost forget to give Andy his Bible back. He then encourages Andy to keep reading the Bible saying that ‘’Salvation lays within’’.

Andy is later advised that he will now work in the prison library with aging inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore). The reason for his transfer is made obvious when a prison guard shows up asking Andy for financial advising. Andy sets-up a makeshift desk and starts working, providing financial advising to most prison guards and helping them with their income tax returns. Andy also sees an opportunity to expand the prison library; he starts by asking the Maine state senate for funds. He writes letters every week. His financial support practice is so appreciated that even guards from other prisons, when they visit for inter-prison baseball matches, seek Andy’s financial expertise. Even the warden himself has Andy preparing his tax returns.

Not long afterwards, Brooks snaps and threatens to kill Heywood in order to avoid being paroled. Andy is able to talk him down. When his friends discuss Brooks ’behavior, Red sympathizes with Brooks having obviously become “institutionalized,” after spending 50 years at Shawshank. He has become essentially conditioned to be a prisoner for the rest of his life and is unable to adapt to the outside world. Red remarks: “These walls are funny. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them.” Brooks is paroled and goes to live in a halfway house. He is also given a job at a supermarket which he hates. Finding it impossible to adjust to life outside the prison, he eventually commits suicide, leaving the message “Brooks was here” carved on a wooden beam .

After six years of writing letters, Andy receives $200 from the state for the library, along with a collection of old books and phonograph records. Though the state Senate thinks this will be enough to get Andy to halt his letter-writing campaign, he is undaunted and redoubles his efforts.

When the donations of old books and records arrive at the warden’s office, Andy finds a copy of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro among the records. He locks the guard assigned to the warden’s office in the bathroom and plays the record over the prison’s PA system. The entire prison is soon captivated by the music. Red remarks that the voices of these women made everyone feel free, if only for a brief moment. Outside the office, Norton appears furious at the act of defiance, and orders Andy to turn off the record player. Andy responds by turning up the volume. The warden orders Hadley to break into the office and Andy is sent immediately to solitary confinement for two weeks. When he gets out, he tells his friends that the stretch was the “easiest time” he ever did in the hole because he spent it with Mozart’s Figaro stuck in his head for comfort. When the other prisoners tell him how unlikely that is, he talks about the power that hope can have in prison and that hope can sustain them. Red strongly disagrees with Andy, claiming that hope is a dangerous thing in a place like Shawshank and tells Andy he should get used to living without it. Andy implies that this is exactly what Brooks did and Red leaves the table angry.

Not long after, Red has a new parole hearing and realizes he’s been in prison for 30 years now. He uses the exact same words he used ten years earlier only with no enthusiasm at all. His parole is rejected again. Andy gives him an harmonica to commemorate his 30 years which Red replies by offering Andy a giant poster of Marilyn Monroe to commemorate his 10 years.

About four years after the Mozart incident, the state senate finally comes to the conclusion that they won’t get rid of Andy with just another check. So they allow him a budget of $500 a year to build his library. Andy uses it wisely and makes deals with book clubs and charities to create the best prison library in the state and names it after Brooks. With the enlarged library and more materials, Andy begins to mentor inmates who want to receive their high school diplomas so they can get a decent job once they’re out.

Meanwhile, Warden Norton profits from Andy’s knowledge and devises a scheme whereby he puts prison inmates to work on public projects which he wins by outbidding other contractors (prisoners are cheap labor). Occasionally, he allows other contractors to score projects as long as the bribe is good enough. Andy launders the money by setting up several accounts in several banks, along with several investments, using the fake identity of Randall Stephens, a man who only exist on papers, created by Andy himself through his knowledge of the system and mail ordered forms. Randall Stephens officially has a birth certificate, social security number and driving license. Should anyone ever investigate about the scheme; they will chase a man who only exists on paper. Andy shares the details with Red, noting that he had to “go to prison to learn how to be a crook.”

In 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy (Gil Bellows) comes to Shawshank to serve time for breaking and entering. Tommy is easy going, charismatic, and popular among the other inmates and is befriended by both Andy and Red. When Tommy explains that he’s been going in and out of prison ever since he was 13 years old, Andy suggests that Tommy should consider another line of work besides theft because he seems to be not so good at it. The suggestion really gets to Tommy and he asks Andy to help him work on earning his high school equivalency diploma. Though Tommy is a good student, he is still frustrated when he takes the exam itself, crumpling it up and tossing it in the trash. Andy retrieves it and sends it in anyway. Tommy asks Red about Andy’s case which Red explains. Upon hearing the story, Tommy is visibly upset. He then tells Andy and Red the story of a former cellmate of his from another prison who boasted about killing a man who was a pro golfer at the country club he worked at, along with his lover. The woman’s husband, a banker, had gone to prison for those murders.

With this new information, Andy, full of hope, meets with the warden, expecting Norton to help him get a new trial with Tommy as a witness. The reaction from Norton is completely contrary to what Andy hoped for. When Andy says emphatically that he would never reveal the money laundering schemes he set up for Norton over the years, the warden becomes furious and orders him to solitary for a month. The inmates discuss the sentence mentioning it is the longest time in solitary that they’ve ever heard of. They also realize that Andy may truly be innocent after all and has spent almost 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Tommy receives a letter from the board of education announcing that he has passed the exam and now owns a high school diploma. A guard pass the news to Andy in his solitary cell which makes him smile a little.

Later on, Tommy is escorted outside at night to have a private meeting with the warden. Warden Norton asks him if the story he told Andy is true and if he would be willing to testify on Andy’s behalf. Tommy enthusiastically agrees. The warden smiles at him before nodding to Hadley to shoot him dead.

When the warden visits Andy in solitary, he tells him that Tommy tried to escape and that Hadley had no choice but to shoot him. Andy doesn’t buy that story and tells Norton that ‘’everything’’ stops and that he’s not going to work for him anymore. The warden threatens Andy to shut down the library, burn all the books, and move Andy to a much different cell in a much different part of the prison with the most hardened criminals should he stop working for him. He then leaves and orders Andy to another month in solitary to think about things.

When Andy finally comes out of solitary, he and Red have a conversation where Andy talks about his wife and how much he loved her and feels responsible for her death even though he didn’t pulled the trigger. He then talks about his projects should he ever get out of prison. He talks about Zihuatanejo, a beach town on the Pacific coast of Mexico where he’d like to live for the rest of his life and manage a hotel there. He then asks Red if he’d join him to which Red says no and that he believes he is too far gone like Brooks. He then criticizes Andy for allowing hope to mess with his mind like that and that it will only destroy him. Andy agrees and is about to leave when he asks Red if he knows the Buxton, Maine area. He then tells Red about a very specific hay field where there is a large oak tree at the end of a stone wall. He then asks Red to promise him that, should he ever get paroled, he will seek that oak tree and retrieve something that was hidden among the stones but refuses to say what it is. Red promises but is worried about his friend’s state of mind. His worries are heightened further when he learns that Andy has asked Haywood for a six-foot rope. Red believes Andy may have finally reached his breaking point and is about to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Norton asks Andy to shine his shoes for him and put his suit in for dry-cleaning before retiring for the night. Andy returns to his cell and the guards turn the lights off for the night. Red remarks that it was the longest night of his life.

The following morning, Andy has not answered the morning call and is not standing in front of his cell like every morning. The guard yells at Andy for putting him late and walks to his cell expecting to find a seriously sick or dead Andy. At the same time, Norton becomes alarmed when he finds Andy’s shoes in his shoe box instead of his own. The alarm then goes off announcing a missing inmate. Norton rushes to Andy’s empty cell and demands an explanation. Hadley brings in Red, but Red insists he knows nothing of Andy’s plans. Becoming increasingly hostile and paranoid, Norton starts throwing Andy’s sculpted rocks around the cell. When he throws one at Andy’s poster of Raquel Welch (in the spot previously occupied by Marilyn Monroe, and before that by Rita Hayworth), the rock punches through and into the wall. Norton tears the poster from the wall revealing a tunnel just wide enough for a man to crawl into.

It is revealed in a series of flashback sequences narrated by Red that many years ago, not long after receiving his rock hammer, Andy innocently tried to carve his name on his cell wall when a chunk of it came off. Andy, being a fan of geology, realized that the material the wall was made off of could make it possible for him to dig a hole in case he ever needed to escape. Andy first ordered the giant poster of Rita Hayworth to hide the hole. He then spent years digging at night with his rock hammer and hiding the dirt from his job into his pockets which he would then empty in the courtyard during his morning walks. When Tommy was killed, Andy decided it was time to go.

During the previous night’s thunderstorm, Andy wore Norton’s clothes underneath his own to his cell, catching a lucky break when no one notices Norton’s shiny black shoes on his feet, including Red. He packed many of his belongings, some papers and Norton’s clothes into a plastic bag which he tied to himself with the rope he’d asked for, and escaped through his hole. The tunnel he’d excavated led him to a space between two walls of the prison where he found a sewer main line. Using a rock, he hit the sewer line in time several times with the lightning strikes and eventually broke it open. After crawling through 500 yards of the raw sewage contained in the pipe, Andy emerged in a brook outside the walls. A search team later found his prison clothes, a bar of soap and a very worn out rock hammer.

While the warden and Red are discovering Andy’s genius escape, Andy walks into the Maine National Bank in Portland, where he had put Norton’s money. Using his assumed identity as Randall Stephens, and with all the necessary documentation, he closes the account and walks out with a cashier’s check. Before he leaves, he asks them to drop a package in the mail. He continues his visitations to nearly a dozen other local banks, ending up with some $370,000. The package contains Warden Norton’s accounting books, which are delivered straight to the Portland Daily Bugle newspaper along with Andy’s written confessions and testimony.

Not long after, the Maine state police storm Shawshank Prison along with several reporters to cover the developing story. Hadley is arrested for the murder of Tommy and is taken away by the state police. According to Red, he heard unfounded rumors through the grapevine that Hadley allegedly started “crying like a little girl” in the back seat of the police squad car while he was being taken away. Seeing Hadley being taken away in a police squad car and the local district attorney entering the prison with several policemen holding a warrant for Norton’s arrest, Warden Norton finally opens his safe in his office, which he hadn’t touched since Andy escaped, and instead of his books, he finds the Bible he had given Andy with a note to the warden saying that he was right, “salvation did lay within”. Norton then opens it to the book of Exodus and finds that the pages had all been cut out in the shape of Andy’s rock hammer. Norton walks back to his desk as the police pound on his door, takes out a small revolver and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. Red remarks that he wondered if the warden thought, right before pulling the trigger, how “Andy could ever have gotten the best of him.”

Shortly after, Red receives a postcard from Fort Hancock, Texas, with nothing written on it. Red takes it as a sign that Andy made it into Mexico to freedom. Red and his buddies kill time talking about Andy’s exploits (with a few embellishments), but Red falls into a sort of depression from missing his friend.

At Red’s next parole hearing in 1967, he talks to the parole board about how “rehabilitated” is just a made-up word invented to justify their job. He then explains how much he regrets his actions of the past, not because he’s in jail but because he knows how wrong it was. He then closes by saying that he has to live with that for the rest of his life and ask the board to stop wasting his time and leave him alone. His parole is finally granted. He goes to live and work at the same places that Brooks did, even seeing Brooks ’message carved into the wooden beam. He frequently walks by a pawn shop which has several guns in the window. At times he contemplates trying to get back into prison feeling that he has no life outside of prison where he has spent most of his adult life, but he remembers the promise he made to Andy. He then reveals that he was not looking at the guns but at the compasses behind the guns and he bought one.

Red follows Andy’s instructions, hitchhiking to Buxton and finding the stone wall Andy described. Just as Andy said, there is a large black stone. Underneath is a small box containing a large sum of cash and instructions to come find him in Zihuatanejo although he doesn’t name the city just in case. He also says he needs somebody “who can get things” for a “project” of his. Red suddenly understands all the power of hope and feels exhilarated by the feelings inside of him.

Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) are four lifelong friends who, many years earlier, began a book club. They meet once a month and each member takes a turn picking the book they are going to read that month.

Years earlier, Vivian had a relationship with Arthur (Don Johnson), but when he proposed, she dumped him. Since then, she never got married, but instead has brief flings with random men. Carol is currently married to Bruce (Craig T. Nelson), but is saddened that they have not been sexually intimate in months. Diane is recently widowed. Sharon is recently divorced.

At the start of the current month’s book club, Vivian is tasked with picking the next book. She chooses ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. The others, particularly Sharon, are not happy about having to read it, but they reluctantly choose to.

Vivian ends up running into Arthur again, after many years. He’s recently divorced and he asks Vivian out. Still attracted to him, she accepts and they have a date.

On a plane to go see her daughters, Diane meets Mitchell (Andy Garcia) and they hit it off. Sharon begins online dating after seeing that her ex-husband, Tom (Ed Begley, Jr.) met his current fiancé, Cheryl, online. Carol begins to get into the book and begins to try different things to get Bruce’s attention, but he is preoccupied with fixing an old motorcycle of his that he found in the garage.

As the four finish through the first book, the start on the sequel, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’. Diane ends up meeting Mitchell again on a flight and finds out that he’s a pilot. He gets her phone number for a future date. Sharon goes on her first online date and meets George (Richard Dreyfuss), a tax accountant. They have a nice date and at the end of the night, he asks if he can kiss her, since he’s not sure if she’ll want to see him again for another date. They kiss and it is then revealed that they slept together in the back of her car.

Carol begins trying other things, such as dressing in her old waitress outfit and using innuendos about handcuffs to try to get Bruce’s mind on being intimate with her, but he still does not get the hint. They eventually have a brief argument in the driveway about how all she wants to do is to have sex with him, startling some neighbors walking by. He says that his mind isn’t on that and Carol says that they haven’t been intimate since Bruce’s retirement party, where they tried, but were unable to.

Vivian continues to see Arthur and on one date, she falls asleep in his arms. This breaks one of her rules, where she says that she does not sleep with men after they are intimate with her. So, she decides to stop taking Arthur’s calls.

Sharon goes on another date, this time with Dr. Derek (Wallace Shawn). She sees Tom and Cheryl there and gets embarrassed when Derek introduces himself and then mentions that Sharon looks better than her profile picture. After the date, Sharon goes online and deactivates her account.

Meanwhile, Carol is out on a date with Bruce. At the bar, she slips a Viagra pill (that she received from Vivian) into Bruce’s beer and he ingests it. Later on, they are driving home and Bruce is furious with her. They are arguing when they are pulled over by a police officer. The female officer tells Bruce to get out of the vehicle, but he advises that that is probably not the best idea. She again tells him to get out of the car and Carol explains what she did to the officer. Bruce gets out of the vehicle and the officer notices that he has an erection, affirming Carol’s story. She tells them to have a good night and winks at Carol.

Back at their house, Bruce and Carol continue to argue about the situation. Carol doesn’t tell Bruce that this was all as a result of her reading the Fifty Shades books. Bruce yells at Carol, telling her that all these events that she signs them up for, she never mentions it to him. She just signs them up, mentioning a couple’s dance class that they are currently involved in. He tells her that he never wanted to be a part of that. Carol says that she signs them up for these things, so that they could remain close as a couple.

Diane continues to see Mitchell, but keeps the relationship a secret from her daughters, Adrianne (Katie Aselton) and Jill (Alicia Silverstone). Both daughters, especially Adrianne, are concerned that because of Diane’s age, she could fall or hurt herself and both want her to move to Arizona, where they live. Diane does not want to move, because she would have to leave her friends behind. One weekend, Diane is staying at Mitchell’s and does not notice her phone ringing. Adrianne is trying to reach her and begins to worry when her mother does not pick up the phone. After a few hours, Adrianne calls the police, who is able to track the phone to Mitchell’s. Adrianne, Jill, Adrianne’s husband and the police arrive at Mitchell’s to see her mother and Mitchell, snuggling in the pool. Diane goes back to Arizona with her daughters, where they convince her to move there permanently.

Arthur confronts Vivian about avoiding his phone calls and he professes his love for her, telling her that she’s the only one that he wants to be with. He tells her that he’s going to New York and wants her to go with him, but Vivian rejects him. The next day, Diane, Sharon and Carol find Vivian in her bed, having cried herself to sleep. They convince her to go after Arthur, since they can tell that she really does love him. She tries to get to the airport, but traffic prevents her from getting there in time.

Diane and Sharon go to a dance recital that Carol is supposed to be in with Bruce. Since they had their argument, Carol begins dancing alone, but there’s a miscommunication and the wrong song plays. Carol begins dancing anyway and Bruce arrives midway, but joins her onstage and they reconcile after the show. That night, Vivian goes back to her place and finds Arthur there. She tells him that she does love him and they kiss.

Diane packs up her stuff in a U-Haul and goes to Adrianne’s house. While there, she realizes that she’s making a mistake and tells her daughters that she’s not a child, that she can make her own decisions. Both Adrianne and Jill realize that their mother is not happy, so they wish her well. Diane drives to Mitchell’s. He asks her about the U-Haul and she says that’s her overnight bag.

In late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone’s daughter Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo). Vito (Marlon Brando), the head of the Corleone Mafia family, is known to friends and associates as “Godfather.” He and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone family lawyer, are hearing requests for favors because, according to Italian tradition, “no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter’s wedding day.” One of the men who asks the Don for a favor is Amerigo Bonasera, a successful mortician and acquaintance of the Don, whose daughter was brutally beaten by two young men because she refused their advances; the men received minimal punishment from the presiding judge. The Don is disappointed in Bonasera, who’d avoided most contact with the Don due to Corleone’s nefarious business dealings. The Don’s wife is godmother to Bonasera’s shamed daughter, a relationship the Don uses to extract new loyalty from the undertaker. The Don agrees to have his men punish the young men responsible (in a non-lethal manner) in return for future service if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Don’s youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), a decorated US Marine hero returning from World War II service, arrives at the wedding and tells his girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) anecdotes about his family, informing her about his father’s criminal life; he reassures her that he is different from his family and doesn’t plan to join them in their criminal dealings. The wedding scene serves as critical exposition for the remainder of the film, as Michael introduces the main characters to Kay. Fredo (John Cazale), Michael’s next older brother, is a bit dim-witted and quite drunk by the time he finds Michael at the party. Santino, who is nicknamed Sonny (James Caan), the Don’s eldest child and next in line to become Don upon his father’s retirement, is married but he is a hot-tempered philanderer who sneaks into a bedroom to have sex with one of Connie’s bridesmaids, Lucy Mancini (Jeannie Linero). Tom Hagen is not related to the family by blood but is considered one of the Don’s sons because he was homeless when he befriended Sonny in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan and the Don took him in and saw to Tom’s upbringing and education. Now a talented attorney, Tom is being groomed for the important position of consigliere (counselor) to the Don, despite his non-Sicilian heritage.

Also among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Corleone’s godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition Vito’s help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz (John Marley), the head of the studio, denies Fontane the part (a character much like Johnny himself), which will make him an even bigger star, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Don also receives congratulatory salutations from Luca Brasi, a terrifying enforcer in the criminal underworld, and fills a request from the baker, Nazorine, who made Connie’s wedding cake who wishes for his nephew Enzo to become an American citizen.

After the wedding, Hagen is dispatched to Los Angeles to meet with Woltz, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role. Woltz holds a grudge because Fontane seduced and “ruined” a starlet who Woltz had been grooming for stardom and with whom he had a sexual relationship. Woltz is persuaded to give Johnny the role, however, when he wakes up early the next morning and feels something wet in his bed. He pulls back the sheets and finds himself in a pool of blood; he screams in horror when he discovers the severed head of his prized $600,000 stud horse, Khartoum, in the bed with him. (A deleted scene from the film implies that Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), Vito’s top “button man” or hitman, is responsible.)

Upon Hagen’s return, the family meets with Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for financing as well as political and legal protection for importing and distributing heroin. Despite the huge profit to be made, Vito Corleone refuses, explaining that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the narcotics trade – the judges and politicians he’s allied himself with over the course of several decades would renounce their friendships with him if he were to enter the drug trade. The Don’s eldest son, Sonny, who had earlier urged the family to enter the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and begins to question Sollozzo’s assurances as to the Corleone Family’s investment being guaranteed by the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny’s dissension in a non-family member’s presence, silences Sonny with a single look and privately rebukes him later. Don Corleone then dispatches Luca Brasi to infiltrate Sollozzo’s organization and report back with information. During the meeting, while Brasi is bent over to allow Bruno Tattaglia to light his cigarette, he is stabbed in the hand by Sollozzo, and is subsequently garroted by an assassin.

Soon after his meeting with Sollozzo, Don Corleone is gunned down in an assassination attempt just outside his office, and it is not immediately known whether he has survived. Fredo Corleone had been assigned driving and protection duty for his father when Paulie Gatto, the Don’s usual bodyguard, had called in sick. Fredo proves to be ineffectual, fumbling with his gun and unable to shoot back. When Sonny hears about the Don being shot and Paulie’s absence, he orders Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano), one of his father’s two “caporegimes,” to find Paulie and bring him to the Don’s house.

Sollozzo abducts Tom Hagen and holds him for several hours, persuading him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. When Tom is released, Sollozzo gets word that the Don has survived the attempt on his life. He angrily tells Tom to convince Sonny to accept his offer.

Enraged, Sonny refuses to consider it and issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face a lengthy, bloody and costly (for both sides) gang war. They refuse, and instead send Sonny “a Sicilian message,” in the form of two fresh fish wrapped in Luca Brasi’s bullet-proof vest, telling the Corleones that Luca Brasi “sleeps with the fishes.”

Clemenza later takes Paulie and one of the family’s hitmen, Rocco Lampone, for a drive into Manhattan. Sonny wants to “go to the mattresses” – set up beds in apartments for Corleone button men to operate out of in the event that the crime war breaks out. On their way back from Manhattan, Clemenza has Paulie stop the car in a remote area so he can urinate. Rocco shoots Paulie dead; he and Clemenza leave Paulie and the car behind.

Michael, whom the other Mafia families consider a “civilian” and not involved in mob business, visits his father at a small private hospital after having dinner with Kay at her hotel. He is shocked to find that no one is guarding him – a nurse tells him that the men were interfering with hospital policy and were told to leave by the police about 10 minutes before Mike’s arrival. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny for help, moves his father to another room, and goes outside to watch the entrance. Michael enlists help from Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei), who has come to the hospital to pay his respects. Together, they bluff away Sollozzo’s men as they drive by. Police cars soon appear bringing the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who viciously punches Michael in the cheek and breaks his jaw when Michael insinuates that Sollozzo paid McCluskey to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with “private detectives” licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and he takes the injured Michael home. Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio), the eldest son and underboss of Don Phillip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), killed (off-camera).

Following the attempt on the Don’s life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo’s bodyguard. When Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting, Sonny and the other senior Family members are amused; however, Michael convinces them that he is serious and that killing Sollozzo and McCluskey is in the family’s interest: “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” Because Michael is considered a civilian, he won’t be regarded as a suspicious ambassador for the Corleones. Although police officers are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues that since McCluskey is corrupt and has illegal dealings with Sollozzo, he is fair game. Michael also implies that newspaper reporters that the Corleones have on their payroll would delight in publishing stories about a corrupt police captain.

Michael meets with Clemenza, who prepares a small pistol for him, covering the trigger and grip with tape to prevent any fingerprint evidence. He instructs Michael about the proper way to perform the assassination and tells him to leave the gun behind. He also tells Michael that the family were all very proud of Michael for becoming a war hero during his service in the Marines and that a war like the impending one that Sollozzo’s and McClusky’s killings will spark is necessary about every five to tens years to clean out the ambition and resentment that builds between the Five Families. Clemenza shows great confidence that Michael can perform the job and tells him it will all go smoothly. The plan is to have the Corleone’s informers find out the location of the meeting and plant the revolver before Michael, Sollozzo and McCluskey arrive. Before he leaves for the meeting, Sonny tells Michael he’ll get word to Kay about not saying goodbye.

Before the meeting in a small Italian restaurant in the Bronx, McCluskey frisks Michael for weapons and finds him clean. After a few minutes where Michael and Sollozzo converse in Italian, Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom, where he retrieves the planted revolver. Returning to the table, he fatally shoots Sollozzo, then McCluskey. Michael is sent to hide in Sicily while the Corleone family prepares for all-out warfare with the Five Families (who are united against the Corleones) as well as a general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities. Three months later, when the don returns home from the hospital, he is distraught to learn that it was Michael who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey.

Meanwhile, Connie and Carlo’s marriage is disintegrating. They argue frequently over Carlo’s suspected infidelity and his possessive behavior toward Connie. By Italian tradition, nobody, not even a high-ranking Mafia don, can intervene in a married couple’s personal disputes, even if they involve infidelity, money, or domestic abuse. One day, Sonny sees a bruise on Connie’s face and she tells him that Carlo hit her after she asked him if he was having an affair. Sonny tracks down and severely beats Carlo in the middle of a crowded street for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and threatens to kill Carlo if he ever harms Connie again. An angry Carlo responds by plotting with Tattaglia and Don Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), the Corleones’ chief rivals, to have Sonny killed.

Later, Carlo has one of his mistresses phone his house, knowing that Connie will answer. The woman asks Connie to tell Carlo not to meet her tonight. The very pregnant and distraught Connie throws a tantrum, throwing the plates with their dinner around the dining room and kitchen. Carlo takes advantage of the altercation to beat Connie in order to lure Sonny out in the open and away from the Corleone compound. When Connie phones the compound to tell Sonny that Carlo has beaten her again, the enraged Sonny drives off (alone and unprotected) to fulfill his threat against Carlo. On the way to Connie and Carlo’s house, Sonny is ambushed at a toll booth on the Long Island Causeway and violently shot to death by several carloads of hitmen wielding Thompson sub-machine guns.

Tom Hagen relays the news of Sonny’s massacre to the Don, who calls in the favor from Bonasera to personally handle the embalming of Sonny’s body. Rather than seek revenge for Sonny’s killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to negotiate a cease-fire. Not only is the conflict draining all their assets and threatening their survival, but ending it is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Tattaglia’s traffic in heroin, as long as it is controlled and not sold to children. At the meeting, Don Corleone deduces that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was ultimately behind the start of the mob war and Sonny’s death, despite showing early signs of senility.

In Sicily, Michael patiently waits out his exile, protected by Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), an old family friend. Michael aimlessly wanders the countryside, accompanied by his ever-present bodyguards, Calo (Franco Citti) and Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti). In a small village, Michael meets and falls in love with Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli), the beautiful young daughter of a bar owner. They court and marry in the traditional Sicilian fashion, but soon Michael’s presence becomes known to Corleone enemies. One day, while Michael is teaching his new bride to drive, Tommasino brings the bad news about Sonny’s assassination. He wants to movie Michael to a safer location. As the couple is about to leave, Apollonia is killed as a result of a rigged car (originally intended for Michael) exploding on ignition; Michael, who saw the car explode, spots Fabrizio hurriedly leaving the grounds seconds before the explosion, implicating him in the assassination plot. (In a deleted scene, Fabrizio is found years later and killed.)

With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home. More than a year later, in 1950, he reunites with his former girlfriend Kay after a total of four years of separation – three in Italy and one in America. He tells her he wants them to be married. Although Kay is hurt that he waited so long to contact her, she accepts his proposal. With Don Vito semi-retired, Sonny dead, and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge; he promises Kay he will make the family business completely legitimate within five years.

Two years later, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda), complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael denies the request. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to form their own families in the New York area. Michael further promises Connie’s husband, Carlo, that he will be his right hand man in Nevada (Carlo had grown up there), unaware of his part in Sonny’s assassination. Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliere and is now merely the family’s lawyer, with Vito serving as consigliere. Privately, Hagen inquires about his change in status, and also questions Michael about a new regime of “soldiers” secretly being built under Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui). Don Vito explains to Hagen that Michael is acting on his advice.

Another year or so later, Michael travels to Las Vegas and meets with Moe Greene (Alex Rocco), a rich and shrewd casino boss looking to expand his business dealings. After the Don’s attempted assassination, Fredo had been sent to Las Vegas to learn about the casino business from Greene. Michael arrogantly offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini. As Moe and Michael heatedly negotiate, Fredo sides with Moe. After Moe storms out of the meeting, Michael warns Fredo to never again “take sides with anyone against the family.”

Michael returns home. In a private moment, Vito explains his expectation that the Family’s enemies will attempt to murder Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Vito also reveals that he had never really intended a life of crime for Michael, hoping that his youngest son would hold legitimate power as a senator or governor. Some months later, Vito collapses and dies while playing with his young grandson Anthony (Anthony Gounaris) in his tomato garden. At the burial, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies Tessio as the traitor that Vito was expecting.

Kay asks Michael if he’ll agree to be godfather to Connie and Carlo’s newborn son. Michael agrees and seizes the opportunity to eliminate competition from the other five families while also using the baptism as an alibi. The murders occur simultaneously during the ceremony:

Don Stracci (Don Costello) is gunned down along with his bodyguard in a hotel elevator by a shotgun-wielding Clemenza.

Moe Greene is killed while having a massage, shot through the eye by an unidentified assassin.

Don Cuneo (Rudy Bond) is trapped in a revolving door at the St. Regis Hotel and shot dead by soldier Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell).

Don Tattaglia is assassinated in bed, along with a prostitute, by Rocco Lampone and an unknown associate.

Don Barzini is killed on the steps of his office building along with his bodyguard and driver, shot by Al Neri (Richard Bright), disguised in his old police uniform.

After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini that he has arranged. Instead, he is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men as Hagen steps away. Realizing that Michael has uncovered his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen that he always respected Michael, and that his disloyalty “was only business.” He asks if Tom can get him off for “old times’ sake,” but Tom says he cannot. Tessio is driven away and never seen again (it is implied that Cicci shoots and kills Tessio with his own gun after he disarms him prior to entering the car).

Meanwhile, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny’s murder and forces him to admit his role in setting up the ambush, having been approached by Barzini himself. (The hitmen who killed Sonny were the core members of Barzini’s personal bodyguard.) Michael assures Carlo he will not be killed, but his punishment is exclusion from all family business. He hands Carlo a plane ticket to exile in Las Vegas. However, when Carlo gets into a car headed for the airport, he is immediately garroted to death by Clemenza, on Michael’s orders.

A group of elderly people are giving interviews about having lived in a climate of crop blight and constant dust reminiscent of The Great Depression of the 1930’s. The first one seen is an elderly woman stating her father was a farmer, but did not start out that way.

The scene changes. We are introduced to a farmer and widower named Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey). He is a college-educated former NASA test pilot and engineer who was forced to give up his occupation to farm, living in a run down farmhouse, presumably owned by his father in law. They farm corn, with wheat no longer available and okra just now having become extinct due to blight. We see no animal life.

It is the 2060’s in eastern Colorado. More than half of the world’s population has been decimated from famine and America has been reduced to a struggling agrarian society for the past 30 years. Technology has come to a standstill for the past 40 or so years, with automobiles no longer produced and a computer laptop is a luxury item. However on a good note, there are no more wars or militaries in the world anymore. At a certain age, kids are tested to determine what occupations they will have to take to help humanity survive. In school, it is taught that the US going to the moon in 1969 was a hoax to drive the Soviet Union into bankruptcy and win the Cold War.

Cooper’s family consists of his 65-year-old father-in-law, Donald (John Lithgow),15-year-old son Tom (Timothée Chalamet), and 10-year-old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Donald was born at the end of the 20th or beginning of the 21st century and fondly recalls times when technology was constantly changing and new gadgets being invented. He is a down-to-Earth man who takes care of the household duties and gets along well with Cooper. The two of them sit on the porch drinking beer in the evening and philosophize about the condition of the world and how things should be. Joe’s son Tom is a boy of average intelligence already being ruled out to be a farmer by the school administration, since a college education is now something only a very small percentage those will enjoy the privilege of. His daughter Murph is a feisty and highly intelligent girl whom Cooper is very close to and who shares his affinity with space and science. She believes her room is haunted by a ghost because books keep falling off her shelves and a lunar ship model was just knocked over.

The Cooper family lives a pretty simple life and have a rare treat of attending a game of a supposedly major league baseball team at a local ball field similar to what the little league play on today. His father in law is unimpressed at the amateurishness of the players and having only popcorn for refreshments and no hot dogs. An approaching dust cloud interrupts the game reminding them of the grim world they live in, and ends it prematurely. The Cooper family makes back to the farmhouse during the dust storm and Murph’s bedroom did not have the window closed and the dust settled into perfect lines on the floor. Cooper spends the entire night studying the lines and Cooper thinks the lines are binary code and coordinates for a place he feels the need to find and uses a map. He spends the next day driving to the Rockies and his daughter sneaks into the truck to come with him.

Soon after arriving at his final destination (a fenced off gated area), Cooper is apprehended and tasered into unconsciousness. When Cooper wakes up, he is in a room being interrogated by a strange looking robot called TARS. It turns out Cooper is in the best-kept secret in the world, a bunker, and meets his old boss from NASA, an Englishman named Dr. John Brand (Michael Caine), plus his beautiful young daughter, Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway). Nobody is convinced that Cooper just stumbled into the place by accident and Dr. Brand believes a force brought Cooper there. The compound Cooper found is actually the remnants of NASA, inhabiting the facility in secret and no longer funded by the government because of the scarcity of resources. There is a space mission leaving soon to go through a wormhole of unknown origin near Saturn that will take them to three potentially habitable planets, two of them orbiting a super-massive black hole named Gargantua; a large black sphere about the size in diameter of Earth’s sun but which has a solar mass of about 50 million Earth suns. Ten years earlier, 12 individual astronauts were sent out through the wormhole in 12 different ships, but only three (Miller, Mann, and Edmond’s) activated the thumbs up beacon, all of whom are at three planets. At the moment, NASA has nobody to pilot the spacecraft and at the last minute they want Cooper to go, despite his family responsibilities.

The bunker itself is actually a centrifuge, which is projected to become something else later on. The mission has two plans: Plan A is to get the centrifuge into orbit as a space station and rescue a large number of people; this requires Dr. Brand to solve the equation that will allow the scientists to overcome gravity and get the centrifuge into orbit. Plan B is to colonize the most habitable of the three planets along with a bunch of frozen embryos to repopulate the species. Dr. Brand assures Cooper the Earth is dying and humanity doesn’t have much longer and that he needs to pilot the craft and explore, lest his family and the rest of the world all die soon. Cooper is very reluctant, because he’s barely left Earth’s atmosphere, but Brand reassures Cooper the twelve astronauts sent on the mission never even left the simulators beforehand.

The next day, Cooper and Murph return to the farmhouse, his daughter is extremely upset with him for choosing the mission. That night Cooper and Donald are sitting on the porch drinking beer and Cooper reminding Donald once again of the futility of staying and the conditions they live in. Donald assures Cooper he’s doing the right thing, but needs to set things right with Murph. The next morning, Cooper does his best to comfort a sobbing Murph and promises to come back to her and that they might even be the same age when he returns, giving her a wristwatch to compare time. Murph refuses his assurance and that her bookshelf is communicating with her in Morse Code to “stay”. Despite her pleas, Cooper won’t back down and one more book falls down before he leaves, but Cooper disregards it. Cooper leaves and says goodbye to Tom and Donald and while he’s driving away, Murph storms out the front door wanting to see him one last time, but it’s too late.

The space shuttle-craft rockets away from Earth at high speed with Cooper, Amelia Brand, Dr. Doyle (Wes Bentley), Dr. Nikolai “Rom” Romilly (David Gyasi), and the TARS and CASE robots on board. Doyle and Romilly are two scientists that were in the conference room at NASA during the meeting with Cooper. When the spacecraft leaves the atmosphere, everything goes quiet all of a sudden, except the inside. The ring shaped Endurance is up ahead and they dock with it, which has all their needs for space travel. The Endurance is leaving Earth and they bid farewell to a spinning Earth and have to look forward to the lonely, claustrophobic, and potentially dangerous reality of space and put themselves in a plastic-covered water cryosleep bed for the two-year journey to Saturn.

Dr. Brand makes a trip in Cooper’s old 2010 Dodge ram truck to deliver the vehicle back to the homestead and give a tape recorded message from Cooper to his family. Murph appears hoping her father is home, but angrily storms back into the house. Donald tells Dr. Brand about how Murph is making fools out of her teachers, but Brand tells Donald maybe she’ll eventually make a fool out of him.

Two years later.

The Endurance is orbiting Saturn and Cooper is out of cryosleep, reviewing video messages. His son Tom tells him he’s doing okay and Donald says hi, telling Cooper that Murph still refuses to talk to him. The Endurance crew come upon the wormhole, which resembles a plasma globe and will provide a quick channel for the crew to reach the three planets in the next galaxy. The crew take off for the rough ride, (a la 2001 infinity) and come to their first mission, Miller’s Planet. During the time through the wormhole, Amelia reaches out and feels she touched someone’s hand.

They find themselves in a region of space around 10 billion light years from planet Earth. They decide to head first to Miller’s planet, intending to stop there only briefly as its close proximity to Gargantua causes severe gravitational time dilation with each hour spent on the surface costing seven Earth years. Cooper, Amelia, Doyle, and the robot CASE decide to risk themselves and intend to be in and out of there in just minutes to survey while Romilly remains on the Endurance to study the black hole and get quantum data from it. When they land, all they find is shallow water and wreckage of Miller’s ship, who apparently died and had arrived just an hour or two earlier, even though she sent the thumbs up beacon on Earth 10 years before. The crew think there are mountains in the distance that turn out to be giant tsunami waves. Brand becomes trapped under the Miller wreckage and has to be rescued and carried back by CASE, Doyle is drowned, and the ship is flooded and won’t be able to make it out for another hour, costing them years. Cooper is frustrated at Brand, but forgives her mistake. After the engines are mostly emptied of water, Cooper fires them up and just manages to escape the next tidal wave and fly off the surface.

Cooper and Brand make it back to the Endurance to find an aged and gray Romilly in a robe – 23 Earth years have passed and Romilly has spent most of the time waiting with a couple of stretches in cryosleep. It is now about the year 2090 on Earth. They are all beyond crushed, but Brand is relieved to know her father is still alive and well. They are receiving messages from Earth, but unable to transmit out. Cooper reviews all the videos and breaks down looking at 23 years of recorded videos and sees before his very eyes his 17-year-old son Tom showing a picture of what he believes is the right girl for him. In the next video, Tom (now played by Casey Affleck) introduces to Cooper to his grandson Jesse. In the next video, a now weather-beaten and 40-year-old Tom reveals that Donald died a week ago and is buried next to Jesse and that he believes Cooper to be missing or dead and needs to let him go. Then afterwards an apparent live recording comes from Murph (now played by Jessica Chastain). After 25 years of silence, a still stubborn and saddened Murph tells off her father for not fulfilling the possibility of being back because she is now 35 years of age, which is the same age he was when he left Earth. It’s like a knife has been plunged into his heart and he feels he has betrayed her badly and has no way to communicate back with her.

On Earth, Murph stops recording the video. She is now working for Dr. Brand and living in the NASA bunker, who is now about 90-years-old and confined to a wheelchair. Brand is still trying to solve the incomplete gravity equation to get Plan A rolling and is reassuring Murph that the crew of the Endurance are receiving their recorded messages, but the crew can’t transmit out.

Now that the Endurance crew have recovered emotionally from Murph’s video, they debate whether to visit Mann’s planet or Edmond’s planet, because they only have enough fuel to visit one of them before they head back to Earth. Brand wants to visit Edmond’s Planet because his planet appears to be the better prospect, but Cooper wants to visit Mann’s because he’s still transmitting his beacon.

On Earth, Murph returns to the old Cooper homestead with her brother Tom, a farmer. He has just torched a third of his crop because of blight, which is spreading. He now has his old neighbor’s crop to cultivate since the neighbor moved or died. They believe the farm will soon produce nothing. She has dinner of corn soufflé and corn-on-the-cob with Tom, his wife Lois (Leah Cairns), and son Coop. She discovers Coop has a bad cough. They want her to stay the night, but she refuses because of bad memories from her childhood. Murph is aware that the nitrogen levels in the air are taking their toll more and more each day on their son.

A day or two later, Murph is back at the NASA bunker and learns Dr. Brand is dying. He confesses to her that Plan A is not possible and that he had lied to her. He could never solve the gravity equation to get people off Earth. She believes her father knew all about Brand’s scheme and that he escaped and purposefully left her and everyone else to die. Dr Brand dies. Murph sends a video message to Amelia informing her of her father’s death and begs him to tell the truth that the whole thing had been a sham.

The Endurance crew make it to Mann’s Planet a few months later; the planet is perpetually cold, covered with glaciers, and has a poisonous atmosphere of methane filled with ice clouds. Dr. Mann (Matt Damon), who has been in cryosleep for over 35 years, is awakened by Cooper and has a mental breakdown and relieved he is rescued. He tells the story of the frigid, but beautiful world he lives in, indicating it has 80% of Earth’s gravity and a lower part is livable, possibly even a source of fresh water.

Brand sees the video Murph sent about her father dying and Plan A being a sham. She is absolutely shocked and had no idea, but Mann reassures her the equation was actually solved long ago and determined to be impossible before he ever went on the mission. The only way to ever get data would be to get inside a black hole, which is impossible without being killed.

Back on Earth, Murph and her boyfriend, Dr. Getty (Topher Grace), another NASA physicist, are driving in her Jeep through the bleak plains surveying the endless clouds of black smoke and families with their decrepit 80-90 year old vehicles on the road with their belongings in tow, much like Midwestern farmers in the 1930’s escaping to go west to find a better life. She knows the equation is solvable as long as it comes from a black hole and that Dr. Brand only gave part of it. Somewhere in her subconscious, she has a gut feeling that the coordinates of dust on the floor of her bedroom long ago gave her a hint, along the books being pushed off the shelf, and with the Morse code message for Cooper to “stay”. She has a feeling this “ghost” is a being that has tried to comfort her and help save humanity. She knows it’s not the end and that humanity is running out of time.

Simultaneously, Mann is showing Cooper the icy and forbidding world. Murph is back at the Cooper homestead with Dr. Getty examining Tom’s son for his lungs. Dr. Mann pulls off Cooper’s voice beacon and pushes Cooper off the cliff and Murph’s brother Tom is outraged by Dr. Getty’s comment that they can’t stay and will die, hitting him in the face. Mann reveals to Cooper that the planet is uninhabitable and that he sent the signal so he could take Cooper’s spaceship to return to Earth. Murph confronts Tom that her father never meant to save them, but escape and leave it up to her and Tom outright refuses and tells her to leave, believing it’s his duty to take care of the farm to fulfill his promise for his father. Mann is trying to kill Cooper by breaking his helmet’s visor, allowing the ammonia-rich air to suffocate Cooper.

Cooper manages to reach his voice beacon that was taken off of his helmet by Mann to call out for Brand to rescue him. Murph and Dr. Getty are driving back to NASA, but in a fit of rage, she pulls over and pours gasoline over corn crops and sets them on fire, in order to distract Tom and get back to the farmhouse. Cooper has been rescued by Brand. Mann’s living quarters on the planet has exploded and Romilly killed. Romilly was killed because he was trying to retrieve data from Mann’s robot KIPP, which was booby trapped and supposed to reveal the truth about the planet. TARS comes out of the rubble to be rescued by Cooper and Brand and they leave the planet.

On Earth, Tom’s family is now out of the house and Murph is now in her old bedroom trying to make sense of the past. Cooper and Brand are leaving the planet, but Mann is also in another shuttle trying to do so and refuses to listen to their pleas to not attempt to dock with the Endurance. Murph is in her bedroom examining her old belongings to find out what the “ghost” might be telling her.

Dr. Mann has steadfastly refused to listen to the warnings from Cooper and Brand not to dock with the Endurance, but he continues his efforts. He’s manually maneuvered the ship into docking position, but ignores the computer’s warnings of “imperfect lock” and we see the docking pincers attempting to grab but failing to lock in. In mid-sentence the coupling release and the violent expulsion of air into space carries him with it, and resulting collision causes an explosion. The Endurance is now out of control and Cooper tells Brand that he is going to dock with it, even though it is now in a rapid rotation. Though the centrifugal g-forces from the spin are enormous, Cooper is able to dock. However, they are unable to get back to Earth and have to go to Edmond’s Planet to even hope to survive, because of the life support being destroyed. They have to slingshot around the black hole Gargantua in order to make it to Edmond’s Planet and on manual controls.

During the harrowing orbit around Gargantua, Cooper and TARS detach their respective shuttles and get sucked into the black hole, sacrificing themselves to collect data on the singularity, and propel Amelia and CASE faster by reducing the ship’s mass. Cooper separates from Brand in his Ranger, without her prior knowledge, and Brand is on a path that will take her to Edmond’s Planet. He realizes the cost of orbiting the black hole due to the gravitational time dilation will be 51 Earth years, but takes the chance. Brand is outraged with Cooper and now left alone with CASE.

As Cooper’s shuttle falls into the black hole, gravitational forces begin to rip it apart. Cooper is descending towards the center of the black hole with pellets that look like sleet hitting his Ranger spaceship. The computer of his ship tells him to eject himself and without reluctance, he does it.

Cooper descends in the black hole towards a grid full of cubbyholes thinking he’s dead and finds himself in some sort of afterlife and unaware of what sort of surroundings he’s in which resembles a tesseract. He hits an object along with a bunch of others that look like books stacked and knocks one down, revealing ten-year-old Murph reacting at an object falling from her bookshelf back at the farmhouse. He knocked down the lunar lander model shown at the beginning of the movie. He’s screaming out for Murph, but she walks away with it and doesn’t hear him. Then he sees Murph in another part of the grid pleading for her father not to leave. Cooper watches this begging himself not to go and to stay using Morse Code by knocking the books off the shelf. Cooper breaks down realizing that he should have listened and not gone on the mission. Then there is adult Murph at the bedroom while the fire is still burning and she realizes all along that her father himself was the ghost communicating with her feeling comforted and reassured. Now it’s all making sense to her and she’s no longer angry with him and has hope. But she’s still trying to find out what her father is trying to signal to her, recalling the events of the dust storm coordinates and the books falling off.

TARS gets Cooper out of his grief-stricken state that he survived and tells Cooper that some fifth dimensional beings sent him there to communicate with Murph and that his love for his daughter sent him there to help her. Cooper is delighted to see TARS is there with him. Cooper realizes that the mission was not a mistake and that he will get done what he needs to. Murph has been the chosen one to save humanity, but Cooper is the one chosen to help engineer it. He sends the coordinates to himself at the farmhouse to NASA, then the data from the black hole through TARS via Morse Code to a wristwatch he gave Murph before he left, which is the gravity equation. Preteen Murph put the watch back on the shelf making it possible for Cooper to add the black hole equation to it. Adult Murph picks up the old wristwatch out of a box of her old keepsakes seeing the second hand with the Morse Code realizing it’s the key. Dr. Getty is pleading with Murph to get out and for them to leave because the fire is out. Murph leaves the farmhouse with the watch in her hand, and angry Tom returns, but she tells him about the watch, embraces him assuring her father was the ghost all along and will save them. Tom is befuddled by it all, but accepts her hug.

Murph returns to the NASA bunker and completes the equation using the data from the wristwatch. She writes it all down, and throws the papers off the deck of the centrifuge under construction that the equation is solved. She kisses Dr. Getty in a fit of happiness. So what’s going to happen soon might save most of remaining humanity.

Back in the black hole, the tesseract is now closing up, with Cooper convinced it all worked and Cooper is comforted that future human beings constructed it to make all this happen and tells TARS everything is okay. He comes across the Endurance when it passed through the wormhole and touches Brand’s hand, then knocked unconscious into the orbit of Saturn with a couple of beaming lights approaching him.

Cooper wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed. A very clean room with background noise of a baseball bat cracking a ball and birds chirping. A doctor tells him to take it easy jokingly telling him he is now 124 years old, but he still looks the same in his mid to late 30s. The doctor tells Cooper he’s very lucky to be alive because space rangers found him with only minutes left in his oxygen. Cooper looks outside the window of his room with kids playing baseball with a batter hitting a ball into the sky, which turns out to be the skylight of an upside down house with kids cheering at the window being broken. Cooper is told he’s on Cooper Station orbiting Saturn and thinks the station is named after him, but it was named after his daughter Murph. She’s still living and on another space station and will be there to visit him in a couple of weeks despite her age and health. Cooper is delighted that Plan A did indeed work out and that the gravity equation was solved. The very centrifuge that was the NASA bunker is now a space station to sustain human life.

Cooper is now released from his hospital room by a tour guide and shown the station, an O’Neill cylinder with a old world rural American environment and has artificial sunlight beaming from one side, which was the same place the rocket took off from 89 years ago. They pass by a group of sleek ranger ships that are more efficient than what he used and he takes a great interest in them. He is led to a museum exhibit, which is his old farmhouse, only much cleaner and restored. There are videos all over the place of elderly people telling of the dust bowl they lived in, whom you saw at the beginning of the movie, one of which is his daughter. He finds a shorted out TARS in the farmhouse the rangers recovered and immediately repairs him.

Cooper is sitting on the front porch that “night” with TARS drinking beer like he and Donald used to do, but very dissatisfied at the artificial surroundings and pretending to be home. He’s more interested in the spaceships than anything else and still yearning to explore the unknown. Plus almost everybody he knew is now dead and he wasn’t welcomed back as a hero.

Cooper is about to go to the hospital room where the elderly Murph (now played by Ellen Burstyn) is living out the final days of her life – she’d insisted on being brought to the station to say goodbye to her father. A nurse tells Cooper that her family is in there and that she’s spent the last two years in cryosleep. He wasn’t aware she had a family and carefully opens the door with over a dozen people, from small children to middle aged adults surrounding her bed. His grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and their spouses are there, yet he pays no mind to them while they are puzzled by his appearance. His main interest is seeing his daughter. Murph breaks down in delight at the sight of him, and he takes her hand without any reluctance or awkwardness, even though he’s the same age he was when he left and she’s 99-years-old and near death. He assures her he was the ghost that communicated to her in her room and she already knew for years even though nobody believed her. He tells her he’s now here for her, but in her still feisty and stubborn ways, she doesn’t want him to see her die, saying her kids are here for her and that she forgave him and made peace with his disappearance decades ago.

On Halloween, Gotham City mayor Don Mitchell Jr. is murdered by a serial killer calling himself the Riddler. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has operated for two years as the vigilante Batman, investigates alongside the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Lieutenant James Gordon discovers that the Riddler left a message for Batman, but commissioner Pete Savage berates him for allowing a vigilante to enter the crime scene and forces Batman to leave. The Riddler kills Savage and leaves another message for Batman.

Batman and Gordon discover that the Riddler left a thumb drive in Mitchell’s car containing images of Mitchell with a woman, Annika, at the Iceberg Lounge, a nightclub operated by mobster Carmine Falcone’s lieutenant Penguin. Batman questions the Penguin, who pleads ignorance, but notices that Selina Kyle, Annika’s roommate and girlfriend, works there as a waitress. After Annika disappears, Batman sends Selina back to the Iceberg Lounge to search for answers. Through Selina, Batman discovers that Savage was on Falcone’s payroll, as is district attorney Gil Colson. Selina shuts off communication when Batman presses her about her relationship with Falcone.

The Riddler abducts Colson, straps a timed collar bomb to his neck, and sends him to interrupt Mitchell’s funeral. When Batman arrives, the Riddler calls him via Colson’s phone and threatens to detonate the bomb if Colson cannot answer three riddles. Batman helps Colson answer the first two, but Colson refuses to answer the third: name of the informant who gave the GCPD information that led to a historic drug bust ending mobster Sal Maroni’s operation. The bomb explodes, killing Colson and knocking Batman unconscious.

Batman and Gordon deduce that the informant may be the Penguin and track him to a drug deal. They discover that Maroni’s operation never actually ended and many GCPD officers are involved. Selina inadvertently exposes them when she arrives to steal money. As the Penguin flees, Selina discovers Annika’s corpse in a car trunk. Batman captures the Penguin but learns that he was not the informant.

Batman and Gordon follow the Riddler’s trail to the ruins of an orphanage operated by Bruce’s parents Thomas and Martha. They learn that the Riddler was a resident at the orphanage and holds a grudge against the Wayne family. Bruce’s butler and caretaker, Alfred Pennyworth, is hospitalized after opening a letter bomb addressed to Bruce. The Riddler then leaks evidence that Thomas, who was running for mayor when he was murdered, hired Falcone to kill a journalist for threatening to reveal embarrassing details about Martha’s history of mental illness. Bruce, who grew up believing his father was morally upstanding, confronts Alfred, who confirms the allegations but states that Thomas decided to turn Falcone over to the police after learning of the murder; Alfred surmises that Falcone had Thomas and Martha killed to prevent this.

Selina tells Batman that Falcone is her neglectful father. She learns that Annika was strangled because Mitchell told her that Falcone was the informant, and resolves to kill him. Batman and Gordon arrive at the Iceberg Lounge in time to stop her. Batman physically prevents Selina from killing Falcone, explaining that she shouldn’t allow Falcone to destroy her future through murdering him and facing prison. Batman escorts a cocky Falcone to the police, while Falcone tells Batman that he knows of all Gotham’s hidden secrets and underworld dealings and that everything he knows dies with him. No sooner does Batman bring Falcone outside to the patrol waiting than Riddler snipes Falcone from his apartment window. Unmasked as forensics accountant Edward Nashton, the Riddler is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital. Nashton says that, as a neglected orphan, he was envious of the sympathy Bruce received after his parents’ murder. He idolizes Batman-who inspired him to target the corrupt-and proposes a partnership, but Batman angrily rejects him.

Angered at being rejected by his idol, Nashton begins ranting to which Batman realizes that Nashton still has something planned. Upon realizing Batman hasn’t figured out his next course of action, a delighted Nashton gives him one last clue by singing “Ave Maria,” the song sung at the Mitchell’s funeral to imply that the final part of the plan is mayor-elect Bella Real’s assassination. However, Batman fails to realize this and exclaims, “What have you done!?”

Searching his apartment, Batman is inadvertently aided by a cop who shows him a carpet cutting tool which Riddler had murdered the mayor with at the beginning. Realizing this tool is another clue to uncovering the Riddler’s master plan, Batman cuts open the rug of the apartment and discovers via a map drawn on the floor underneath that Nashton has stationed car bombs around Gotham. No sooner has he done this than an online video of Nashton’s final transmission before his capture and incarceration plays, explaining gleefully that he had cultivated an online following that plans to assassinate mayor-elect Bella Reál.

The bombs destroy the breakwaters around Gotham and flood the city. A shelter is set up in an indoor arena, where Nashton’s followers non-fatally shoot Reál but are stopped by Batman and Selina. While battling the cult atop the rafters, Batman defeats them but is almost killed by a last member who is about to execute Batman. Selina arrives and rescues Batman before kissing him, thanking him for preventing her from murdering Falcone. However, the member comes to and almost kills Selina with a knife. Batman is incapacitated from his injuries and unable to get up to protect Selina. He injects himself with adrenaline, gets up, and tackles the member to the ground. He has the member pinned down and beats his face savagely until he is stopped by Gordon and Selina. Gordon approaches the member and tears off his mask to reveal his swollen, bruised face. Gordon asks, “Who the hell are you?”. The man responds, “Me? I’m vengeance.”

Batman sees a power line swinging just past the crowds in the flooded water below, throwing sparks everywhere as it flails wildly. Batman uses his grappling hook to swing toward the cord and grab onto it. Once he is hanging onto the cord, he uses his detachable bat emblem to sever it, causing him to be shocked by the electricity and fall down into the water. Batman rises from the water, lights a flare, and leads the survivors to safety. Batman aids recovery efforts and vows to inspire hope in Gotham, having seen that his weapon of fear has fueled the drive of vigilantes.

Meanwhile in Arkham, Nashton is upset that his plan failed and wailing in his cell. A neighboring cell mate, who is largely obscured behind the steel door of his cell, proposes Nashton a riddle, asking, “Riddle me this. The less you have of me, the more I am worth.” Nashton answers, “A friend.” They laugh together.

The film opens with a mural of a bizarre, eerie ritual taking place. We then see images of dark, snowy forests with the sound of old folk singing playing in the background.

College student Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) calls her parents but is sent to voicemail. She expresses concern over her bipolar sister Terri (Klauda Csanyi), who left her a cryptic message recently. Dani then calls her boyfriend Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor), who is hanging out with his buddies Josh (William Jackson Harper), Mark (Will Poulter), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). Christian assures Dani that this is just another one of Terri’s episodes, but he adds that Dani only feeds into Terri’s antics. After he hangs up, she gets a call from an unknown number. Josh and Mark think Christian should just end it with Dani since it’s clear he’s wanted out of the relationship for a while, and as they are planning an upcoming trip to Sweden (Eastern Europe), Pelle suggests they will meet lots of other women. Dani calls Christian again and is wailing hysterically. We then see authorities going into Dani’s parents’ home, where Terri has flooded the house with carbon monoxide, killing her parents before stuffing the tube into her mouth and taping it there. Christian goes to Dani’s apartment to console her.

Several months later, Dani tries to contain her grief. She hangs out with Christian and his friends and learns about their trip to Sweden to a midsommar celebration in the Harga, a village where Pelle grew up. The celebration occurs every 90 years and lasts about nine days. Josh, in particular, is interested since he wants to write about the experience for his anthropology dissertation. Christian invites Dani to be nice, and although she accepts, Christian thinks she doesn’t want to go since she’s still reeling from the murder-suicide. However, Dani is more upset that Christian is only now telling her about the trip, which they are set to leave for within two weeks.

Dani and Christian go to hang out with his friends. While he steps out of the room, Pelle talks to Dani about the midsommar celebration, and their tradition of choosing a May Queen at the end of the celebration. Pelle also tries to console Dani over her loss, stating that his parents had also passed away, but the mere mention of it triggers her, and she goes to the bathroom to cry.

Dani joins Christian and his friends for the trip. They drive out to the Harga and meet Pelle’s brother Ingemar (Hampus Hallberg), plus an English couple named Simon (Archie Madekewe) and Connie (Ellora Torchia). The group takes magic mushrooms, but Ingemar offers Dani a special tea since it has a better taste. She agrees to it and initially enjoys the trip until Pelle says that the group is like his family. The word gets to Dani, and she goes to take a walk. She starts to experience a bad trip, and gets paranoid when another high group of people she comes across starts laughing in her direction. Dani goes to hide in a shed but is mortified by what appears to be Terri behind her. She then runs into the woods, where the trees appear to morph around her before she passes out. She briefly dreams about Terri and their parents.

Dani wakes up next to Christian six hours later. They join their friends in going back toward the village to meet the rest of the Harga community. Josh inquires about the many cultural aspects of the festival and the community, but when he asks about a mysterious golden teepee in the distance, he doesn’t get a direct answer. A girl named Maja (Isabelle Grill) shows interest in Christian by playfully kicking him as he sits in a circle.

Pelle later gifts Dani with a drawing of herself for her birthday. She mentions that Christian forgot their birthday, but he later gives her a slice of cake to make up for it. When asked how long they have been together, Christian thinks it has just been over three years, but Dani corrects him and says they have been together for four years. Pelle then brings his friends to the place where they will be sleeping.

The following day, the group joins the community for a feast. Two of the eldest villagers, Ylva (Katarina Weidhagen) and The Laborer (Lars Varinger), are the guests of honor, as they practice a breathing exercise before the whole community follows them to the edge of a cliff. The elders cut their hands as they walk by the edge. The newcomers watch in horror as Ylva drops herself off the cliff and lands facefirst onto a rock, leaving them to witness her gruesome faceless skull. The Laborer leaps off as well, but he only shatters his leg. He moans in agony, and the villagers mimic the sounds of his moaning. Three of the villagers proceed to smash his head with a sledgehammer. Simon and Connie express their absolute horror, while Dani goes back to her room. An elder villager woman, Siv (Gunnel Fred), explains to the group that this is a natural part of their ritual, as the two elders reached what they felt was the end of their life cycle, and prolonging it further would have been bad. Pelle goes to comfort Dani, thinking that her distress is linked more to her recent tragedy than it is to what she just witnessed. He attempts to console Dani, but she thinks him getting close to her is inappropriate since Christian could come in. Pelle then questions how much Christian really means to Dani, based on how he is around her.

Dani later has a nightmare that Christian and his friends are leaving without her. They drive away in the middle of the night as she watches them go, and she is plagued by haunting imagery of her dead family and the corpses of the two elders.

After what they saw, Simon and Connie plan to leave, but when Connie is ready to go, she is told that Simon went off with another villager to the train that would take them home. Connie is angered that Simon would leave without her, and she proceeds to walk off on her own. Meanwhile, Christian tells Josh he also wants to do his thesis on the Harga, but Josh is not happy about that. He argues that Christian can never just do his own thing instead of picking off what Josh is doing. Christian offers to ask the elders if they are allowed to collaborate on the project. Josh later learns that the village’s ritualistic practices are based on paintings made by a member named Ruben (Levente Puczko-Smith), a deformed boy who was the product of incest but is viewed as some kind of seer. Josh asks to take pictures of Ruben’s drawings, but he is forbidden.

The elders’ bodies are buried in the middle of the village. Their ashes are spread across an ancestral tree, which Mark pisses on. He is scolded by Ulf (Henrik Norlen), who actually breaks down sobbing at the act. Mark is then told the significance of the tree, but he has a callous reaction over it. Elsewhere, Christian and Josh are told that they are allowed to collaborate on their thesis, on the condition that they omit the actual names and location of the Harga. The two agree. Christian also asks about the village’s mating rituals, inquiring as to whether incest was typical there, and he is told that incest isn’t necessarily frowned upon, but outsiders are usually brought in to procreate with the villagers. A feast is then held, where Mark notices Ulf is staring daggers in his direction. Dani also overhears that Connie was taken to the station by one of the villagers. Mark is then taken away by a female villager, and the others never see him again.

Later that night, Josh sneaks into the room where Ruben’s book of paintings is kept. He is interrupted by who he thinks is Mark before he gets bludgeoned over the head. We then see that the figure is actually a villager wearing Mark’s face. Josh is then dragged away.

The next morning, Dani, Christian, and Pelle are told that Ruben’s book has gone missing, and Josh and Mark disappearing looks suspicious. Afterwards, Dani joins the women in the village in a competition where they dance around a maypole before each woman is eliminated. After taking a drug, Dani finds herself being able to speak in Swedish with the other women. Dani is the last one standing, and she is crowned the May Queen. At the same time, Christian is given a drink that induces a trip. He is lured and taken to take Maja’s virginity. He has sex with her while the other elder females stand nude around them and mimic Maja’s moaning. After Dani is crowned May Queen, she watches Christian having sex with Maja through a hole in the door, which causes Dani to have a breakdown. She goes to cry, and the other women join her, sympathetically crying loudly with her. After climaxing, a mortified Christian runs out to try and find Dani, but he ends up discovering Josh’s leg buried in the dirt, as well as Simon’s mutilated corpse being used as a blood eagle. Moments later, he is found and knocked out when a villager blows powder in his face.

The end of the ritual draws near, and the elders bring the drugged Christian, along with a villager named Torbjörn, before Dani, as she is supposed to choose someone for a sacrifice. As per tradition, nine people are to be sacrificed. This includes the two elders, four outsiders, two living volunteers, and one chosen by Dani. After all that she has gone through, she picks Christian.

In the opening, Clint Barton is teaching his daughter archery on his secluded farm while his wife prepares a picnic lunch for them. Suddenly, Clint’s daughter vanishes and the rest of Clint’s family disintegrates, along with half of all life across the universe, the result of Thanos’ snapping his fingers after acquiring all six Infinity Stones. Nebula and Tony Stark are stranded in space following their defeat by Thanos on Titan, but are returned to Earth by Carol Danvers and reunited with Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Rocket, Thor, and James Rhodes. The team formulates a plan to steal the Infinity Stones back from Thanos and use them to reverse his actions, but learn upon finding him that he had used the stones a second time to destroy them, preventing their further use. He tells the remaining Avengers that he did so to avoid using the Stones for further nefarious purposes. Enraged, Thor beheads Thanos, saying it’s what he should have done in Wakanda.

Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the quantum realm to discover that his daughter Cassie is now a teenager and that Hope van Dyne, along with half of the population, has disappeared in the snap. Rogers has been leading grief counseling sessions for survivors still struggling with the effects of the snap, while Romanoff is tirelessly keeping watch over both Earth and the rest of the universe with the help of Rhodes, Danvers, Okoye, Rocket, and Nebula. Lang goes to Romanoff and Rogers, and explains that while five years had passed for them, only five hours had passed for him in the quantum realm and that time stretches much differently there.

The three go to Stark, who is now raising a child with Pepper Potts, and explain their theory that the quantum realm can be used to go back in time and steal the Infinity Stones before Thanos is able to collect them. Stark initially rejects their proposal with concern about risking his family and the peace he has found, but after reflecting upon the loss of Peter Parker decides to test theoretical models that would work with Lang’s quantum tunnel, eventually finding one that works.

With Stark now on board the remaining Avengers set out to reassemble their team. Bruce Banner has now embraced the Hulk as a part of him, and has melded his own consciousness and the Hulk’s together into one. Romanoff, after hearing reports from Rhodes of an assassin that operates with similar methods to Barton, leaves to find him. Barton, consumed with grief after the loss of his family, has been operating under the mantle “Ronin” while brutally massacring criminal cartels and gangs around the world in order to try and improve the world that’s still left. Natasha finds him in Japan and after some convincing, he agrees to rejoin the team in order to try and bring his family back.

Banner and Rocket go to the small town of New Asgard, where Valkyrie and the last survivors of Asgard have settled. They there find Thor, who has become overwhelmed by guilt over failing to kill Thanos in Wakanda. Thor has become overweight, his hair and beard are overgrown, and he spends his free time eating junk food, getting drunk, and playing Fortnite with his friends Korg and Miek. Thor begrudgingly agrees to return to the Avengers after some convincing from Rocket and Banner.

After testing the quantum time machine on Barton, who confirms that it works, The Avengers are reunited with a plan - Banner, Rogers, Lang, and Stark embark to retrieve the Time, Mind, and Space stones during the battle of New York in 2012. Banner goes to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where he is informed by the Ancient One that taking the Time Stone from her time line would prevent Stephen Strange’s future efforts to stop Kaecilius from destroying the laws of nature. However, when Banner tells her that Strange gave up the Time Stone willingly to Thanos, she allows Banner to have it, implying Strange had intended for a specific sequence of events to occur for Thanos to be defeated. Banner also promises the stones’ return to their proper time lines in order to prevent any ill effects. Lang and Stark attempt to steal the Space Stone after the Avengers confiscate it from Loki.

Lang gives Stark’s past self a mild cardiac arrest by pulling a circuit in his artificial heart, while Stark steals the briefcase housing the Tesseract when nobody is looking. Their plan is thwarted when Stark drops the briefcase after he is accidentally hit by the Hulk. Loki then steals the Space Stone and uses it to escape custody. Rogers succeeds in stealing the Mind Stone from undercover Hydra agents, but stumbles across his past self, who mistakes him for a disguised Loki.

After defeating past-Steve, Rogers meets back up with Stark and Lang, who now must figure out another way to get the Space Stone without running out of the limited supply of Pym Particles that allow them to travel through the quantum realm. Lang returns to the present with the Mind Stone while Rogers and Stark devise a plan to steal the Space Stone from a U.S. Army installation in the 1970s, while also stealing further vials of Pym Particles in order to make the journey back home. While there, Rogers sights Peggy Carter and Stark has an meaningful conversation with his father Howard.

Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard to retrieve the Reality Stone before Malekith uses it against the Nine Realms. While in Asgard, Thor is reminded that his mother, Frigga, would die soon and has a chance encounter with her while Rocket steals the Aether, the vaporized version of the Reality Stone, from Jane Foster. The two return to Earth after Frigga counsels Thor and he retrieves his hammer Mjolnor, elated to discover that he is still worthy of it.

Nebula and Rhodes travel to Morag to steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill does. As Rhodes returns to the present with the Power Stone, Nebula malfunctions and remains on Morag. With two consciousnesses operating on Nebula’s systems, Thanos and Ebony Maw discover the presence of future Nebula and go to kidnap her. Nebula realizes what has happened and tries to warn the others, but is too late. Thanos scans her memories and discovers the Avengers’ plan, and sends the more loyal past Nebula back to the present as a spy.

Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone, though are conflicted when Red Skull, keeper of the stone, informs them that it can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone they love. The two fight over which will make the sacrifice, with Romanoff ultimately taking the fall, while a distraught Barton returns to Earth with the Soul Stone.

After everyone has returned to the present on Earth, Stark, Rocket, and Banner set out to craft a gauntlet to wield the stones, one constructed from the same nanotech of Stark’s latest Iron Man suit. Banner volunteers himself to wield the gauntlet and bring back everyone that disappeared in Thanos’ snap, reasoning that he can withstand both the gamma radiation and the immense pain and injury brought on by using the stones. He succeeds, though they are almost immediately attacked by Thanos, who has been brought to Earth by the impostor Nebula, destroying the quantum portal in the process.

Thanos reduces the Avengers headquarters to rubble, splitting the team up and causing the gauntlet to fall into Barton’s protection. The past Nebula is killed by her future self as she attempts to take the Infinity Stones from Barton, while Rogers, Thor, and Stark confront Thanos, who decides he will instead use the Infinity Stones to destroy the universe and create one in his vision. The three fight Thanos one on one, with Rogers confirming Thor’s theory that he is worthy of wielding Mjolnor, but are each bested by Thanos.

Soon after Thanos’ army lands on Earth, T’Challa appears before Rogers, along with all of the Avengers and other allies revived by Banner, before launching an assault on Thanos and his army. After a lengthy battle during which Stark is reunited with Parker and Quill is reunited with past Gamora, Thanos wrestles with numerous Avengers for the Infinity Stones.

When he’s bound by Wanda Maximoff’s energy, Thanos orders Glaive to have his ship fire multiple energy blasts, nearly devastating the Avengers’ efforts. Captain Marvel reappears, taking out Thanos’ ship while fighting for control of the gauntlet. Using the nanotech from the new gauntlet, Stark maneuvers the Infinity Stones from Thanos’ hand to his own and uses them to turn Thanos and his entire army into ash, triumphantly stating “I am Iron Man.” Parker and Potts console Stark as he dies from exposure to the Stones’ radiation.

Following the battle, The Avengers hold a funeral for Stark, whose Mark I arc reactor is floated out on the lake next to his house. Barton and Wanda Maximoff take solace in the fact that Romanoff and Vision, who did not return in the snap, would be proud of their victory over Thanos. Thor makes Valkyrie the Queen of Asgard and joins the Guardians of the Galaxy in order to find his true purpose, free of the burden of royalty and leadership for the first time in his life. Barton returns home to his family and Parker returns to school, where he is reunited with his best friend Ned.

Meanwhile, Rogers is tasked to go into the past to return the stones and Thor’s hammer to their original time-lines, but decides not to return to the present and to instead live the rest of his life in the past with Carter. He reappears before Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes as an old man, and passes his shield and the mantle of Captain America on to Wilson.

Late one morning in the Hawthorne Grill, a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a young couple, Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) and Pumpkin (Tim Roth), discuss the pros and cons of robbing banks versus liquor stores. Then they add restaurants to the equation, realizing they can make more by taking customers’ wallets than they get out of the till. The two kiss, declare they love each other and stand up in their booth, announcing that they’re robbing the diner.

Earlier in the day, Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) arrive at a San Fernando Valley apartment building. They are hit men in the employ of Marsellus Wallace and have come to retrieve a valuable belonging of Wallace’s from a group of would-be crooks led by a young and naive guy named Brett (Frank Whaley). They take back the valuable item – kept in a briefcase, it glows warmly and transfixes whoever looks at it. Jules recites what he claims is a Bible verse, Ezekiel 25:17, before he and Vincent execute Brett.

Story #1: Vincent Vega And Marsellus Wallace’s Wife

At his strip club, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) pays boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw his next fight. Jules and Vincent arrive; though it’s only a few hours after their visit to the Valley, the two hit men are sporting gym clothes in place of the suits they wore earlier in the day. While Jules heads to the men’s room, Vincent goes to the bar and encounters Butch. The men take an instant disliking to each other. Vincent insults Butch but before Butch can retaliate, Marsellus calls Vincent over and embraces him. Marsellus is leaving town that evening and Vincent is to take Marsellus’ wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), out for dinner to keep her entertained. Rumors abound that Marsellus gravely wounded another associate, Antoine, who he believed had been improperly friendly with Mia, so Vincent is nervous. Before picking Mia up, he visits his drug dealer, Lance (Eric Stoltz), and buys some high-quality heroin. Properly sedated, he escorts the cocaine-addicted, chain-smoking Mia to Jack Rabbit Slim’s, a West Hollywood 1950s-themed restaurant. After some small talk about European travel, Mia’s failed acting career, foot massage, and the rumors about Antoine (which Mia dispels), Mia enters herself and Vincent in a dance contest. They dance The Twist and win a trophy. After dinner, they return to the Wallace’s home. Vincent goes to the bathroom to talk himself out of making a pass at Mia. Meanwhile, she discovers the baggie of heroin in his coat pocket and, assuming it’s cocaine, snorts some. She immediately passes out and begins to foam at the mouth. Panicked, Vincent takes the dying Mia to Lance’s where they argue about what to do with her. Following Lance’s advice, Vincent is able to revive her with a shot of adrenaline administered straight to the heart. Vincent takes Mia home. They agree not to tell Marsellus what happened since both of them would get in trouble for it.

Story #2: The Gold Watch

The following night, before his fight, Butch dreams of an incident from his childhood: Back at his Tennessee home in 1973, Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) visited Butch to bring him a gold watch. The watch had belonged to Butch’s great-grandfather, who took it to World War I with him. Butch’s grandfather had taken it to World War II, and Butch’s father to Vietnam. Butch’s father died as a POW, but gave the watch to Koons to return to Butch. Koons says that he and Butch’s father had to hide the watch in their rectums to keep it away from their captors. Butch reaches up with his hand and takes the watch from Koons.

Butch wakes from the dream. Instead of throwing the match (offscreen), he fights so viciously that he kills his opponent. He took Marsellus’ money and bet it on himself; his winnings will amount to a small fortune. Butch makes small talk with Esmarelda (Angela Jones), the driver of the cab he is in, who reveals that she knows he’s the boxer who killed his opponent; she seems fascinated with the topic of death. Esmarelda drives Butch to the seedy motel where he and his French girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), are staying, having abandoned their apartment. In the morning they will travel to Butch’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, claim their winnings, and leave the country. While packing the next morning, however, Fabienne reveals that she forgot the gold watch, the belonging Butch cherishes above all others. After a savage outburst in which he wrecks the motel room’s television, Butch takes Fabienne’s car to get the watch, parking a few blocks away and walking through a vacant lot to his apartment building as a precaution. He enters without incident and finds his wristwatch in the bedroom. He realizes he’s not alone in the apartment when he notices a sub-machine gun in the kitchen. Catching Vincent off guard as he emerges from the bathroom, Butch kills him with the gun he found. He leaves his apartment after wiping the gun down with a tissue to remove his fingerprints.

Leaving the apartment with his watch, Butch encounters Marsellus crossing the street. He tries to run Marsellus over with his car but only wounds him and is hit by another car himself. Both are injured and Marsellus chases Butch into a pawn shop. There, the owner, Maynard (Duane Whitaker), overpowers them. Marsellus and Butch wake up in the basement of the pawn shop, bound and gagged. Maynard has called his cousin Zed (Peter Greene), who works as a security guard. Maynard and Zed are apparently a pair of redneck serial killers who kill passersby who happen into their store. While the Gimp (Stephen Hibbert), a huge man-child dressed head to toe in black leather fetish gear, watches Butch, Maynard and Zed take Marsellus into the next room and begin to rape him. Butch manages to break the ropes and chair holding him and knocks out the Gimp. Ready to leave the pawn shop and Marsellus to his fate, Butch has an attack of conscience and procures a samurai sword and rescues Marsellus; in the process, Maynard is killed and Zed emasculated by a shotgun blast fired by Marsellus. Marsellus stays behind to oversee the torture-execution of Zed (“I’ma get medieval on your ass,” he tells him), but promises that as long as Butch never mentions what happened and never returns to Los Angeles, Marsellus will forget that Butch betrayed him in the boxing ring. Butch agrees. In the final scene, Butch and Fabienne leave town on Grace, Zed’s chopper-style motorcycle.

Story #3: The Bonnie Situation

Three days earlier, flashing back in time to just after Vincent and Jules finish killing Brett for stealing Marsellus’ prized possession, a gang member (Alexis Arquette) they had not known about bursts out of the bathroom where he had apparently been when Jules and Vincent entered and empties a large pistol point blank at them. However, all of the bullets miss Vincent and Jules, hitting the wall behind them, so they return fire and kill the gang member. Jules is certain what occurred was divine intervention, but Vincent dismisses the idea. They leave with Marvin (Phil LaMarr), Marsellus’ inside man in the gang. In the car, Jules continues his insistence that what happened in the apartment was a miracle and that he’s retiring from Marsellus’ gang. Vincent leans over the front seat, asking Marvin if he believes in miracles, but accidentally shoots him in the head and kills him. The inside of the car is now covered in blood and brain matter. Jules, furious at Vincent’s klutziness, drives to the house of his only friend in the Valley, a former colleague named Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino). Jimmie lets them hide the car in his garage but angrily tells them that they have to get rid of the body within an hour – before his wife Bonnie comes home from her night shift at a hospital. Jules calls Marsellus at his home to explain their predicament. Marsellus then calls Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), a suave and professional “cleaner” who solves problems. Wolf arrives at Jimmie’s house and tells Vincent and Jules how to clean up the car and themselves – they have to strip out of their business suits, be sprayed down with a garden hose and wear Jimmie’s spare T-shirts and shorts (which explains their attire at the strip club) – then helps them dispose of the car and body at a junkyard belonging to a discreet friend named Monster Joe, whose daughter is Mr. Wolf’s girlfriend.

With the whole situation resolved, Jules and Vincent decide to have breakfast at the Hawthorne Grill, where they continue their discussion about miracles. Jules reveals his plan to leave his criminal life and travel the globe as a mendicant, helping those suffering under tyranny. Vincent, upset that his friend and partner is leaving the life, mocks him, then goes to the bathroom. Just then Honey Bunny and Pumpkin (from the prologue) begin their robbery of the diner. They furiously collect the cash from the register and the patrons’ wallets. Jules gives Pumpkin his wallet, but when Pumpkin tries to take Marsellus’ briefcase, Jules pulls his gun and disarms Pumpkin. While Vincent holds Honey Bunny at bay, Jules explains to Pumpkin how, even earlier that morning, he would have killed Pumpkin and Honey Bunny without a second thought. He recites his ersatz version of Ezekiel 25:17 again: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

A dead body is found and Catherine “Kya” Clark is accused of murder.

Kya’s story begins when she lives in a shack with her poor family in a North Carolina marsh in 1953. As their abusive alcoholic father gambles their money away, Kya’s mother and older siblings flee one by one, leaving Kya alone with him until he too abandons her at the age of seven. She survives by selling mussels at Barkley Cove’s general store. The townspeople know her as the “Marsh Girl”.

Over the years, her slightly older friend Tate Walker lends her books and teaches her to read, write, and count. They share an interest in nature and begin a romantic relationship until Tate leaves for college and breaks his promise to return to her on the 4th of July.

In 1968, Kya begins a relationship with popular local quarterback Chase Andrews, who promises her marriage. Chase gives Kya a small shell which she makes into a necklace and gives to him. A year later, Tate returns to Barkley Cove wanting to rekindle their romance, but Kya is unsure. Kya ends her relationship with Chase when she discovers he is already engaged to another girl.

Kya has her nature drawings and writings published and the income helps her keep her home. Her older brother Jodie reappears and tells her their mother died before she was able to reunite her children. Jodie promises to visit when he can.

Kya rebuffs Chase’s persistent attentions and successfully fights off his rape attempt, vowing to kill him if he does not leave her alone. The threat is overheard by a fisherman. Chase returns and vandalizes Kya’s home while she hides in the bushes. Days later, Chase is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower from which he had apparently fallen. The muddy bog floods at high tide, destroying any tracks from the killer, and no fingerprints are found in the tower. The shell necklace, which he had been wearing on the evening of his death, is missing from his body. Kya is charged with first-degree murder and prejudged by the suspicious townspeople.

Despite knowing Kya had been meeting with a book publisher in Greenville at the time, the police and the prosecutor speculate she could have disguised herself and made an overnight round-trip bus ride to Barkley Cove, lured Chase to the fire tower during the brief layover and killed him. With only the unfounded theory, the missing necklace, and the fisherman’s testimony, Kya is found not guilty at her 1969 trial.

The movie begins with a gang of men with clown masks breaking into the bank where the mob has a large portion of their money stashed. It begins with five clowns, each getting a cut of the spoils. They suggest that a sixth member of the gang - nicknamed ‘The Joker’ - who did the planning, but sat out the robbery, doesn’t deserve a cut. As the robbery goes on, the clowns begin to kill each other in order to get a larger cut, until a school bus crashes through the wall of the bank, killing another clown. A mob bank manager, who was himself shot with an automatic weapon after he tried to take out the clowns with a shotgun, tells the remaining clown that he doesn’t know who he is dealing with. The clown kneels down and tells the banker, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you…stranger…” then removes his mask to reveal that he himself is The Joker. Joker puts a grenade into the banker’s mouth and boards the bus, leaving a cord attached to the pin. The bus pulls out with all of the bank’s cash and the pin pops out. It is just a gas grenade. The Joker joins a long line of school buses leaving the scene as the police arrive.

Gotham is then seen at night with criminals afraid to commit crimes under the watchful sign of the batsignal projected onto the clouds. We see Lt. James Gordon manning the batsignal, waiting for Batman with Det. Anna Ramirez, who asks if he’s coming. Gordon explains that it is okay if he is not, hoping that he is busy elsewhere. He asks about Ramirez’ mother, who’s in the hospital.

Meanwhile, in a parking garage, the Scarecrow, still at-large after escaping Arkham Asylum, is negotiating with the Russian mob members, led by The Chechen, over the sale of some of his fear-inducing drugs. The sale is interrupted when some of Gotham’s citizens dressed as Batmen wanna-be’s begin shooting at the men. As he gases one of the fake Batmen with his mind-altering drugs from his cuff, the Scarecrow notes that they are not the real Batman, because Batman would never use a gun. Suddenly the Batmobile/Tumbler crashes through a barricade and Scarecrow notes, “That’s more like it!” The Batmobile, pre-programmed to “LOITER” and then “INTIMIDATE”, fires rockets into a nearby office, sending the remaining mobsters running. The real Batman arrives on the scene and bends the rifle barrel of one of the wanna-be Batmen before knocking him out.

The Chechen sends his rottweilers to attack the Batmen, and as Batman saves them he takes the dogs out after being badly bitten in the arm. The Scarecrow attempts to flee in a white van but Batman jumps onto the van and begins cutting into the side with his device called the mangler. Scarecrow swerves into a support which sends Batman to the ground. As Scarecrow gets away down a spiraling passageway, Batman leaps onto the roof of his van, smashing it to a halt. He leaves the fake Batmen and the Scarecrow along with some of the mobsters tied up together for the police to eventually round up. When one of the impostors says he’s trying to help, Batman harshly tells him he doesn’t need any help.

Gordon arrives at the bank the Joker held up earlier with Ramirez who shows him the Joker’s picture from a security camera. Batman arrives to inspect the scene, noting that they have irradiated the drug money to make it easier to trace. When Gordon asks him if the Joker is a threat, Batman informs him that he cannot worry about one man when there is an entire mob to bring down.

The next day, as Bruce Wayne stitches himself up from the dog bite, Alfred offers his concerns, warning Bruce to ‘know his limits’. He notices Bruce keeping a close watch on newly appointed district attorney Harvey Dent via some computer screens, as Bruce is trying to decide whether or not Dent can be trusted. Alfred wonders if he is really spying on the relationship that Rachel Dawes has developed with Harvey Dent.

Harvey Dent arrives in court to join Rachel Dawes in prosecuting mobster Salvatore Maroni, the alleged new leader of the Falcone crime family. One of Maroni’s men takes the fall in court, and attempts to shoot Dent from the witness stand. The gun doesn’t go off and Dent punches the man before he is hauled off to jail. Maroni is eventually set free, to the dismay of Dent.

Dent meets Lt. Gordon, and after a short exchange of words, they both express their distrust for those that are working in each other’s offices. Harvey interrogates Gordon over his involvement with the Batman and Harvey tells him he wants to meet him. Gordon requests search warrants for five banks that are believed to be holding the remainder of the mobs money. Dent agrees to back Gordon’s search warrants, forming a tenuous trust with the honest Gordon, who in turn hails Dent as Gotham’s “White Knight” while Dent questions Gordon about another nickname they had for him when he was at I.A.D., a nickname Gordon claims to have no knowledge of.

Lucius Fox holds a board meeting at Wayne Enterprises, negotiating an joint venture with Lau, the head of Lau Security Investments, based in Hong Kong. After the meeting with Lau, Wayne expresses his reservations with Lucius Fox about Lau’s business operation, apparently illegal based on their profits. After agreeing to cancel the deal, Wayne asks Fox for a new suit. He explains that he needs to be lighter, and faster, in case he runs into any more guard dogs and that he wants to be able to turn his head.

That night, Harvey dines out with Rachel. Harvey tells Rachel he had to make a reservation weeks earlier, and even then needed to exercised his influence to get a table at the very fashionable restaurant. Bruce and his date, the prima ballerina for the Russian ballet, encounter Rachel and Harvey. Bruce has them pull a table together so they can dine together, informing Harvey that he owns the restaurant. At first, Bruce seems jealous and threatened by Harvey, based on the fact that he is dating his own love interest, but Harvey explains how he supports the work of Batman and appreciates his help. Bruce changes his tune and informs Harvey that he intends to throw a massive fund-raiser for him.

Meanwhile, all of the top mob members are having a private meeting in a restaurant kitchen. Because of their inside sources in the police, they were aware that the banks that their money was stashed in were going to be searched. Lau appears to them on a television monitor from his plane on his way back to Hong Kong. He informs the mob that all of their money has already been moved to a single secure location, just as Lt. Gordon and company are searching the banks, finding nothing but the irradiated trace money. When the Chechen expresses concern over the man with the clown makeup stealing $68 million from one of their banks, Maroni dismisses him as nothing but a nobody.

The Joker suddenly enters in the room, and after killing a hostile mob member’s crony by way of a ‘magic trick’, sits down and talks with the mob about how pathetic they’ve become since Batman came around. He tells them their one solution is to ‘Kill the Batman’, and offers to do so for half the mob’s money. He warns them about Lau, saying he knows a “squealer when he sees one”, prompting Lau to turn off his monitor. The mob laughs, and as one of the mobsters, Gambol, rises from his seat and threatens the Joker, the Joker opens his coat, exposing grenades. Gambol tells the Joker that he’s putting a price out on his head. The Joker tells the mob that when they plan to take things a little more seriously, give him a call, and presents them with ‘his card’, a joker playing card. And with that, he exits. But not before warning that Batman will come for Lau.

Harvey Dent, with Gordon, lights the batsignal to meet with Batman, who appears. As Dent and Gordon blame one another for the money’s disappearance due to leaks from corrupt officers in the other’s departments, they explain to Batman that they need Lau back, realizing that Batman is under no one’s jurisdiction. They want to make him talk, and give up all the mob members’ names. Batman agrees and disappears.

Fox shows Wayne his new suit, and Wayne begins planning an impromptu trip to Hong Kong. Fox will accompany him, making it look like the only reason for his visit was to cancel the negotiations with Lau’s company.

Gambol is playing pool with some of his associates until one of them informs him that a group of hoodlums have killed the Joker, and has the body. The body is brought in covered in a bag, and as Gambol is about to pay, the Joker rises up and holds a knife to his face while his men hold guns to his associates’ heads. The Joker tells a story about how he got his scars from his father, and then kills Gambol. He offers the three surviving associates an opportunity to join his team, but he has only one opening. He leave the three with the halves of a broken, sharp pool stick and no choice but to fight each other for their lives.

Meanwhile, Fox arrives in Hong Kong to meet with Lau. He checks in his mobile phone at the front desk at Lau’s building, as there are no cell phones allowed on the premises. Fox meets with Lau, and informs him of Wayne Enterprises’ plans to cancel negotiations with his company. However, he secretly keeps one cell phone in his pocket, which has been adapted to produce a sonar map of the surrounding area. Upon leaving the building, he does not pick up the phone he dropped off, and he produces the map of the building to Bruce Wayne. That night, the phone that Fox left at the front desk emits a high frequency that shuts down all power in the building. Batman crashes in through a window in Lau’s office, and after a vicious fight with some of his guards, grabs Lau and escapes by sending a balloon attached to a cable to a plane he has chartered flying over Lau’s building.

Back in Gotham, Lau is interrogated by Rachel with Dent and Gordon looking on. Rachel presses him to give them the money Lau has taken, but Lau will not give in. After she threatens to have him moved to the County lock-up, Lau tells her that he can give them the names of the mobsters and their pooled investments. Dent then realizes that they will have the leverage they need in a RICO case of conspiracy to link all of the mob members together. Gordon decides to keep Lau in his holding cell at the Major Case Unit building and Lau agrees to cooperate with the police, and give the names of the mob members.

Gordon appears at Maroni’s restaurant as the police rush in to arrest all of the mob members in attendance. As all of the mob members that Lau informed the police are rounded up for arraignment, Judge Janet Surrillo finds a Joker card in the middle of the stack of conviction papers. Dent gives a televised impromptu interview denying Batman’s involvement while expressing gratitude for the police work in bringing the mob members to justice.

Dent, Gordon, and Commissioner Loeb meet with the mayor to tell him that Dent’s rash indictment of the mob members will give the mayor clean streets for 18 months. The mayor informs Dent that his brash actions will bring down the full might of Gotham’s underworld and corrupt citizens solely upon him. When the mayor asks if Dent is ready to be the city’s target the dead body of a Batman wanna-be hanging by a noose slams against the mayor’s window dressed up in a Batman suit, with makeup on his face like the Joker’s - complete with the sides of the mouth sliced into a grin - and with a Joker card pinned to him reading ‘Will the real Batman please stand up?’. Bruce and Alfred watch on as a video tape is played on the news of the Joker tormenting the wanna-be before killing him. He then promises that until Batman takes off his mask and shows everyone who he really is, people will die every day.

As Harvey Dent’s fund-raiser at Wayne’s penthouse gets underway, Rachel and a nervous Dent arrive and mingle. Wayne arrives with three models via helicopter and seeks out Harvey, whom he applauds and throws his full support behind claiming, “I believe in Harvey Dent.” Minutes later, Rachel meets with Bruce on the balcony upset that Bruce is making fun at Dent but Bruce tells her that he truly believes in Harvey and that he could be the White Knight that will allow him to hang up his mantle as Batman so they can be together. Dent joins them to thank Bruce and retrieve Rachel.

Meanwhile Gordon discovers that there are 3 traces of DNA on the Joker card, from Commissioner Loeb, Harvey Dent, and Judge Surrillo, the Judge that is trying all of the mob members and found the card among the paperwork. Gordon takes this as a threat on their lives, and begins preparations to protect them. In the case of the Judge and Commissioner Loeb, however, this fails. The Judge’s car blows up when the police arrive to take her into protective custody and Commissioner Loeb dies of severe poisoning from his liquor bottle before Gordon can stop him from drinking.

Dent takes Rachel aside to ask her to marry him, but she is torn and cannot give him an answer. Bruce subdues Dent and locks him in a closet while Rachel watches in shock. Bruce tells Rachel that they (the Joker and his goons) have come for Harvey and to stay hidden from sight.

The Joker and his goons burst in telling the guests that they are tonight’s ’entertainment.” The Joker scans the room seeking out Harvey Dent when Rachel steps forward. He grabs her and pulls a knife on her telling her a different version of the story about how he got his scars, claiming that his wife was scarred by loan sharks and that he took a razor to himself to “make her smile,” but that she left him over it. Rachel kicks him away and he comes after her saying that he likes that “little fight” in her, when Batman shows up and sends him reeling. A fight breaks out between Batman, the Joker, and his goons with the Joker and the goons beating on Batman pretty well. When Batman gains the upper hand he sees the Joker holding a gun at Rachel’s head as he dangles her out of a shot out window. Batman demands he let her go, to which the Joker replies “Very poor choice of words” and lets her fall. Batman dives out the window and saves her using his cape to slow their fall as they crash into the roof of a car on the street. The Joker apparently vanishes from the scene.

The next day, Wayne tries to figure out what the Joker is after. Alfred relates a story of when he was in Burma with friends attempting to nullify the local criminals by bribing them with jewels. One thief however, tossed these bribes away and continued to raid the local convoys. When Bruce seems confused over this behavior Alfred informs him that some men can’t be reasoned with, they don’t want anything in particular, that they kill for sport. Alfred observes that they just want to watch the world burn, as Bruce fixates on the Joker’s face on a monitor.

Batman is seen on the edge of a rooftop listening in to cell phone frequencies when he overhears a plot against Harvey Dent. Gordon rushes to the apartment with Ramirez and Batman to find two policemen murdered, with the last names “Harvey” and “Dent.” Ramirez begins to blame Batman, but Gordon cuts her off. As Batman removes a piece of concrete wall that contains a bullet used in the murders in hopes of finding evidence, Gordon notes that the Joker has left an advance copy of tomorrow’s newspaper indicating the death of the mayor.

At Wayne Enterprises, Fox meets with Wayne’s accountant Coleman Reese, who claims to know about certain problems with Wayne’s funding in research and development, claiming that Wayne has some sort of government project with cell phones for the army underway. He also uncovers Fox’s designs for the Batmobile/Tumbler. He tells Fox that he wants $10 million per year for the rest of his life to keep this a secret. Fox smiles and says, “Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world is a secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.”

Fox helps Wayne reconstruct the bullet taken from the murder scene and produces a fingerprint. Fox asks him if he has reassigned the R&D department. Bruce acknowledges that he has, claiming he is playing this one “close to the chest.”

Wayne traces the bullet fingerprint’s owner to an apartment overlooking the funeral speeches for Commissioner Loeb and takes off on motorcycle.

As the ceremony continues on the street below, Wayne inspects a room where he believes the Joker might be, and he finds several men tied up. They tell Wayne that their guns and uniforms were stolen. Wayne inspects binoculars pointed out of a blinded window. The window blind is connected to a timer. As the timer reaches zero, the blinds quickly raise, and the police snipers positioned around the area all shoot in that direction. At the same time, the Joker, who had removed his makeup and played himself off as a member of the honor guard for the ceremony, turns and takes a shot at the mayor, but Lt. Gordon dives in the way, getting shot in the back and falling. Everyone panics and runs, but the police shoot one member of the honor guard in the leg and haul him into a truck. Dent himself climbs in the truck, and upon inspecting the criminal, sees that the name-tag on his uniform reads ‘Officer Rachel Dawes’. He calls Rachel and informs her that she’s been targeted, and to get to the safest place she can, which in her case is Bruce’s penthouse. He tells her he loves her, but there is no answer from Rachel.

Gordon’s family is visited at home, to inform them of the death of Gordon at the funeral ceremony. Gordon’s wife, Barbara, shouts out at the empty sky to Batman that he has brought this craziness upon Gotham. Gordon’s young son catches a brief glimpse of Batman mournfully watching the scene.

Meanwhile, Batman enters a club and grabs Maroni after beating on his men. He interrogates Maroni on the Joker’s whereabouts, who claims that he should have held him from a higher location. Batman drops him off the ledge, injuring his legs and learns that Maroni has no idea where the Joker is. Maroni explains that the Joker has no friends and no one will give him up because unlike Batman, he plays by no rules.

As Dent is interrogating the captured so-called honor guard member about what he knows about the Joker, he is enraged and holds a gun to his head. He flips his father’s lucky silver dollar for his life, coming up on heads. As he flips the coin again, Batman shows up and snatches the coin in midair, asking if Dent would really leave a thug’s life up to chance, to which Dent answers, “Not exactly.” He informs Harvey that this criminal - Thomas Schiff - is a paranoid schizophrenic patient from Arkham Asylum and that he won’t learn anything from him. He also tells Harvey that if anyone saw this unjust way of interrogating someone, all that good work that Dent’s done for Gotham would be lost. He tells Harvey to hold a press conference the following day, because he wants to use that opportunity to turn himself in. As Batman leaves, Harvey yells at him that he can’t give in.

Bruce arrives back in his penthouse to find Rachel waiting. She tells him that turning himself in will not stop the Joker’s murderous rampage, but Bruce says he has enough blood on his hands already. He reminds her that she promised him that they would be together if and when he hung up the mantle of Batman. She tells Bruce not to make her his only hope for a normal life and they share a kiss. She tells Bruce that if he turns himself in as Batman that the city will never let them be together.

Back at Wayne’s secret base of operations for Batman, he and Alfred begin destroying everything that might tie Lucius Fox or Rachel to Batman. Alfred tries to talk Bruce out of it, asking him to endure these trying times and allow Batman to make the right choice that nobody else can for the good of the city. Bruce explains that Batman cannot endure the responsibility for innocents dying, especially where Rachel is concerned.

At the press conference, Harvey attempts to reason with the assembled press and police to not give in to the fear that the Joker has unleashed upon the city. He agrees that Batman is a vigilante but that the people of Gotham should hold him accountable, and not give in to the whims of this terrorist known as the Joker. However, the people are overcome with fear, crying out “No more dead cops,” to applause indicating that Harvey will not be able to sway them. Upon his failure, Harvey announces that HE is the Batman, and gets handcuffed and taken away. Bruce Wayne is shown with a look of confusion on his face.

Rachel, watching the news conference at Bruce Wayne’s penthouse, confronts Alfred over Bruce’s seeming cowardice in allowing Harvey to take the fall when he claims to be Batman. Alfred explains to Rachel that Batman is instead allowing himself to be something else besides a hero, mainly a figure outside of the system that the people can both turn to or blame in times of need, that Batman can ’take it”. Rachel gives Alfred a letter for Bruce and tells him to give it to Bruce when the time is right. When Alfred asks what it is, she tells him it is open and hugs him before departing to see Harvey as he is being transported to the County lock-up.

While being taken to a convoy that will transport him to a county, Harvey explains to Rachel that this is Batman’s chance. He then pulls out the coin and says “Heads: I go through with this,” and flips it, landing on heads. When Rachel tells him that he can’t leave something like that to chance, he tosses her the coin, revealing that it is a two-headed coin. During this transport, he’s planning on getting attacked by the Joker, and he’s planning on Batman to come and save him, and to capture the Joker. The convoy takes off.

While transporting Harvey, the Joker and some goons start taking out the police cars in a large semi truck. He pulls out an RPG and begins firing at the armored truck carrying Dent. The Tumbler arrives and attempts to stop the Joker, and is hit by one of the Joker’s RPGs. His car takes ‘catastrophic’ damage, and he’s forced to eject. However, the ejection in this car is a bike, the Batpod, that deploys out the front of the car. Batman chases down the Joker on his Batpod, and after firing some cables at the truck and weaving them through some light poles and buildings, flips the truck completely over. The Joker emerges with a Smith & Wesson M76 Submachine gun and shoots at Batman, who speeds towards him on his Batpod, all the while screaming at Batman to hit him. Batman honors his own non-lethal code and swerves around the Joker then crashes into the flipped truck, falling to the ground. As the Joker jumps on him with a knife, one of the SWAT officers holds a shotgun to the back of his head, and upon removing his helmet and mask, shows that it was Lt. Gordon, who faked his death to protect his family. The Joker is hauled away to the MCU. Harvey gets out of the truck and into a cruiser, stating he is off to see a worried girlfriend.

At Gordon’s Major Crimes Unit building, Gordon is promoted to Commissioner by the Mayor. The Joker shares a cell with a large man who complains about his insides hurting. Commissioner Gordon, after reuniting with his family, gets a call explaining that Harvey never made it home. He returns to the prison to interrogate the Joker. During the interrogation, Batman appears and starts beating on the Joker, trying to find out where Harvey is. The Joker gets under Batman’s skin telling him that they are both freaks and that when the people of Gotham no longer view Batman as a necessity, they will turn on him. Batman becomes enraged and puts a chair under the door and beats the Joker savagely, but The Joker just laughs and defiantly tells Batman that there is nothing he can do to him to hurt him and that he actually enjoys the beatings. The Joker sadistically reveals that not just Harvey, but Rachel are in separate locations, both tied up and strapped to explosives that will explode in a short amount of time. He gives the locations of the two, saying that he only has time to save one of them and that he must make a choice that will violate Batman’s “code” of non-lethal means…that one of them will die since Batman cannot save them both. Batman heads off, telling Gordon that he’s going after Rachel. Gordon gets some men ready and heads off after Harvey.

As Batman and the police are rushing towards the two prisoners, Harvey awakens to hear Rachel’s voice. Whoever captured them set up an intercom system so that the two can communicate. Harvey tells Rachel that everything will be OK, and Rachel tells Harvey that she wants to marry him. While Dent tries to move in his chair to find something sharp to cut his ropes with, he falls over and knocks an oil drum down, and gasoline spills all over half of his face. Meanwhile, back at the jail, the Joker tricks a cop and holds him hostage, and he tells the other cops he just wants his phone call. Upon getting a cell phone and dialing a number, the large man that was in the cell with him blows up. The Joker had cut him open and implanted a cell phone-triggered device inside of him. The Joker grabs Lau and flees the jail.

Batman arrives at the address that the Joker had told him Rachel was at, but when he opens the door, he finds Harvey Dent instead, who screams in despair at having been found instead of Rachel. Gordon arrives at the supposed location for Dent but the warehouse explodes and Rachel is killed. As Batman saves Dent by carrying him out of the warehouse, the explosion ignites the gas that saturated Dent’s face, horribly burning it. Dent is taken to Gotham General Hospital. Batman visits Dent in the hospital, and leaves him the two-headed coin that they found at the site where Rachel died. One side of the coin is still shiny, while the other side is scraped and burnt.

Alfred reads Rachel’s letter. She explains that she is going to marry Harvey Dent and that when she told him that she would be with him when he no longer need to be Batman that she meant it. However, she realizes that he will always be Batman so she will always be there as his friend.

Bruce expresses to Alfred his devastation behind losing Rachel and that he feels responsible for inspiring madness and death. he tells Alfred that she was going to wait for him. Alfred chooses not to give him her letter, saying the time is not right and that with Harvey Dent hospitalized, it will be up to him alone to fight the crime in Gotham City. Meanwhile, Harvey wakes up in the hospital with a large bandage over half of his face, finds his now scarred two-headed coin, and screams out in anguish over losing the one person he loved.

Commissioner Gordon visits Dent and tries to tell him how sorry he is for what has transpired, questioning why Dent refused skin grafts and painkillers and how he can stand to be in unrelenting agony over his disfigurement. Harvey is filled with rage for Gordon not listening to him when he warned Gordon not to trust the corrupt officers that Dent investigated during his time in Internal Affairs which has resulted in Dent’s disfigurement and ultimately Rachel’s death. Dent demands Gordon tell him the nickname they had for him when he was in I.A., which Gordon ashamedly replies “Harvey Two-Face,” while being forced to stare at the extensive burns and scarred tissue that cover half of Harvey’s face. As Gordon leaves an emotionally devastated Harvey, he runs into Maroni in the hallway who tells him that the Joker has gone too far and that if Gordon wants the clown, he knows where he will be.

Wayne’s accountant Reese appears on a news show claiming to be able to tell the world who Batman is. He tells Gotham that he is going to reveal Batman’s identity, but before he can, the Joker calls in to the show saying that he doesn’t want this lawyer to ruin his fun. He says that if the lawyer is not killed within 60 minutes, he is going to blow up a hospital. This triggers the police to rush in and protect the lawyer, and try to carry him to safety. At the same time, other police are evacuating all of the hospitals in Gotham City. When they get to Gotham General, a police officer attempts to evacuate a nurse in Harvey Dent’s room, which then turns out to be the Joker, and he kills the cop. He then explains to Two-Face how he needs to introduce a little anarchy and chaos, how easy it is to bring down all the good people in the world and how it’s all fair. Joker unties Two-Face and hands him a pistol. Two-Face, bent on revenge and now believing everything in the world should be decided by chance, flips the double-headed coin to decide whether or not to shoot Joker which Joker agrees is only fair. Though we don’t see it, the coin obviously lands on the clean side since the next scene shows Joker leaving Gotham General Hospital as it blows up in the background.

Afterwards, the Joker appears on TV again, forcing kidnapped GCN reporter Mike Engle to read out his plans. He reads that Gotham City now belongs to the Joker, starting that very evening. Anyone that doesn’t want to be a part of his game should leave now, but they are going to have a hard time leaving the city by the bridges. He alludes to the fact that something big was going to happen that very night. During which, Two-Face enters a local bar where Detective Wuertz - the ‘dirty’ cop that had picked him up after the Joker was captured - hangs out. After questioning him, he flips the coin which lands on the dirty side and he kills Wuertz. At the same time, Batman uses Fox’s ‘cell phone sonar’ technology to turn every single cell phone in Gotham into a sonar device, giving him the opportunity to spy on everyone in Gotham. He calls Fox in, and tells him to monitor the screens, and give him updates on the Joker’s location when he sees him. Fox is appalled that Batman would use his technology to spy on the citizens of Gotham and reluctantly agrees to help, stating that the machine must be destroyed after the Joker is captured or he will have to retire. Batman tells Fox to enter his name into the console when the mission is over.

Two-Face continues to question mob members, trying to uncover the identity of the dirty cop that kidnapped Rachel. When confronting Maroni in Maroni’s car, he learns that the other cop is Ramirez. He then flips the coin for Maroni, which lands on the clean side. “Lucky man,” he remarks before he flips it again. It lands on the dirty side and he buckles up and states, “But he’s not” as he shoots Maroni’s driver, causing the car to veer off the road and crash into the dockyards. Meanwhile, two large ferries leave Gotham due to the Joker’s threats. One is inhabited by criminals that Harvey and Gordon helped put away, the other is packed with innocent citizens - the city’s bridges apparently being wired with explosives. While sailing off, the two boats completely lose all power and their engines die. Both ships eventually realize that there are explosives strewn all about the boat, and they both find detonators. It is at this time that the Joker’s voice is heard over the loudspeaker of both ferries, and he informs them that they are part of a social experiment. The detonator on each boat is for the other boat. One ferry must press the button and destroy the other boat by midnight, or else the Joker will destroy both boats. This brings about much chaos in both boats, and a lot of soul searching about morality and about if anyone could actually do such a thing.

Fox finds the Joker, who is holed up in a building still being constructed with many clown guards. Batman notifies Gordon of the location, and speeds off towards the building. Meanwhile, Two-Face forces a frightened Ramirez to call Gordon’s family and tell his wife and children to meet her at the exact spot where Rachel was killed. They believe her because they trust her. Afterwards, Two-Face, angered with Ramirez’s pleas to spare her life for the sake of her sick mother, flips for Ramirez’s life. The coin lands on heads, so he just knocks her out, telling her that she “lives to fight another day.” As Gordon arrives at the building where the Joker is, he gets a call from his family telling him they are being held captive by Two-Face in the place where Rachel was killed. Gordon rushes off to save his family as Batman breaks in to the building. After realizing that the clown guards are the actual hostages and the doctors/hostages are the Joker’s goons, he beats down some SWAT members in order to prevent them from killing the clown guards, and he disables the goons as he makes his way up to the Joker’s location. When he finally confronts the Joker, the Joker sends the Chechen’s rottweilers after him, and while Batman fights them off, the Joker beats him brutally with a blunt metal object, and eventually throws him close to the edge of the building, trapping him under a metal beam.

At the same time, the two boats are still debating what to do with the detonators. On the ‘criminal ferry’, one of the largest and meanest-looking convicts makes a speech about the warden holding the trigger not knowing how to take life, then goes up to the warden and asks to take the trigger so he himself can do what the warden should have done ten minutes ago. The warden hands the convict the trigger and the convict promptly throws it out of the ferry, making it impossible for anyone on the convict ferry to blow up the ‘innocent’ ferry. On the innocent ferry, after having voted to use their detonator, the officials can’t bring themselves to act out the decision. A man stands up, takes the detonator but is unable to press the button.

The Joker, on top of Batman while holding him down, shows signs of disappointment when neither of the ferries’ passengers will stoop to his level. As he’s about to destroy the two boats, Batman fires his gauntlet darts at him, knocking the detonator out of his hands, and throws him over the edge of the building. Before he can hit the ground, however, Batman fires one of his grappling gun tools at him and saves him. While hanging in front of Batman, the Joker tells him that the two of them are destined to fight forever, and how Batman really IS incorruptible. The Joker reveals to him, however, that his real plan was to engineer the fall of Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent, since that would introduce much more chaos when a good man like Dent is shown descending into chaos and evil. Batman heads off to find Harvey, while the SWAT team captures the Joker.

At 250 52nd St, Gordon arrives to see Two-Face holding his family hostage. Two-Face knocks him to the ground and tells him that he’s going to make him suffer just as he did, as he grabs his young son Jimmy and prepares to flip the coin for his fate. Batman arrives and tells him to stop, and to blame the people responsible for Rachel’s death. So then Two-Face flips the coin for Batman, which lands on the dirty, scarred side, and Two-Face shoots him. He then flips the coin for himself and it lands on the clean side. As he’s flipping the coin for Gordon’s son, he tells Gordon to lie to the boy and tell him that everything will be alright, just as Dent himself had to tell Rachel earlier, seconds before she was killed. Batman gets up and tackles him and they fall off of the building together. Unseen by them, the coin lands on the clean side. Batman hands Jimmy up to Gordon as Batman himself falls to the ground next to Two-Face, who lies motionless.

As Gordon climbs down to check on Batman, Batman laments that, in the end, the Joker won. By corrupting Harvey Dent and turning him evil, he tore down the best of them. If Gotham were to find out about Dent’s murders, then the symbol of hope and faith he had given Gotham would diminish and all the prisoners he helped put back in jail would be let out, thus creating chaos. Batman explains that Gotham can never find out about the murders, and takes the blame of them on himself, so that the Joker wouldn’t win and the city’s peace would remain.

We see a montage of Commissioner Gordon and other members of the Gotham City Police Department gathered at a memorial to Harvey Dent. It is unclear whether he was killed or not. Gordon then smashes the Bat Signal above the MCU Building, while Alfred burns Rachel’s note and Lucius shuts down the sonar machine with a pleased look. Batman, in the background, continues to explain that by taking the blame of the killings, the faith that the people of Gotham had in Harvey Dent can be rewarded, and they can feel justified.

Batman then runs from Gordon as the cops begin to chase him, and Gordon tells his son that while Harvey Dent was the hero Gotham needed, Batman is the hero that Gotham deserved. The bat-signal is destroyed and a manhunt is issued for Batman. Batman gets on his Batpod and speeds away, while Gordon declares:

The movie opens with a TV advertisement for Stratton Oakmont, Inc. It discusses the nature of Wall Street brokers, describing them as bulls or lions. A lion walks through one of the floors of the company.

We next see a large group of brokers playing a game where they throw little people onto a board with a dollar sign for a bulls-eye. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) then introduces himself among those playing this game. He tells us that he is the son of two accountants living in Bayside, Queens. Ever since he started working on Wall Street, Jordan has enjoyed a life of endless drugs and countless hookers of his choosing. He is seen blowing cocaine into a hooker’s butt, and then later flying a helicopter while hopped up on quaaludes. We also see him driving his Ferrari and getting a blowjob from a woman revealed to be his wife Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). According to Jordan, he does enough drugs to sedate the majority of New York’s population. The one drug he loves the most, however, is the one that can make man conquer the world: money. He snorts a line of coke with a $100 bill, crumples it up, and then tosses it in a wastebasket.

When he was 22 years old, Jordan began working on Wall Street while married to a woman named Teresa Petrillo (Cristin Milioti). He starts working as a broker and he meets his smooth-talking, easygoing boss Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), along with another abrasive and foul-mouthed co-boss, Peter DeBlasio (Barry Rothbart). Jordan is astonished at how everybody talks and works. He has lunch with Mark, who is doing a rhythmic chant while pounding his chest. Mark orders enough martinis for them to “pass the fuck out”. He asks Jordan how many times he jerks off: Jordan says about three or four times a week. Mark says those are rookie numbers and that he does it at least twice a day. He starts babbling to Jordan about how nobody knows if the stocks will go up, down, sideways, or whatever, and that it’s all a “fugazi”. Mark’s primary reason for going into stocks was pretty much just for hookers and blow. He gets Jordan to join in the “Money Chant”.

Jordan starts his first day with his broker’s license on what happens to be October 19, 1987 - aka, Black Monday. The stocks around the world plummet, and Jordan loses his job. At home, Teresa suggests they pawn her engagement ring as he looks through the jobs section in the paper. He comes across one place in Long Island: “Investor Center” located in a small mini-shopping center.

Jordan shows up to Investor Center in a suit. The place is merely a small establishment that hardly looks professional, with most of the brokers dressing casually & the office being a dingy, unkempt workspace. Jordan is greeted by Dwayne (Spike Jonze), the man who runs the place. He assigns Jordan to pitch a sale for a company called Aerotyne, a small company out of a garage in Dubuque, Iowa. Aerotyne is also a “pink sheet” (low value) stock and he will receive 50% of the commission. Jordan calls a potential investor about Aerotyne. He sells it to him as a huge company (we’re treated to a pic that shows it looking no bigger than a tool shed), but the way he pitches it draws everybody’s attention. Everybody in the office stops what they’re doing to listen to Jordan, who makes a very slick but also very professional sales pitch. He succeeds in making the sale and his new coworkers are impressed.

After a few months, Jordan is making serious money. He is approached in a diner by a chubby bespectacled man with fluorescent white teeth named Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). He asks Jordan if the Jaguar outside is his car, to which Jordan says ‘yes’. Donnie says he lives in the same apartment building as Jordan and mentions he works selling children’s furniture. He asks Jordan how much money he makes, and Jordan says he made $72,000 the previous month. Not believing it, Donnie asks to see a pay stub for $72,000. Jordan pulls one out, and Donnie calls his boss to tell him he’s quitting to go into stocks.

Jordan and Donnie have drinks at a bar. We learn that Donnie married his cousin because he didn’t like the idea of anybody else trying to sleep with her. Outside, Donnie smokes some crack and offers some to Jordan. He takes one hit and gets pumped, telling Donnie they need to go running.

The two find a garage where they plan to set up a business. Jordan recruits some of his friends to join. They include Robbie Feinberg (Brian Sacca; nicknamed “Pinhead”), Alden Kupferberg (Henry Zebrowski; nicknamed “Sea Otter”), Chester Ming (Kenneth Choi), Nicky Koskoff (PJ Byrne; nicknamed “Rugrat” because of his shoddy toupee), and Brad (Jon Bernthal). Brad is especially well known for making drug sales in his old neighborhood. Jordan tells Brad to sell him a pen that he pulls out of his pocket. Brad tells him to write something on a napkin. Jordan says he doesn’t have a pen, and Brad “sells” it to him. Jordan also brings along several guys from Investor Center, including a guy called Toby Welch (Ethan Suplee).

Jordan and Donnie set up what is basically a boiler room in an abandoned auto garage. The guys are all set up at desks, ready to make calls with a script that Jordan wrote for them. They start with blue chip stocks like Disney and AT&T. Jordan calls one investor to purchase stocks in Kodak. Jordan anticipates closing the deal by making crude sexual gestures to everyone just as the investor signs on. From there, Jordan creates Stratton Oakmont and forms it into a much larger business with even more brokers working for him. He has groups of ambitious and hopeful brokers clamoring in his office showing off their resumes to his face. As one Strattonite makes a sale, the whole floor celebrates, with a marching band and a big group of hookers. They even have one female employee get her head shaved if Jordan pays her $10,000 for her to use for breast implants.

Over the next few years, news of Stratton Oakmont’s success gets around, from Forbes Magazine to the FBI, specifically Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). Forbes does a hatchet piece on Jordan, calling him a “sleazy Robin Hood” and dubbing him “the Wolf of Wall Street.” Jordan is at first angry about it, but Teresa tells him there’s no such thing as bad publicity and more young and eager brokers flock to his office. They bring on Jordan’s father, whom everyone refers to as “Mad Max” (Rob Reiner) due to his constantly irritable attitude. He oversees his son’s accounts and berates him and his partners for spending $26,000 for a dinner, interrupting their chat about using the little people for their game (as seen earlier).

Jordan throws a party at his Long Island beachfront house where he announces a plan to take the company “into the FUCKING STRATOSPHERE!” He is about to explain to us the effects of quaaludes, but Donnie suddenly rises and slowly goes over to Jordan’s pool table in slow motion, mumbling the name “Steve Madden.” Steve Madden, as Jordan notes, was the big name in women’s shoes. Jordan then sees Naomi for the first time. He runs down to introduce himself, inviting her to join him on his jet ski. Donnie’s wife Hildy (Mackenzie Meehan) sees this and tries to get Jordan away from Naomi by saying Teresa needs his help. Donnie then goes downstairs and starts masturbating to Naomi in front of the whole party.

Jordan takes Naomi out to dinner one night. When he takes her home, she invites him to her apartment for some tea. Jordan is extremely tempted by her, right before she steps out of her room fully nude. The two have sex for 11 seconds before Jordan tries to get it going again. He continues his affair with Naomi for a while before Teresa catches Jordan doing coke off her breasts in the back of a limo. She pulls Jordan out and starts smacking him. She tearfully asks him if he loves Naomi, but he doesn’t reply. Narrating again in voice-over, Jordan says he felt bad about hurting Teresa… and then filed for divorce three days later.

Naomi moves into Jordan’s apartment. She hires a decorator to redo the place to Jordan’s liking, and she also hires a gay butler named Nicholas (Jon Spinogatti). Jordan likes him until the night that Naomi comes home to find that Nicholas is holding a gay orgy in the apartment. She goes crying to Jordan and tells him that $20,000 in cash is missing from their room as well as $30,000 worth of jewelry and other appliances. Jordan, Donnie, Chester, and Rugrat interrogate Nicholas about what he knows about the missing money. Nicholas refuses to answer questions (clearly protecting his gay friends) and quickly changes the subject by openly telling them that he thinks them questioning him is just gay prejudice. Chester punches him hard in the nose, and he and Donnie hold Nicholas by his legs over the balcony to try to make him confess. Jordan calls the cops, who arrest Nicholas for stealing, and kick his ass instead.

Jordan manages to recover the stolen cash through money laundering. Since he recognizes that these practices are illegal, he hires an attorney, Manny Riskin (Jov Favreau), to keep them clear. All Jordan cares about is that he’s making more money than he and anybody else can know what to do with.

Jordan proposes to Naomi with a yellow diamond ring and she accepts. He holds a bachelor party in Las Vegas, where even the plane ride consists of a lot of hookers, alcohol and a lot of cocaine. The wedding is also a pretty big event. Naomi introduces Jordan to her English Aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is aware of Jordan’s cocaine use. Jordan and Naomi move out of their New York penthouse and buy a large mansion on Long Island. He even buys Naomi a yacht as a wedding gift (it’s also named Naomi).

Eighteen months later, Jordan and Naomi have a daughter, Skyler. By this time, the couple is constantly bickering over Jordan’s antics. He slept through the night calling the name “Venice”. We see she is a hooker who pulled a lit candle out of Jordan’s ass during sex and poured the hot wax on his back as he kept screaming “Wolfie” (his safety word, which she ignores). Jordan tells us this fighting is part of their routine, which ends with them getting intimate. When they put the baby to sleep, Naomi says she is wearing short skirts from now on and won’t be wearing panties deliberately to tease Jordan. Jordan however, has his own trick to pull; he tells Naomi that she’s been videotaped by Jordan’s security guards, both of whom are named Rocco.

At work, it is the day of an IPO (initial public offering) meeting with Steve Madden, a ladies shoe designer seeking to go public with his company. Jordan catches a geeky broker cleaning his goldfish bowl. He sends Donnie to call the guy out and humiliate him in front of everybody by swallowing the man’s goldfish whole and then sending him out while everybody else jeers at him. Steve Madden (Jake Hoffman) presents his latest product, the Mary Lous (which one broker says look like fat woman shoes). The brokers start throwing junk at him, which Jordan stops. He wants Madden to join them in business, which he agrees to. Jordan then gets up to the stage to give a speech to the whole floor about the wonders of being rich. The stock is launched in the trading room and becomes a success, netting Stratton Oakmont $22 million in just three hours.

The FBI sends the company a subpoena to request Jordan’s wedding video tape. Jordan meets his private investigator, Bo Dietl (playing himself) where Bo tells him that Denham has pictures of Jordan’s inner circle. Jordan asks Dietl if it’s possible to buy off Denham – Dietl emphatically says ‘no’.

A few days later, Jordan invites Denham and his partner Agent Hughes (Ted Griffin) onto the Naomi moored at a Long Island harbor. He shows them the list of everybody in attendance to the wedding. When Jordan tells Denham of an employee of his that he hired after needing money for his mother’s triple bypass surgery, Denham interprets this as some sort of bribe. Jordan laughs it off and sends the agents off his yacht. He mockingly throws 100 dollar bills at them as they walk away.

Jordan decides to keep his money safe from the tax men as well as thieves by storing it in offshore accounts. He, Donnie, and Rugrat go to Switzerland to get the job done. The trip there is chaotic for Jordan since he takes a bunch of quaaludes prior to the flight. He then behaves very lewdly toward the stewardess and he insults the pilot. He wakes up strapped to his chair. Donnie tells Jordan that he tried to start a riotous party on the airplane, dry-humping the female flight attendants and insulting the plane’s captain, who personally restrained Jordan in his seat. Due to Rugrat’s intervention, with assistance from his Swiss friend, Jordan isn’t charged upon his arrival.

The trio meets with a group of French Swiss bankers led by Jean Jacques Sorel (Jean Dujardin), Rugrat’s friend in college. Sorel persuades them to get someone outside the U.S. to store money in their account. Jordan travels to London, England to convince Naomi’s Aunt Emma to take some of his fortune. This also leads to Jordan unsuccessfully trying to hit on her. They also use Brad’s Slovak wife Chantalle (Katarina Cas) to smuggle money in with her family, though she can only strap a certain amount to her body to smuggle into Switzerland. Donnie and Brad get into an argument that ends with Brad punching Donnie out.

Some time later, Donnie drives out to a seedy Long Island strip mall to make an exchange with Brad. Brad had specifically asked Jordan to make sure Donnie didn’t arrive at the meeting drugged out, but Donnie appears to be anyway. After a few moments, Donnie reveals that he isn’t actually stoned for the meeting and begins to provoke Brad – Donnie had taken very personally the fact that Brad had hit him. They get into another argument with the cops watching nearby. Donnie drops his briefcase of money and flees, leaving Brad to get arrested.

Donnie shows up at Jordan’s house with a strong brand of quaaludes called Lemmon 714, a very rare version of the drug. The two take a pill each and watch “Family Matters” on the TV, but feel no effects after 35 minutes. They take more and still feel nothing. They find out that they expired in 1981. Naomi (pregnant again) goes downstairs to find the two working out. She tells Jordan that Bo Dietl is on the line. Dietl tells Jordan to leave his house and call him from a payphone. Jordan drives a mile down the road to a country club to use the payphone there. Dietl tells him about Brad getting arrested, and that Denham has Jordan’s home and work phones tapped. Just then, Jordan starts to finally feel the effects of the Lemmons – the pills were so far past their expiration date they’d developed a “delayed fuse.” He starts slurring his speech and then collapses to the floor, unable to stand or walk. He crawls outside, rolls down the steps, and manages to open the door of his Lamborghini with his foot. Naomi calls him to say that Donnie is acting very strangely and had called Sorel. Jordan makes an attempt to drive his car home despite being too high. He slowly manages to get home safely and crawls his way to the kitchen to pull Donnie (who is also feeling the delayed effect of the quaaludes) off the phone, yelling as best as he can about the FBI listening in. Donnie runs to stuff cold cuts in his mouth, but he starts choking and falls on top of the glass dining table, shattering it. Naomi runs in to find Donnie turning blue and choking. Jordan grabs a little vial of coke from a drawer and pours the whole thing into his nose (juxtaposed with a Popeye cartoon as Olive Oyl feeds the sailor man some spinach, with the tune accompanying Jordan and the coke). He pulls the food out of Donnie’s mouth and begins to apply a crude form of the Heimlich Maneuver. Jordan pauses for a few seconds, thinking he’ll let Donnie die, until Naomi reminds him that Donnie has a family. Jordan finally gets Donnie to cough up the food he was choking on.

Jordan wakes up the next morning to find the police in his house. They arrest him when they show him his Lamborghini, with notable damage, despite Jordan believing he got the car home in one piece. A flashback shows us that Jordan didn’t make it home without damaging his car, hitting several other cars, a few golf carts and a mailbox. He is released after it’s determined they have no proof Jordan was ever behind the wheel of the car. Manny and Max tell Jordan he got lucky.

Another few months later, Jordan holds a big meeting on his floor to announce that he is stepping down from the company to pass it onto Donnie, Pinhead, and Rugrat. He calls out one woman for starting at Stratton with “barely two nickels to rub together”, and now living rich when Jordan decided to give her a shot. He tells the brokers he loves all of them, moving them to tears. Jordan then changes his mind and decides to stay, leading to cheers. He gets everybody to join him in the “Money Chant.” His father is not pleased, believing Jordan would be better off in taking the deal the FBI was offering.

Jordan holds a huge celebration on his yacht, right after Brad is released from jail. Brad subsequently quits doing business in stocks, and Jordan tells us he died of a heart attack two years later.

In June 1996, Jordan and Donnie take their wives to Portofino, Italy to continue the celebration. Rugrat calls then while they’re drinking Bloody Marys and snorting cocaine to tell them that Steve Madden is unloading shares after hearing about Jordan’s recent trouble with the law. To make matters worse, Naomi comes crying to tell Jordan that Aunt Emma died of a heart attack. Jordan is distraught, but more due to the fact that this leaves the $20 million in her account inaccessible. Jordan calls Sorel, who tells him that Aunt Emma named Jordan the successor to the money. He just needs to get to Switzerland immediately. Jordan runs to tell the captain to take them to Switzerland, despite Naomi’s insistence that they go to England for the funeral. Jordan believes they can reach a safe harbor and that he can catch a small plane to Geneva. The captain warns that there may be stormy seas ahead, but Jordan doesn’t care. Indeed, they do sail right into dangerous waters. Jordan orders Donnie to run and get more quaaludes, even as Donnie objects – Jordan doesn’t want to die sober. He runs downstairs anyway and brings the drugs up, just as a huge wave breaks through boat and turns it over. The group is rescued by a Italian Navy helicopter called in by Jordan. They’re taken on another boat, and Jordan sees the jet he wanted to catch crash into the ocean. He tells us this was due to a seagull flying into the engine. He believes this to be a sign from God.

Two years later, Jordan is sobered up. He is seen in an infomercial advertising his moneymaking seminar, Straight Line. During a taping of the infomercial, Denham and other agents arrest Jordan. Sorel had been arrested in Switzerland for crimes unrelated to Jordan, and he ended up ratting him out while having dinner with Rugrat (who is also arrested). Sorel had also been having an affair with Brad’s wife whenever she smuggled cash to him in Switzerland. All the members of Stratton are called in for testimony but refuse to give anybody up to save themselves.

Donnie goes over to Jordan’s place as he is under house arrest, he wears a locator on his right ankle. He says he’s got Jordan’s back in the scheme of things. He also asks Jordan how sober life is. Jordan thinks it sucks. Naomi is also furious with Jordan, refusing to speak to him.

Jordan and his lawyer meet with Denham and two other Department of Justice lawyers. They try to make a deal in which Jordan wears a wire to incriminate the other co-conspirators. They call the case a “Grenada” in reference to the US invasion of Grenada in the Caribbean, where the US government very easily suppressed an invasion of that island nation by Cuba. To them, the case will be easy for the Dept of Justice to win because of the overwhelming amount of evidence they’ve collected.

A few nights later, Jordan pesters Naomi for sex, and she eventually gives in and asks him to make love “as if it were the last time.” Naomi acts passive and uninterested. Once the two are finished, she tells him it really was the last time; she intends to file for divorce, and tells Jordan that unless he agrees to every condition that she demands (a quick divorce, full custody of their two kids and half of his remaining wealth), she’ll take out a restraining order that will bar Jordan from ever contacting her or the kids again. Jordan becomes enraged and insults her; she slaps him and he hits her in the abdomen. He storms into a small sitting room and cuts open one of the sofa cushions, removing a bag of cocaine. He snorts a good-sized amount and runs into Skyler’s room taking from her bed. Over Naomi’s panicked protests, he runs downstairs to leave with Skyler. Naomi and the Belforts’ maid try to stop Jordan as he reverses the car out of the garage, but he ends up crashing into a wall just a few yards away. Skyler is unharmed as she was wearing her seat belt, but Jordan suffers a minor head injury. Naomi takes Skyler out of the car, as a dazed Jordan gradually realizes he will probably never see his two daughters again after this latest incident.

Jordan is set up with the wire to bring in his partners. They all cheer for him upon his return. He goes to start with Donnie. Jordan slides him a note that says “Don’t incriminate yourself. I’m wearing a wire.” When he asks Donnie about their financial practices, Donnie pretends not to remember anything.

The FBI arrive at Jordan’s house to arrest him when they discover the note he slipped to Donnie (though not shown, the note was given to Denham by Donnie himself, likely as part of a deal that will leave Donnie unaffected or facing lesser charges). While Donnie rapidly deletes any incriminating files on his office computer the rest of the co-conspirators are arrested in the office. In court, Jordan is sentenced to 36 months in prison. His mother cries as her son is taken away while Max looks at him disappointed. When he arrives at prison, Jordan admits that he was terrified when he got there. For a fleeting moment, he says, he forgot that he was rich. He had become so accustomed to a life where everything was for sale.

The story begins with the viewer looking out from a window in a workshop to a tree house, then turning and zooming in to a bedroom in a dollhouse that is in the workshop. Steve Graham wakes his teenage son Peter and 13-year-old daughter Charlie for their 78-year-old grandmother Ellen Taper Leigh’s funeral. Steve finds Charlie sleeping in the tree house.

Steve’s wife Annie, an artist who sculpts miniature dioramas, delivers the eulogy at her mother’s service. Charlie makes a clucking noise while drawing a strange sketch during the speech.

Annie talks to Charlie about Ellen at bedtime that night. Charlie claims that her grandmother always wished Charlie were a boy. To Annie’s confusion, Charlie also wonders aloud who will care for her now that Ellen is dead. Annie later sees a haunting vision of Ellen after looking through a memory book while in Annie’s workshop.

A bird dies by flying into one of Charlie’s classroom windows at school. Charlie goes outside and cuts off the bird’s head. A woman across the street waves at Charlie.

Annie begins researching apparitions. Steve receives word from the cemetery that Ellen’s grave was desecrated, but he decides to not tell his wife.

Annie tells Steve she is going to a movie, but actually attends a grief counseling support group. When she arrives at the meeting it is dark outside. Annie openly discloses her mother’s mental health issues including the dissociative identity disorder and dementia.

Charlie sees a strange light in her bedroom. Gallery owner Silvia Archer contacts Annie about progress on her new works, which include a piece featuring Ellen.

Peter asks his mother if he can go to a party where he hopes to see Bridget, a classmate he is interested in. Annie asks Peter if he invited his sister to go with him, since he claimed it was a party related to their school.

Charlie experiences a vision of her grandmother surrounded by fire. Charlie makes her clucking noise when she is shaken out of her trance. Charlie tells Annie that she wants Ellen. Annie forces Peter to take Charlie with him to the party.

Flustered at having to monitor his sister, Peter blows off Charlie so he can smoke marijuana with Bridget and their friends. Many of women at the party are wearing long flannel-style shirts. Left unsupervised, Charlie unknowingly eats chocolate cake containing a substance to which she is allergic. Charlie begins choking as she experiences an anaphylactic reaction.

Peter carries his sister to his car and rushes her toward the hospital along a dark country road. Charlie sticks her head out the window in an effort to breathe better. Peter swerves to avoid an animal in the road. Charlie is decapitated when her head violently hits a utility pole.

After sitting and staring in entranced shock, Peter drives home in a calm daze. Annie comes outside when it is light outside and is horrified to find her daughter’s headless body in the car’s backseat.

The family holds a funeral for Charlie. Steve looks through Charlie’s sketchbook of drawings. Peter experiences a panic attack while smoking marijuana, before biking home from school. Peter arrives at home in the dark. Annie grieves alone while sitting in the car in the driveway.

Annie drives to her grief support group meeting, but decides to turn around while still in the parking lot. It is dark when she arrives. However, before Annie can leave, fellow group member Joan spots Annie and stops her to talk. After hearing about Charlie’s death, Joan confides in Annie about the loss of her own child and grandson.

When Annie returns home, Steve makes a pass at her, but Annie rebuffs him. Annie sleeps in the attic. Peter hears Charlie’s clucking noise and sees what he thinks is a vision of his dead sister in his room, but it appears to be his own hoodie in the corner.

Annie visits Joan at Joan’s apartment. Annie tells Joan about a sleepwalking incident in which she doused Peter and Charlie and herself from head to toe in paint thinner before waking up to find herself preparing to light a match. From her body language, Annie implies that the matches were in her left hand and can of paint thinner in her right. Annie explains that her relationships with her children were never the same afterward.

Steve finds Annie constructing a disturbing diorama of the scene where Charlie died. Steve, Annie, and Peter have an awkward dinner during which Annie blames her son for Charlie’s death. Peter responds by reminding Annie that she was the one who forced Charlie to go to the party.

Annie runs into Joan at an art supply store. Joan excitedly explains to Annie that she attended an open séance that changed her skepticism about psychics. Joan tells Annie that a medium was able to conjure her dead grandson Louis and taught Joan how to conduct a séance as well. Joan has a chalkboard in the trunk of her car.

Joan invites Annie over to witness a séance firsthand. Joan seemingly makes contact with Louis, who uses a glass and a chalkboard to communicate. Joan assures Annie that she can conduct a similar conjuring herself by using a personal item from the deceased, reciting a cryptic incantation, and making sure that her entire family is in the house during the summoning. Annie hears a clucking sound while driving home afterward.

Annie wakes that night to find a swarm of ants leading to Peter’s dead body. Annie wakes from a sleepwalking trance over her son’s bed, prompting a conversation with Peter. Peter asks why Annie is seemingly scared of him. Annie involuntarily confesses that she never wanted to be Peter’s mother and tried to have a miscarriage. Annie suddenly wakes to discover she was experiencing a vision within a vision.

Annie recites Joan’s incantation with Charlie’s sketchbook while Steve and Peter sleep. Claiming she summoned Charlie, Annie excitedly wakes her husband and son for another séance. Charlie seemingly possesses Annie. Steve snaps Annie out of her trance by dousing her with water as Peter cries from confused fright.

During school, Peter sees the same strange light that Charlie previously saw in her bedroom. Peter notices that his reflection looks back at him with a different expression.

Steve admonishes Annie for Peter becoming convinced that a vengeful spirit is threatening him. Annie trashes her studio in frustration when she accidentally breaks a tiny model chair, after another voicemail from her gallery pressures her about providing new pieces.

Charlie’s spirit supernaturally draws in her old sketchbook. Peter sees a vision of his dead sister in the corner, and her head falls off turning into a recreation ball on the floor, before being choked in his bed. Peter accuses his mother of sleepwalking and attacking him again. Annie advises Peter not to tell Steve what happened. Annie goes on to explain that something supernatural is happening in the house and she is the only one who can stop it. The window above Peter’s bed has a mark that looks similar to the one in Charlie’s classroom when struck by the bird.

Realizing that the spirit she summoned is malevolent, Annie throws Charlie’s sketchbook into the fireplace. Annie’s arm mirrors the burning book by also catching fire, forcing Annie to rescue the book.

Annie returns to Joan for help, but no one’s there and she does not go inside Joan’s residence. The camera shows us Joan’s place is decked out in witchcraft paraphernalia, including a photo of Peter inside a ceremonial triangle and a symbol Annie recognizes from family photos.

Annie learns that the symbol is associated with the demon Paimon, one of the kings of Hell. Annie also finds photos of Joan with Ellen, revealing that Joan and Annie’s mother were in the same coven devoted to gaining riches by conjuring Paimon into a male body. Annie discovers Ellen’s headless corpse in her house’s attic.

Peter hears Joan shouting, “I expel you” at him from a distance at school behind a fence. During class, Peter hears Charlie’s cluck. Peter acts possessed and suddenly bashes his head into his desk, snapping out of his trance with cries of terror and pain.

Annie stands in the pouring rain below the tree house with Ellen’s scrapbook, and we see that Peter’s room behind her in the real house does not exist.

Steve brings Peter home. Annie approaches the car, and is dry with no sign of the downpour. Annie tells Steve that Ellen’s corpse is in their attic, but it is now decapitated. Annie also shows Steve the photographs where Joan and Ellen are wearing the seal of Paimon. Annie explains that their family became cursed when she tried contacting Charlie. Annie also explains the connection to Charlie’s sketchbook, adding that Steve needs to destroy it in order to save Peter. Peter sleeps in his room in the background and is not awakened by the conversation.

Disbelieving her wild claims, Steve accuses Annie of digging up Ellen’s grave. When Steve refuses to burn the sketchbook, Annie throws it back into the fire, even though she presumes doing so will kill her. Instead, Steve spontaneously combusts.

With his possessed mother hovering in the corner above his bed, Peter gets up to search the house. When Peter leaves his room the ladder to the attic is withdrawn missing. Peter finds his father’s charred corpse. Possessed, Annie chases Peter to the attic. The ladder to the attic is now down. Annie jumps up and furiously pounds her head on the attic door after Peter climbs the ladder and retracts it into the upstairs ceiling.

In the attic, Peter finds flies, candles, and a photo of his face with the eyes punched out. Ellen’s body is gone. Annie suddenly hovers above Peter before severing her own head. Confronted by this horror and three undressed devil worshipers, Peter jumps out the window.

Peter’s head hits the ground below, which seemingly knocks him out. Peter rises after the oddly glowing light seen previously hovers around his body. Peter follows his mother’s headless corpse as it floats into the tree house.

The film opens with a clip from an old Western TV series, “Bounty Law.” It features action star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the lead role as Jake Cahill, a renegade bounty hunter. Following the clip is an interview with Rick and his stuntman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), both of whom describe Cliff’s role as essentially carrying Rick’s load.

Saturday, February 8th, 1969

Rick and Cliff are in a restaurant where Rick is met by producer Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino). He is a fan of Rick’s work, having seen a double feature presentation of his where he plays an action star, including one where he is a GI that incinerates Nazis with a flamethrower (which he kept). Marvin also brings up a cheesy music video Rick was featured in. “Bounty Law” has since been canceled because of Rick’s ongoing alcoholism (which is also why Cliff is his driver), and now Rick has booked a gig as a villain on the series “Lancer.” Marvin thinks Rick ought to fly to Rome and shoot Spaghetti Westerns. Rick complains to Cliff about how this means that his career is going downhill, and he is now a has-been.

Cliff drives Rick home, where they learn that Rick’s new neighbors are director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) and his wife, rising starlet Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Rick’s mood turns around since he thinks that a big-time director like Polanski (hot off directing the recent thriller “Rosemary’s Baby”) can help reinvigorate his career. He goes to rehearse his lines for “Lancer” for the night. Cliff then drives home to his trailer, where he lives alone with his dog Brandy.

Polanski brings Sharon to a party at the Playboy Mansion, where they meet with their friends Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), Steve McQueen (Damien Lewis), and Michelle Phillips (Rebecca Rittenhouse). Sharon goes dancing, while McQueen talks to Connie Stevens (Dreama Walker). He notes that Sharon is using Polanski to make Jay jealous, and Connie thinks that Sharon has a type - short men that “look like 12-year-old boys”.

Sunday, February 9th, 1969

After Polanski leaves, Sharon hangs out with Jay at her house. Visiting them is Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), claiming that he is coming to see his friends, the previous owners of the house that Polanski and Sharon now live in. He apologizes for the error and leaves.

Cliff brings Rick to the set of “Lancer” for the day’s shoot. He goes back to Rick’s house after he asks Cliff to fix the antenna on his roof. He happens to spot Manson as he leaves, and he smiles and waves at Cliff. We then see a flashback to Rick talking to an old friend of his, Randy (Kurt Russell), into getting Cliff a gig. Randy shows reluctance since it is rumored that Cliff murdered his wife Billie (Rebecca Gayheart) and got away with it. The alleged incident is shown on a boat where Billie was nagging Cliff endlessly, but it cuts away before we see if Cliff really did shoot Billie with the harpoon gun he was holding. Randy brings Cliff to the set, where he meets Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), talking about wanting to fight boxer Muhammad Ali. When Lee catches Cliff laughing at what he’s saying, he challenges him to a fight to see who knocks who on the ground first. Lee gets Cliff down first, and he retaliates by grabbing Lee and slamming him into a car. The two then go hand-to-hand until Janet (Zoe Bell), Randy’s wife and fellow stunt coordinator comes in and is pissed to see Cliff and Lee fighting, and the huge dent that Cliff left in there, meaning he’s fired.

In the present, Sharon drives through Hollywood, where she goes to a local bookstore, and then goes to the local movie theater and sees that a film she is featured in, “The Wrecking Crew,” is playing. She goes to the box office and asks for a ticket, but then asks if she gets any privilege for starring in the film. The manager comes out and recognizes Sharon from “Valley of the Dolls,” and he invites her in. Throughout the film, Sharon listens to the audience’s enthusiastic reactions to her performance, with laughter and cheering at the right moments.

Meanwhile, Rick goes through his hair and make-up for “Lancer.” He then sits down next to his eight-year-old co-star Trudi (Julia Butters), who is a method actor. Rick smokes a cigarette near her as she reads her book. They have a conversation about the books they are reading, and Rick has a small breakdown over his perceived decline in stardom. Shooting begins, and Rick works with the series lead actor, James Stacey (Timothy Olyphant), who plays protagonist Johnny Madrid. During the take, Rick forgets his lines due to being drunk. He goes to his trailer and has a meltdown, but then vows to do better.

Elsewhere, Cliff drives home from Rick’s place and sees a hitchhiker called Pussycat (Margaret Qualley), whom Cliff has noticed throughout the weekend. He picks her up and agrees to take her to the Spahn Ranch, where Cliff used to shoot films with Rick. When they get there, Cliff sees that the place has become some kind of commune for hippies, mostly consisting of women. Pussycat tells Cliff that he should stick around to meet Manson, but he wants to speak with the ranch’s elderly owner, George Spahn (Bruce Dern). The women warn Cliff that Spahn is sleeping, but he goes over to his house anyway. He is met by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Dakota Fanning), who also reiterates that Spahn is asleep because she just had sex with him. Cliff goes to wake Spahn up, but he doesn’t recognize Cliff since he is blind. He asks Spahn if the women there are taking advantage of him, but Spahn denies it and tells Cliff to leave. Outside, Cliff sees one of the male hippie’s stuck a knife in his front tire. He gets his stuff out and orders the man to fix it, but is given a “fuck you.” Cliff responds by decking the guy hard in the face three times in front of the other women. One of the Manson girls gets a horse and runs to get Tex Watson (Austin Butler), but Cliff is already driving away by the time he arrives.

Back on the “Lancer” set, Rick shoots a scene where he has Trudi’s character hostage, and Scott Lancer, played by Wayne Maunder (Luke Perry), comes to intervene. Rick improvises his slimy villain character and has a moment where he throws Trudi off of him. After the take, he is praised by both the director and Trudi, who tells Rick that it was the best acting she has ever seen in her life. The comment even moves Rick to tears.

Cliff and Rick go back to the latter’s house to watch the episode of FBI her appears in. As they are watching, we cross cut to Schwaz, who makes a phone call regarding Ricks’ career. The screen fades to black.

Six months later.

A voice-over from Randy states that Rick and Cliff ended up flying to Rome to shoot the Spaghetti Western films. While there, Rick met and married Italian film actress Francesca Capucci (Lorenza Izzo).

August 8th, 1969

Rick and Cliff have returned to Los Angeles, but now feel that it is time for them to go their separate ways. They spend one last night having drinks and hang out at Rick’s home with Francesca. Meanwhile, Sharon, now very pregnant, is having a small gathering with Jay and their friends Wojciech Frykowski (Costa Ronin) and Abigail Folger (Samantha Robinson).

Cliff takes out a cigarette he bought from Pussycat that was dipped in acid, and he proceeds to smoke it to trip out. Outside, Tex drives in front of the houses with fellow “family” members Patricia Krenwinkel, AKA Katie (Madisen Beaty), Susan Atkins, AKA Sadie (Mikey Madison), and Linda Kasabian, AKA Flowerchild (Maya Hawke). They arrive intending to kill Sharon and her friends, but a drunk Rick comes out and angrily yells at them because their car’s busted muffler is making too much noise. He orders them to leave, even as Katie appears to be reaching for her gun, but Tex drives away. At the bottom of the hill, the four recognize Rick from TV, and Sadie suggests that they kill him and whoever else is in his house. The others agree, but as they start walking there, Flowerchild says she forgot her knife. Tex gives her the car keys to get it, but she ends up ditching them and driving away. The three then proceed to carry out their plan.

The Manson trio walks up to Rick’s house. Tex and Katie break in through the front door, while Sadie goes in through the side. Cliff sees them, but because he is tripping, he is neither frightened nor absolutely sure of what he is seeing. Even as Tex draws his gun on Cliff, he instead sics Brandy on Tex, who viciously chomps into Tex’s arm and groin. Sadie tries to run up to Cliff with her knife, but he chucks a can of dog food at her, which smashes into her face. Cliff stomps Tex’s face in until he is dead before grabbing Katie and brutally smashing her face against the hard furniture until she is dead too. Brandy gets a few bites into Sadie as well, but she runs out the back glass door, flailing and shrieking into the pool, where Rick is lounging. He then comes out with his flamethrower and torches Sadie, who burns to death in his pool. In the chaos, Cliff gets stabbed in his right hip by Katie, but non-fatally.

Léon (Jean Reno) is a hitman (or “cleaner” as he would rather be known) living a solitary life in New York City’s Little Italy. Most of his work comes from a mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello), who operates from the “Supreme Macaroni Company” retail store. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics, nurturing a houseplant that early on he describes as his “best friend”, and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly musicals.

Léon is highly motivated and efficient. He kills plenty of bodyguards (Ed Ventresca) so that a fat guy called Fatman (Frank Senger) receives a phonecall threatening him. A dumb blonde (Ouin-Ouin) walks away non-noncommittally and says she will call him later, not wanting to get involved in the matter.

On a particular day on his way home, he sees Mathilda Lando (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl with a black eye and smoking a cigarette, living with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hallway. Mathilda’s father (Michael Badalucco) attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine in his residence, after they discover that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself. A cadre of DEA agents storm the building, led by a ragged and drug-addicted Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Stansfield shoots Mathilda’s entire family with a shotgun; the whore-looking mother (Ellen Greene), the aerobic-obsessed elder sister (Elizabeth Regen) and the friendly little brother (Carl J. Matusovich)- missing Mathilda only because she is out shopping when they arrive. An elderly lady (Jessie Keosian) comes back inquiring what the rackas is about, and Stansfield shoots the glass behind her, but considers her harmless so he lets her be, just barking at her “go back inside”.

When Mathilda returns with the groceries she was sent to buy and notices the carnage, she calmly continues down the hallway past the open door of her family’s apartment, and receives sanctuary from a reluctant Léon. One of the agents () looks at Mathilda, quizzingly, as she has to insistently ring the bell on and on before Léon lets her in. Stansfield realises that there’s a little girl missing because of a family photograph he’s found. When the news reaches the door guard, he approaches Léon’s apartment, wondering whether the girl who was accepted there was the missing girl. Léon prepares himself to shoot him, watching through a hidden peephole, but at that moment, Mathilda turns on the TV with some Transformers cartoons, which convinces the guard that he saw another girl who had nothing to do with the situation.

León offers some consolation to Mathilda, making her smile when he argues than pigs smell well and are better than many people, and make-pretends that the puppet pig he’s using is talking to her. Mathilda, who soon discovers that Léon is a hitman, begs him to become her caretaker, and to teach her his skills as a “cleaner”: she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother, the only member of her family that she actually loved. In return, she offers herself as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon’s illiteracy. Mathilda says that he could have let her to die outside that door, but as he opened it, now he’s responsible for her well-being. At first, Léon refuses point blank: being a “cleaner” is not a job for girls, and then he alleges that she’s not made for that. To answer to that, Mathilda shoots some pigeons with one of the guns Léon is cleaning. Léon hesitantly accepts her offer and the two begin working together, slowly building an emotional attachment, with Léon becoming a friend and father figure.

They leave Léon’s apartment, and Léon begins to settle some rules. Mathilda carries León’s plant, accepting everything, and convinces the hotel clerk (George Martin) that she’s preparing for an audition, and that she won’t practice after 10. When the hotel clerk asks Léon to fill up the registration form, Mathilda jumps right in and says “You know how much I love registering. Can I do it, daddy?” Léon breaths, and apprecciates that Mathilda is resourceful. The hotel clerk congratulates Léon because he’s got a good daughter, but he’s got a 17-year-old who can’t do anything. León leaves his plant at reception. He checks everything in the room, the exits, the windows, while Mathilda fills up the form. As they work together, Mathilda admits to Léon several times that she is falling in love with him, in spite of him making her drink a glass of milk every day.

Tony has been keeping Léon’s money, instead of it being put into a bank. As Léon was illiterate, he didn’t want to have to deal with it. Léon asks if he could give it to somebody; Tony tells him that he’s like a bank, only that there’s no paperwork involved, but that he’s got all the accountancy in his mind, and that is security enough. Tony wants Léon to renew work, as training won’t earn him any money. Léon prevents Mathilda from flirting with a guy (Michael Mundra), a cute teenage boy a little older than herself - she replies that they were only sharing a cigarette - to which Léon answers that he wants her to quit smoking. Léon adds that she should stay away from him, as he looks like a weirdo. Léon walks to work. Mathilda tells the hotel clerk that she’s fed up of practicing her instrument and that Léon is not her father, but her lover. Mathilda walks back to her old flat. She slips past a police guard and picks up a teddy bear and a stack of bills hidden under a loose floor plank. She has to hide, because the FBI is questioning Stansfield, who is being a jackass about the people he killed in the line of duty. He shouts to the FBI guy that kids should be at school, and also shouts his office number.

Mathilda follows Stansfield by taxi to the police station. Mathilda is watching cartoon Transformers again when Léon arrives with blood dripping down an arm and a pink dress for her. The hotel clerk arrives with two men, and throws Leon and Mathilda out. In another hotel, Léon takes a shower and stitches a wound in the chest, where he’s been hurt. Mathilda wants to pay Léon to kill her brother’s killers, but Léon doesn’t want to. He tells her that life changes after the first time you kill somebody. She wants to play Russian roulette with him. She threatens him with killing herself - and at the last second he pushes the pistol away. Mathilda and Léon go talk with Tony.

As Mathilda increases her confidence and experience, she locates Stansfield, follows him to his office in the DEA building. She attempts to kill him, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a bathroom. Léon finds a note she left him declaring her intentions and rushes to the federal building. He rescues her, killing two of Stansfield’s men in the process.

Stansfield is enraged that the “Italian hitman” has gone rogue and is killing his men. He confronts Tony and threatens him, eventually beating him into surrendering Léon’s whereabouts. Later, as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon’s apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and takes one of their members hostage, rapidly bartering him for Mathilda’s freedom. As they slink back into the apartment, Léon creates a quick escape for Matilda as he reassures her and tells her that he loves her moments before they come for him.

In the chaos that follows, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer, almost unnoticed except for Stansfield. Stansfield follows Léon into the hotel lobby and shoots him from behind. Looming over the dying Léon, Stansfield jeers him haughtily. However just before he gives out, Léon places an object in Stansfield’s hands, which he explains is “from Mathilda”. Opening his hands, Stansfield recognizes it as grenade pin. He rips open Léon’s vest to discover several grenades on his chest. Stansfield lets out a brief “Oh, shit” before a massive explosion destroys the hotel lobby.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is on patrol near the Persian Gulf when radar contact is made with a MiG fighter. The Combat Air Patrol of the Enterprise is vectored to meet the incoming aircraft, and the fighters involved are F-14 Tomcat interceptors, each manned by a pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO). The pilot of the lead plane is Flight Lieutenant Peter “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), a callsign appropriate for his arrogant rule-bending attitude; his RIO is Lt. Nicholas “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards). The second F14 is piloted by Bill “Cougar” Cortell (John Stockwell) with Sam “Merlin” Wells (Tim Robbins) as the RIO. The two F14s split up and are surprised when a second MiG, shielded from radar by riding within feet of its leader, appears. Cougar is outmaneuvered by MiG One while Maverick locks his missile radar on MiG Two, who promptly disengages. MiG One stays on Cougar and is only chased off when Maverick flies upside down, closes up on the MiG, and flashes an obscene gesture to the enemy pilot. The MiG disengages and the two Tomcats fly to the Enterprise, but Cougar is so rattled he cannot land, forcing Maverick, low on fuel and against orders, to abort his own landing and talk Cougar to the deck.

Cougar sees the captain of the Enterprise, Tom “Stinger” Jordan (James Tolkan), and turns in his wings – the incident has left Cougar rattled and he feels he can’t fly combat any longer. Stinger is forced to change his intended disciplinary action against Maverick, for he must send a Tomcat tandem for additional combat training at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School in Miramar, near San Diego,CA and the Captain is plainly disgusted that Maverick is the only qualified candidate for the assignment.

Maverick, however, is quietly overjoyed as he regards the assignment as an opportunity for advancement, and upon arrival begins a rivalry with a fellow Tomcat pilot, Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), and his RIO, Ron “Slider” Kerner (Rick Rossovich). At a bar the night after their first day at the School, Maverick notices Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) a pretty young blonde in jeans, and hits on her by following her into the ladies room and serenading her. It seems not to work until the next day she appears at the School, revealing herself to be Charlie, a previously unseen DOD flight instructor that Maverick had assumed to be male. Though technically a civilian, she has mastered the flight simulator where she has beaten several actual pilots. She begins to become smitten with Maverick before the official competition begins.

In his first exercise, Maverick takes on the School’s resident “enemy” pilot, LTC Richard “Jester” Heatherly (Michael Ironside), and succeeds in outmaneuvering him and “shooting” him down, but in so doing he flies below a set minimum engagement altitude - a “hard-deck” - and then compounds this faux pas by “buzzing” (or overflying) a flight tower at absurdly low altitude just to show off. Both Maverick and Goose listen while Jester and their commanding officer, Commander Michael “Viper” Metcalf (Tom Skerritt) are chewed out by the tower’s commanding officer.

Iceman also chews out Maverick for his “unsafe” attitude, but Maverick refuses to have any of it, even after Jester summons him to his office and threatens to expel him should he continue this way. Metcalf, however, knows Maverick because Maverick’s father flew with him in Vietnam off the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) and was shot down when he engaged the enemy in “neutral” airspace.

The contest between Maverick and Iceman continues; in a later exercise Viper and Jester team up against Maverick and fellow F14 pilot Hollywood. Maverick breaks a cardinal rule by abandoning his wingman to go after Viper, and in so doing Hollywood is “shot down” and then the same fate befalls Maverick.

But the worst is yet to come, for Maverick is teamed with Iceman and Maverick, determined to win the School contest, angrily chews out Iceman for taking too long to attack an enemy craft; Maverick takes the shot, but when the two aircraft get close, the backwash from Iceman’s thrusters cripple Maverick’s engines and the F14 plunges toward the sea. Goose barely succeeds in yanking open the emergency ejection handles, but when the fighter’s canopy pops open, the two pilots eject and Goose crashes into the canopy, killing him.

It’s the last night of summer in 1962, and a number of friends are meeting at Burger City for one last hurrah. They include:

-Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), The recently-graduated Class President.

-Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss), another recent graduate and Steve’s best friend, who was awarded the local Moose Lodge’s first scholarship.

-Laurie Henderson (Cindy Williams), who is heading into her Senior Year in high school, and was the head cheerleader, as well as Steve Bolander’s girlfriend. She is also Curt’s younger sister.

-Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charles Martin Smith), a rather nerdish and socially awkward kid with glasses and a mutual friend of Steve and Curt.

-John Milner (Paul Le Mat), a young man and high school graduate in his early 20s who spends most of his days fixing cars for a living and racing a yellow deuce coupe, said by some to be the fastest car in the Valley.

At Burger City, Curt confides to Steve that he is considering not heading East for college the next day. Steve is upset by this, but Curt feels that maybe he needs to get his feelings in order. After their discussion, Steve tells Terry that he is going to give him his 1958 Chevrolet Impala until he comes back from college. As Terry only has a little Vespa scooter, the opportunity to have a hot set of wheels makes him ecstatic.

After the formalities, Steve gets into Laurie’s car, and tells her that he thinks they should see other people while he is away. Laurie tries to hide the fact that this upsets her, but becomes very quiet considering the ramifications.

Meanwhile, Curt and John talk about how it seems every girl that comes by is ugly or has a boyfriend. “Where is the dazzling beauty I’ve been waiting for all my life?” bemoans Curt. John’s conversation turns to how the strip that they cruise on keeps shrinking, remembering when a tank full of gas was needed to complete a full circuit.

It is then that the group decides to split up. John heads off cruising in his yellow deuce coupe, while Terry heads out in Steve’s car. Curt decides to accompany Steve and Laurie to the “Freshman Hop,” a sock-hop in the school gymnasium.

As Milner heads off to cruise around, he encounters a couple of his buddies also cruising down the streets, who tell him of a “very wicked ’55 Chevy looking for him,” as well as alerting him to cops watching for speeders.

Steve, Laurie and Curt have pulled up to a stop light, with a white ‘56 T-Bird next to them. As Curt looks, a blonde driving the vehicle smiles at him, and seems to mouth the words “I love you,” before taking off. Curt is taken by the vision of this ’goddess,’ and pleads with his friend and sister to follow the Thunderbird. However, his words fall on deaf ears.

Milner soon after encounters a Studebaker, full of girls. When he asks if any of them wants to ride with him, one of the girl’s sisters volunteers. However, it is only after she gets into his car does he realize what he’s gotten himself into. The girl, named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), is easily a very young girl, and John is determined to not have her along with him for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, Steve, Laurie and Curt have made it to the sock-hop. Laurie’s friend Peg (Kathleen Quinlan) confides that Laurie will be fine without Steve, but Laurie is still upset and confused about Steve’s wish to see other people. Steve meanwhile, has explained his plans to some of his own friends, who laugh that he will use the opportunity to “screw around.” Curt meanwhile, roams the halls of the school and comes across his old locker. He tries the combination, only to find that it has been changed.

After Steve and Laurie meet up after talking to their friends, Steve wishes to dance, but Laurie refuses, her anger over his decision boiling to the surface. Curt meanwhile, meets one of his teachers who is chaperoning the dance. Mr. Wolfe (Terence McGovern) and Curt then discuss the teacher’s past, how he went to a college in Middlebury, Vermont, and only stayed one semester. Wolfe contends that he wasn’t the adventuresome type, and Curt explains how he might not be as well. The teacher encourages Curt to not stay, but to go out and explore life.

Back in the yellow deuce coupe, John and Carol continue to be at odds with each other. Carol explains how she and her friends used shaving cream to coverup someone’s windshield as a gag, and shows John that she still has a can with her at that moment. They then fight over the music on the radio, with John being irritated by the Beach Boys song “Surfin’ Safari” on the radio. John’s night is further complicated when Officer Holstein (Jim Bohan) pulls him over. Holstein gives Milner a ticket, claiming one of his taillights is out, and claims that he received reports of John speeding, but is going to let him go this time, promising that one day soon, he’s going to catch him in the act. After Holstein leaves, John gives Carol the ticket to put in a pouch on the driver’s side door, which already contains plenty of tickets from “the law.”

Terry meanwhile, has pulled up to a light, next to a black ’55 Chevy. The driver is Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), who shouts over to Terry that he’s looking for John Milner, and to let John know that he’s looking to race him. After the encounter with Falfa, Terry notices a blonde walking the streets. After saying that she resembles Connie Stevens, the girl stops to talk to Terry. Terry claims he’s known as “Terry the Tiger,” and offers to let her feel the tuck-and-roll upholstery of the Impala. The girl, named Debbie (Candy Clark), gets in, and the two drive off.

Back at the sock-hop, Steve and Laurie are chosen to lead a spotlight snowball dance, and put on smiling faces for the rest of the students. As they dance together, Laurie continues to argue quietly, before beginning to cry, and telling Steve to “go to hell,” as the song “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” fills the gymnasium.

Curt meanwhile, has run into his ex-girlfriend, Wendy (Deby Celiz). With nothing else to do at the school, he asks if he can tag along with her and her friend Bobbie (Lynne Marie Stewart). Wendy agrees, much to the ire of her friend.

Back in the gymnasium, as the music picks back up, Steve and Laurie are now dancing intimately, when a teacher named Mr Kroot (Mark Anger) tells them to “break it up.” Steve gets smart and tells Kroot to ‘kiss a duck,’ as well as calls him a ‘marble-head.’ Kroot tells Steve that he is suspended, but Steve smilingly tells Kroot that he graduated last semester, and by all accounts, Kroot can’t do anything to him. As Kroot storms off, Steve and Laurie laugh at the moment. After the incident, they decide to go to The Canal to be alone, their relationship appearing to have been patched up.

Terry meanwhile, has taken Debbie to Burger City to get food. As they wait, a former ‘flame’ of Debbie’s leans into the car to talk to her. Debbie ignores all his advances, before flicking a lit match at him after making an obscene gesture at her. Debbie confides that the guy is just ‘horny,’ and that she likes Terry because he’s different. As Terry’s face develops a smile, Debbie tells Terry that she figures he’s smart enough to get them some liquor. Seeing a new way to impress Debbie, Terry heads off to a liquor store, leaving behind the order they placed.

Curt has now come to occupy the back seat of Bobbie’s VW Bug, and Wendy in the passenger seat. Seeing the white T-Bird, Curt demands they follow it, much to Bobbie’s irritation. When Wendy asks Curt who this girl in the T-Bird is, Curt says he has no idea. Bobbie meanwhile, claims that she’s the wife of a guy who owns a jewelry store. Curt doesn’t believe it, since the girl in the T-Bird is young and beautiful.

Wendy confides to Bobbie about Curt’s dream to be a Presidential Aide, and to one day shake hands with President Kennedy. Curt and Wendy then playfully bicker about telling of his future ambitions, and Curt invites her into the backseat to cuddle. Wendy then confides that she thinks Curt’s decision to stay in town is a good idea, saying that maybe they can attend the local college together. Just then, Kip Pullman (Ed Greenberg) pulls up next to their car. Bobbie tells Curt to ‘say anything’ to Kip, whom she has a crush on and would like to meet. Curt then takes her request a bit too far, and yells over to Kips that Bobbie is madly in love with him, and trembles at the sight of his rippling biceps. This causes Bobbie to pull over immediately, demanding Curt to leave her car. Curt does so, and then sees the T-Bird off a ways. He chases after it, but it soon disappears, and he is unsure where to go or what to do next.

John meanwhile, has given in to Carol’s request for a drink, and takes her to Burger City for a Coke. While there, John meets one of his hot rod buddies, and explains that he’s babysitting Carol. Carol gets upset and throws her drink at him, before storming out of the car. John lets her go for a bit, but then feels a sense of responsibility and catches up to Carol, who gets back into his coupe.

Terry meanwhile, has gotten to the liquor store, but is unsure how to get a bottle of Old Harper for Debbie. As he ponders outside the store, a wino comes up, and Terry asks him to help. The wino takes Terry’s money, but instead buys wine and exits out the back door of the store. Terry goes in, and runs off a list of things for the storekeeper to give him along with the bottle of Old Harper. However, the storekeeper still asks Terry for his ID. Terry returns to the car, now without the money, and asks Debbie for more. She is at first upset, but agrees. As Terry approaches the store again, he sees another man approaching. Terry explains his situation, and the man claims he will help Terry. However, seconds later, the man rushes out, and tosses Terry the bottle of Old Harper. The man appears to have robbed the store, and the store owner soon after emerges, firing on the man with a gun! Terry hightails it back to the Impala, and quickly gets out of there with Debbie.

Meanwhile, John has taken Carol to an old junkyard, and gives her a run down of the various vehicles that he’s known about, usually belonging to guys he’s known who have long since died in crashes or accidents. Carol claims that John told her he’s never been in an accident, but he confides that he’s come close a couple of times, and that so far, none has been able to beat him.

Curt meanwhile, has taken to sitting on the hood of a car, watching an episode of “Ozzie and Harriet” through the window of an appliance store. As he notices, several guys who are part of a gang called “The Pharoahs” accost him, claiming he’s sitting on a car that belongs to a friend of theirs. When Curt gets off, one of the members tells Curt that he appears to have left a scratch in the hood. The guys then take Curt along with them in their car, deciding on a ‘fitting punishment’. As Curt feels he is going to die, the white T-Bird passes by. Shortly thereafter. Falfa’s ’55 Chevy passes, and the leader of the Pharoahs claims that this guy aims to beat Milner, claiming John’s days are numbered.

Meanwhile, John and Carol encounter a white Cadillac, full of girls. The girls claim that John’s car deserves their special prize. When John is eager to accept it, the girls hurl a water balloon at him, which misses and hits Carol. John bursts into laughter, but Carol wants revenge, and John seems eager to have a little mischief. As both cars come to the next red light, John proceeds to flatten the other car’s tires, and Carol sprays shaving cream all over the other car’s windows, before the two jump back into John’s car and drive off.

Terry and Debbie have made it to the Canal, where Terry mixes up the Old Harper with some soda. Terry and Debbie attempt to get intimate, but there appear to be too many people walking around. Terry leaves the car door open and the music on, and he and Debbie go looking for a quiet place to be alone.

Curt and the Pharoahs pull into a miniature golf establishment, where the Pharoahs attempt to pry open the pinball machines in the main building for gas money. They are soon caught by Mr. Gordon (Scott Beach), who is a member of the Moose Lodge in town. Curt claims that the guys he is with are his friends, and Gordon takes Curt into the back to meet with another Moose Lodge member named Hank (Al Nalbandian). They both congratulate Curt on winning the Lodge’s first scholarship, before he takes leave along with the Pharoahs, who have finished cleaning out the change in the pinball machines. The leader of the Pharoahs is impressed with how Curt handled the situation, and decides that he and his friends will consider making Curt one of them.

Back at the Canal, Terry stops necking with Debbie, when he realizes the music from the car has stopped. He and Debbie then return to where the car was, only to find that it has been stolen!

Meanwhile, in another part of the Canal, Steve and Laurie are getting intimate in her car. The conversation shifts a little towards Steve’s decision of wanting to go, and how Curt does not. The talk again upsets Laurie, and she stops giving in to Steve’s advances. When he claims he wants something to remember her by, she goes limp, infuriating him more that she is just going to let him do whatever but she isn’t going to take any pleasure out of it. When Steve makes an off hand comment about Laurie watching her brother ‘doing something,’ Laurie yells at Steve “You’re disgusting!” and kicks him out of the car, before driving off.

Terry and Debbie are walking near the canal, with Debbie explaining about reports of a person in the area dubbed “The Goat Killer,” who kills and dismembers his victims. Terry is getting more and more freaked out by her talking, when a noise distracts them. At first thinking it might be the goat killer, Terry is relieved when it turns out to be Steve. When Debbie explains that their car was stolen, Terry attempts to divert the subject (not wanting Steve to know that “his” car was stolen).

Back with John and Carol, John attempts to trick Carol into telling where she lives, to try and take her home, but Carol is stubborn, claiming she isn’t going home until she “gets some action.” It is then that Bob Falfa’s car pulls alongside John, and the two trade barbs, with Bob insisting on racing John. They do a small race through several lights before John stops at a red light and Bob continues on through. Carol notes that Bob is fast, but John says that while he is fast, he also seems stupid.

Meanwhile, Steve separates from Terry and Debbie, and goes back to Burger City, while Terry and Debbie go off to report the car stolen.

Curt and the Pharoahs have meanwhile located a police car watching for speeders. The leader of the Pharoahs charges Curt with hooking a tow cable to the rear axle of the car. Curt is unsure about this, but is told that he has to do this, or the Pharoahs will still plan to make him suffer for the vehicle he scratched. Curt has some close calls, but eventually gets the cable hooked. As he rushes back to the Pharoahs, they then speed by the officers, with Curt yelling at the top of his lungs, “Stand by for justice!” The cops then take off, but the cable catches, tearing the rear axle off their car. Prepared for shock and awe, the two cops turn around, speechlessly looking at the torn off rear axle of their car. Nearby, Terry and Debbie are witnesses to the incident as well.

Carol soon finds herself confused when John takes her along a dark stretch of road, and John seems intent on having his way with her. Carol’s spitfire demeanor wavers and she insists that much of her toughness was pretend. John explains that if he knew where she lived, he could take her home, and Carol immediately tells him her address. Of course, John was hoping that his ‘trick’ would work, and they head off for Carol’s place.

At Burger City, Steve meets up with a waitress named Budda (Jana Bellan). Budda takes a moment to talk with Steve, who explains about how he and Laurie broke up. Budda takes this opportunity to tell Steve how she secretly likes him, and offers to have him come over to her place after her shift is over. As they talk, both are unaware that Laurie has returned to Burger City as well and is outside, having stopped at seeing Budda and Steve talking in a booth. Laurie assumes the worst, and quickly leaves before they see her. Back inside the restaurant, Steve declines Budda’s offer, and watches her get back to work.

Outside, The Pharaohs pull up with Curt, and eagerly applaud what he has done. The Pharaohs are eager to induct Curt the next evening into their group, but Curt does not tell them that he’ll be gone. Curt then gets into his car, and sees the white T-Bird pass by. He tries to start up his car, but it won’t turn over, and he watches once again as the mysterious blonde slips from his grasp once more.

Laurie is cruising around the strip when she encounters Bob Falfa. She parks her car and gets in with him, and they begin to cruise. Falfa attempts to talk with her, but Laurie explains she does not want to talk.

John finally gets Carol to her place, and they have an awkward goodbye, until John gives her the cover to his gearshift as a memento. Carol happily takes it and goes to her house, as John drives off, a strange look on his face.

Back at Burger City, Curt has run into Steve, and is shocked when Steve explains that he is now considering not going to college out East. Curt attempts to calm Steve, but also ends up fixing his car, and takes off, leaving Steve unsure of what to do now.

Meanwhile, Terry has had an adverse reaction to the alcohol, and has thrown up most of it. After Terry recovers, he and Debbie walk a ways off, and find Steve’s Impala parked in a lot! Terry finds the car unlocked and the keys gone. He attempts to hot-wire the car when the guys who stole it confront him, and attempt to beat him up. Debbie attempts to stop them, but they are both saved when John rolls by, comes over and scares away the two men.

Back at Burger City, another classmate of Steve’s tells him that Laurie was seen riding around with Bob Falfa. Just as Terry and Debbie pull up outside Burger City with his car, Steve rushes out and shoos Terry and Debbie out of his car, and drives off. Debbie is shocked that Steve just took Terry’s car, and Terry tells her the truth about how the car wasn’t really his, and how he just has a Vespa Scooter for transportation. Even so, Debbie smiles and tells Terry that she had a good time, and as she takes leave, tells him that she’ll probably see him around.

Curt meanwhile, has made his way to a radio station on the outskirts of town. Rumor is that Wolfman Jack, whose voice has played across the airwaves all evening, is located here. As Curt enters the station, he encounters a bearded man sitting in the control booth. Curt hands the man a piece of paper featuring a dedication and a request to the girl in the white T-Bird. The man explains that he can have the dedication sent into the Wolfman’s main station and broadcast the next day. But Curt explains that he needs the request put out tonight, as he is unsure if he is going to be leaving town or not.

The man in the control booth then explains to Curt that he really should not sell himself short, and to go out and experience life. Curt takes the words to heart, and is excited when the man tells him if he can, he’ll try to get the message relayed right away. As Curt is about to exit the studio, he hears a familiar voice. He turns, and sees the man in the control booth speaking into his microphone, in the voice of Wolfman Jack. Curt smiles at having met one of his heroes, and exits the building.

John is still at Burger City when Falfa comes up in his Chevy. John tells Falfa to meet him out at Paradise Road for their race. Terry pleads to go along, and John concedes.

The word spreads throughout the strip, and soon reaches Steve’s ears, who heads out there when word comes that Laurie is riding with Falfa.

Meanwhile, Curt has returned to Burger City, and over to a nearby phone booth. On his car radio, he hears Wolfman Jack relay his dedication to the blonde in the T-Bird, and smiles as Wolfman calls Curt a good friend. Wolfman dedicates the next song to the blonde, and gives her the number of the phone booth at Burger City, encouraging the girl to call Curt.

Meanwhile, John, Falfa, and a number of other kids have rolled out to Paradise Road. Once out there, John finally realizes that Laurie is riding with Falfa, and asks what she is doing in there. Laurie gives a nonchalant “Mind your own business, John” and stays in Falfa’s car, but Terry gets out to shine his flashlight for the race. As the vehicles take off, the race stays tight, until Falfa loses control of his car, skids off the road, rolls, and crashes, whilst John continues straight down the road.

Steve arrives just in time to see the aftermath, and rushes to the wreck, to see Falfa emerge and Laurie beating and hitting him. Steve pulls her off Falfa just as John pulls Falfa away from the car, just as it bursts into flames.

In a moment of desperation, Laurie cries and pleads for Steve not to leave, to which Steve embraces and tells Laurie that he is not going to leave her.

Terry explains to John how impressed he was with how John beat Falfa, but John confides to Terry that just before Falfa’s car swerved off the road, he was beating him. Terry explains that John was just nervous, and that he’ll never be beaten. John just backs up Terry’s hero worship, and to calm him down, says that they’ll take on all comers, as Terry yawns, muttering, “Jesus, what a night.”

Meanwhile, back at Burger City, the phone rings, and Curt answers it, ecstatic to be talking to the girl of his dreams. He inquires about her name, but she does not give it. When Curt asks to meet her, she explains that she’ll be cruising the strip again that night, but Curt wants to meet her now. She then says goodbye as Curt struggles to speak more, and the line goes dead.

Several hours later, Curt goes to the airport to get on the plane to head East, with his friends and family saying goodbye. Steve does not accompany him, and Curt boards the plane, taking off to a new adventure. As he glances out the window of the plane, he sees a white Thunderbird traveling along a stretch of road.

As the plane banks off, the audience is treated to images of John, Terry, Steve, and Curt, along with where they ended up in life:

-John Milner was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964.

-Terry Fields was reported missing in action near An Loc in December 1965.

-Steve Bolander is an insurance agent in Modesto, California.

A white background. Red drops begin to fall past the opening credits. The drops become a red sauce on a plate. A slab of meat is cut with a knife and garnished with raspberries, then placed on a table. The camera moves over various dishes, most of which are very small and look very expensive. The restaurant is furnished in pinks and greens, and everyone is well-dressed. Waiters tell customers ridiculously decadent specials like squid ravioli and swordfish meatloaf.

The setting is New York City, sometime in the 1980s. The vice-presidents of Pierce and Pierce, a Wall Street financial institution, are seated around a table. They include Timothy Bryce (Justin Theroux), Craig McDermott (Josh Lucas), David Van Paten (Bill Sage) and Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). Bryce says “This is a chick’s restaurant. Why aren’t we at Dorsia?” McDermott replies “Because Bateman won’t give the maitre d’ head.” Bateman flicks a toothpick at him. They discuss various people in the restaurant, including who Bateman believes to be Paul Allen across the room. Van Paten returns from the bathroom and says that there’s no good place to do coke in. They discuss the fact that Allen is handling the Fisher account, which leads McDermott to make racist remarks about Allen being Jewish. “Jesus, McDermott, what does that have to do with anything?” says Patrick. “I’ve seen that bastard sitting in his office spinning a fucking menorah.” Bateman rebukes him. “Not a menorah. A dreidel, you spin a dreidel.” McDermott replies “Do you want me to fry you up some potato pancakes? Some latkes?” “No, just cool it with the anti-Semitic remarks.” “Oh I forgot. Bateman’s dating someone from the ACLU!” Bryce calls Bateman the voice of reason. Looking at the check he remarks “Speaking of reasonable, only $570.” They all drop their Platinum American Express cards on top of the bill.

At a nightclub, Bryce takes some money out of a clip and gives it to a man in drag, who lets them inside. As some 80’s pop music plays from overhead, the men dance while strobe lights flash and some women on stage wave around prop guns like something out of a grind house flick. Bateman orders a drink and hands the bartender a drink ticket, but she tells him drink tickets are no good and that he has to pay in cash. He pays, and then when she’s out of earshot, he says “You’re a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, then play around with your blood.” He takes his drink with a smile.

The camera pans through Bateman’s apartment the next morning. Everything is shades of white, with black counters and shelves. It is sparsely decorated, but looks expensive. “I live in the American Gardens building on West 81st street, on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman. I’m 27 years old.” He describes his diet and exercise routine, and his meticulous daily grooming rituals, which involves no less than 9 different lotions and cleansers. “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman,” he says while peeling off his herb-mint facial mask. “Some kind of abstraction. But there is no ‘real me’. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.”

Sweeping over the skyline of downtown New York, the song Walking on Sunshine starts playing. Walking down the hallway to his office, Bateman listens to this song on his headphones with absolutely no expression on his face. Someone passes by him and says “Hey Hamilton. Nice tan.” Everyone in the hallway has expensive suits and slicked-back hair. He walks by his secretary, Jean (Chloe Sevigny), to his office door. She’s dressed in a long coat and shirt that are too big for her. “Aerobics class, sorry. Any messages?” She follows him into his corner office. She tells him someone cancelled, but she doesn’t know what he cancelled or why. “I occasionally box with him at the Harvard Club.” She tells him someone named Spencer wants to meet for drinks. He tells her to cancel it. “What should I say?” “Just say no.” He tells her to make reservations for him at a restaurant for lunch, as well as dinner reservations at Arcadia on Thursday. “Something romantic?” “No, silly. Forget it. I’ll make them. Just get me a mineral water.” She tells him he looks nice. Without looking at her, he tells her not to wear that outfit. “Wear a dress or a skirt. You’re prettier than that.” The phone starts ringing, and he tells her to tell anyone who calls that he isn’t there. “And high heels.” She leaves. He puts his feet up and starts watching Jeopardy on his office TV.

A taxicab makes its way through Chinatown. Inside, Bateman is trying to listen to the new Robert Palmer album on his headphones, but his “supposed” fiancée Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon) keeps distracting him with ideas for their wedding. He says he can’t take the time off work to get married. “Your father practically owns the company. You can do anything you like, silly. You hate that job anyway, I don’t see why you don’t just quit.” “Because… I want… to fit… IN.” The cab drives up to a restaurant called Espace. “I’m on the verge of tears as we arrive, since I’m positive we won’t have a decent table. But we do, and relief washes over me, in an awesome wave.” Bryce it already seated next to two punk-rock teens smoking cigarettes. “This is my cousin Vanden and her boyfriend Stash,” says Evelyn. Bryce kisses Evelyn on both cheeks, and then starts kissing her neck, slightly crossing the line. Bateman looks at his blurry reflection in a metal menu. As they eat sushi, he remarks “I’m fairly certain that Timothy Bryce and Evelyn are having an affair. Timothy is the only interesting person I know.” Bateman doesn’t care because he’s also having an affair with Courtney Rawlinson, her best friend. “She’s usually operating on one or more psychiatric drugs, tonight I believe it’s Xanax.” She’s also engaged to Luis Carruthers, “the biggest doofus in the business.” Courtney and Luis are seated beside him, and Courtney, slurring her words, asks Stash whether he thinks Soho is becoming too commercial. “Yes. I read that,” says Luis. “Oh who gives a rat’s ass,” says Bryce. “That affects us,” says Vanden. “What about the massacres in Sri Lanka, honey? Don’t you know that the Sikhs are killing like, tons of Israelis over there?” Bateman tells him there are more important problems to worry about than Sri Lanka. He tells them they include Apartheid, nuclear arms, terrorism, and world hunger. “We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal right for women. We have to encourage a return to traditional moral values. Most importantly, we have to promote general social concern, and less materialism in young people.” Bryce almost chokes on his drink as he starts laughing. “Patrick, how thought-provoking,” Luis says, feigning tears. Patrick takes a swig of his whiskey.

It’s nighttime. Patrick takes some money out of an ATM. A woman walks by and he starts following her. They stop at a crosswalk and he says “hello”. She hesitantly says hello back. The sign changes to walk and they cross the street.

The next day, Bateman argues with an old Chinese woman who runs a dry cleaners. Another Chinese man is looking at some bed sheets with a huge red stain on them. Bateman is trying to tell her that you can’t bleach that type of sheet, and that they are very expensive. She continues to babble in a language he can’t understand. “Lady, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth, I will kill you.” She is shocked, but still won’t speak English. “I can’t understand you! You’re a fool! Stupid bitch-ee!” A woman comes in the door and recognizes him. Her name is Victoria. He says hi to her. “It’s so silly to come all the way up here,” she says, “but they really are the best.” “Then why can’t they get these stains out?” he says, showing her the sheets. “Can you get through to them? I’m getting nowhere.” “What are those?” she says, looking wide-eyed at the stains. “Uh, well it’s cranberry juice. Cran-apple.” She looks skeptical. He tells her he has a lunch date in 15 minutes, and she tries to make plans with him. He tells her he’s booked solid. “What about Saturday?” “Next Saturday? Can’t. Matinee of Les Mis.” He promises to call her, and then leaves.

Patrick paces his apartment in his underwear, on the phone with Courtney Rawlinson (Samantha Mathis). A porno movie is playing on his TV. “You’re dating Luis, he’s in Arizona. You’re fucking me and we haven’t made plans. What could you possibly be up to tonight?” She says she’s waiting for Luis to call. “Pumpkin you’re dating an asshole. Pumpkin you’re dating the biggest dickweed in New York. Pumpkin you’re dating a tumbling, tumbling dickweed.” She tells him to stop calling her pumpkin. He insists that they have dinner, and when she says no, he says he can get them a table at Dorsia. This perks her interest. He tells her to wear something nice. He calls the restaurant, and asks if he can make a reservation for two at 8:00 or 8:30. There is a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the man on the other end starts laughing uncontrollably. Patrick hangs up.

In a limo, Patrick listens to Courtney describe her day, while she is almost passing out from her medication. “Is that Donald Trump’s car?” he asks, looking out the window. Patrick’s face is blurred through the plastic divider of the limo. She tells him to shut up. He tells her to take some more lithium, or coke or caffeine to get her out of her slump. “I just want a child,” she says, absently looking out the window. “Just two… perfect… children.”

At the restaurant, she nearly falls asleep at the table and Patrick touches her shoulder and wakes her up. “Are we here?” she asks sleepily. “Yeah,” he says, sitting down. “This is Dorsia?” “Yes dear,” he says, opening the menu which clearly says Barcadia across it. He tells her she’s going to have the peanut butter soup with smoked duck and mashed squash. “New York Matinee called it a ’playful but mysterious little dish. You’ll love it.” He orders her the red snapper with violets and pine nuts to follow. She thanks him, and then passes out in her chair.

A conference table at P&P the next day. Luis thanks Patrick for looking after Courtney. “Dorsia, how impressive. How on Earth did you get a reservation there?” “Lucky I guess,” replies Patrick. Luis compliments him on his suit. “Valentino Couture?” “Uh-huh.” Luis tries to touch it, but Patrick slaps his hand away. “Your compliment was sufficient Luis.” Paul Allen comes up to them. “Hello Halberstram. Nice tie. How the hell are ya?” Narrating, Patrick explains that Allen has mistaken him for “this dickhead Marcus Halberstram.” They both work at P&P and do the same exact work, and wear the same glasses and suits. “Marcus and I even go to the same barber. Although I have a slightly better haircut.” Allen and Patrick discuss accounts. He asks him about Cecilia, Marcus’ girlfriend. “She’s great, I’m very lucky,” replies Patrick. Bryce and McDermott come in, congratulating Allen on the Fisher account. “Thank you, Baxter.” Bryce asks him if he wants to play squash. Allen gives him his card out of his case. An audible tremor goes through the room. “Call me.” “How about Friday?” says Bryce. “No can do. I got an 8:30 rez at Dorsia. Great sea urchin seviche.” He leaves. Bryce wonders how he managed to swing that. McDermott thinks he’s lying. Bateman takes out his new business card, which reads “Patrick BATEMAN - Vice President”. “What do you think?” “Very nice,” says McDermott. “I picked them up from the printers yesterday.” “Nice coloring,” says Bryce. “That’s ‘bone’. And the lettering is something called ‘silian rail’.” “Cool Bateman. But that’s nothing,” says Van Paten, laying his card down next to Patrick’s. “That is really nice,” says Bryce. “Eggshell with romalian type. What do you think?” Van Paten asks Patrick. “Nice,” Patrick says, visibly jealous. “How did a nitwit like you get so tasteful?” says Bryce. Biting his nails, Patrick can’t believe Bryce prefers Van Paten’s card. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” says Bryce, taking out his own card. “Raised lettering, pale nimbus, white.” Another tremor goes through the room. Holding back his rage, Bateman tells him it’s very nice. “Let’s see Paul Allen’s card.” Bryce takes it out of his pocket and hands it to Bateman. It shines with an ethereal glow in the dim light of the conference room, even though it is basically identical to the rest of their cards. Narrating, Patrick says “Look at the subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God. It even has a watermark!” He drops the card on the table. “Something wrong?” asks Luis. “Patrick? You’re sweating.”

Nighttime. Patrick walks by a courthouse on his way home. Steam rises from underground vents. He walks through an alley, a black shadow under a pale streetlight. He stops and looks behind him, to see a homeless man by some piles of trash. “Hello. Pat Bateman. Do you want some money? Some food?” He starts taking out some money. “I’m hungry,” says the bum. “It’s cold out too isn’t it? If you’re so hungry, why don’t you get a job?” The bum says he lost his job. “Why? Were you drinking? Insider trading? Just joking.” He asks him his name, and the bum says his name is Al. “Get a god-damn job, Al! You have a negative attitude. That’s what’s stopping you.” He promises to help him get his act together. Al tells him he’s a kind man. He puts his hand on Patrick’s arm, and Patrick pulls it off, visibly disgusted. “You know how bad you smell? You reek of shit. You know that?” He laughs, and then apologizes. “I don’t have anything in common with you.” He bends down and opens his briefcase. “Oh thank you mister, thank you. It’s cold out here…” “You know what a fucking loser you are?” Patrick suddenly takes a knife out of the briefcase and stabs the bum three times in the stomach, than pushes the shocked man to the ground. The dog barks at Patrick, so he stomps it with his foot, hard enough to kill it. He picks up his briefcase and walks away down the alley.

A health spa. A young Asian woman rubs some lotion on Patrick’s face. She compliments him on his smooth skin. Later, another Asian woman gives him a manicure. “I have all the characteristics of a human being. Flesh. Blood. Skin. Hair. But not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed, and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside me, and I don’t know why.” He is lying in a tanning bed now. “My nightly bloodlust has overflowed into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.”

A Christmas party. A short man in an elf costume hands out glasses of champagne. ‘Deck The Halls’ is playing in the background. Patrick takes one, scowling at the bizarre costumes. Someone comes up to him and calls him by the wrong name. “Hey Hamilton. Have a holly-jolly Christmas,” says Patrick. “Is Allen still handling the Fisher account?” He points to Paul Allen across the room. “Of course. Who else?” Evelyn comes up to them. “Mistletoe alert! Merry X-mas Patrick. You’re late honey.” “I’ve been here the entire time, you just didn’t see me.” A man behind him puts cloth antlers on Patrick’s head without him noticing. “Say hello to Snowball. Snowball says ‘hello Patrick’”, she says in a childish voice. “What is it?” Patrick looks with disgust at the creature in her arms. “It’s a little baby piggy-wiggy, isn’t it? It’s a Vietnamese potbellied pig. They make darling pets. Don’t you? Don’t you?” Patrick looks ready to vomit as she pets the animal. “Stop scowling Patrick. You’re such a Grinch. What does Mr. Grinch want for Christmas? And don’t say breast implants again.” Ignoring her, he goes to mingle with the rest of the party. ‘Joy to the World’ is playing. He says hi to Paul Allen. “Hey Marcus. Merry Christmas, how’ve you been. Workaholic I suppose?” He calls to Hamilton that they are going to Nell’s bar, and that the limo is out front. Patrick says that they should have dinner. Paul suggests that he bring Cecilia. “Cecilia would adore it.” “Then let’s do it, Marcus.” Evelyn comes up to them. Paul compliments her on the party, and then walks away. “Why is he calling you Marcus?” asks Evelyn. Ignoring this, Patrick says “Mistletoe alert!”, and kisses her while waving a leafy branch.

A restaurant. Most of the tables are empty. Patrick takes his reservation under the name Marcus Halberstram. He is led to a table where Paul is already seated, and he is arguing with a waiter. “I ordered the cilantro crawfish gumbo, which is of course the only excuse one could have for being at this restaurant, which is, by the way, almost completely empty.” Patrick ignores this and orders a J&B straight and a Corona. The waiter, who looks slightly effeminate and has a red bandana around his neck, starts to list the specials, but Paul cuts him off and orders a double Absolut martini. “Yes sir. Would you like to hear the specials?” “Not if you want to keep your spleen,” says Patrick. The waiter leaves. “This is a real beehive of activity Halberstram. This place is hot, very hot,” Paul comments sarcastically. “The mud soup and charcoal arugula are outrageous here,” replies Patrick. Paul derides him for being late. “I’m a child of divorce, give me a break. I see they’ve omitted the pork loin with lime Jell-o.” Paul says he could have gotten them a table at Dorsia instead. “Nobody goes there anymore. Is that Ivana Trump?” Patrick says, looking behind him. “Oh geez Patrick. I mean Marcus. What are you thinking? Why would Ivana be at Texarkana?” He asks how Paul ended up getting the Fisher account. “Well I could tell you that Halberstram… but then I’d have to kill ya!” He laughs. Patrick simply stares at him with a vicious smile.

They pick at their meals. Patrick says “I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane?” Paul doesn’t seem to hear him. He compliments him on his tan. When Patrick says he goes to a salon, Paul says he has a tanning bed at home. “You should look into it.” Patrick can barely suppress his rage. Paul asks about Cecilia. “I think she’s having dinner with Evelyn Williams.” “Evelyn! Great ass. She goes out with that loser Patrick Bateman, what a dork!” Patrick chuckles with inner contempt. “Another martini Paul?”

Patrick’s apartment. Paul lounges drunk on a chair with a bottle of liquor on the floor beside him. Newspapers are taped to the floor of the living room. Patrick picks up a CD. “Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?” “They’re OK,” says Paul. Patrick continues “Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when ‘Sports’ came out in ‘83, I think they really came into their own. Commercially and artistically.” He goes to the bathroom and puts on a raincoat. “The whole album has a clear crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism, that really gives the songs a big boost!” He takes a valium, washes it down, looks at himself in the mirror, and walks back into the living room. On his way back he grabs an axe. Moonwalking backwards, he says that Huey has been compared to Elvis Costello, but that Huey has a more cynical sense of humor. He puts the axe down and starts buttoning up the raincoat behind Paul. “Hey Halberstram,” says Paul. “Why are there copies of the Style section all over the floor? Do you have a dog? A little chow or something?” He laughs. “No Allen.” “Is that a raincoat?” “Yes it is!” He goes over to the CD player and presses a button. The song ’Hip to Be Square’ starts playing.”In ‘87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is ’Hip to Be Square’.” He dances over to the kitchen where he left the axe. “The song is so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics, but they should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends, it’s also a personal statement about the band itself! Hey Paul!” Paul looks around too late to see Patrick charge at him with the axe. Screaming, he swings it into Paul’s head splattering blood all over his own face. Paul falls to the floor, pouring blood all over the newspapers. Patrick yells “Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now you fucking stupid bastard!” He swings it down again, and again, screaming, decapitating him. “You… fucking… bastard!” He finally drops the axe and begins composing himself. He takes off the raincoat. He fixes his hair and lights up a cigar. ‘Hip to Be Square’ continues to play from the stereo.

Patrick drags the body through the lobby of his building in a black bag. A trail of blood pours from the bottom of the bag. The doorman looks up at him, and then goes back to writing something. Patrick hails a cab outside, and starts stuffing the bag into the trunk. A voice says his name from the sidewalk. It’s Luis. “Patrick. Is that you?” “No Luis. It’s not me. You’re mistaken.” He introduces Patrick to an attractive Asian woman. “We’re going to Nell’s. Gwendolyn’s father is buying it. Ooh. Where did you get that overnight bag?” He eyes the bag with the corpse inside it. “Jean-Paul Gaultier.” Patrick slams the trunk and heads off.

Later, he arrives at Paul’s apartment. “I almost panic when I realize that Paul’s place overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine.” He finds his suitcases and starts to pack. “It’s time for Paul to take a little trip.” He throws some clothes in a suitcase, and then goes to the answering machine. In his best imitation of Paul’s voice, he records “It’s Paul. I’ve been called away to London for a few days. Meredith, I’ll call you when I get back. Hasta la vista, baby.” He takes the suitcase and leaves.

In his office the next day, Patrick listens to the song ‘The Lady in Red’ by Chris De Burgh on his headphones. Jean comes in and tells him that there’s someone named Donald Kimball there to see him. “Who?” “Detective Donald Kimball.” He looks through the office window. “Tell him I’m at lunch.” “Patrick, it’s only 10:30. I think he knows you’re here.” “Send him in, I guess,” he says resignedly. Jean goes to get him. Patrick picks up the phone and starts having a pretend conversation with someone, giving him advice on clothes and salons. “Always tip the stylist fifteen percent. Listen John I’ve gotta go. T. Boone Pickens just walked in. Heh, just joking. No, don’t tip the owner of the salon. Right. Got it.” He hangs up and apologizes to Kimball. “No I’m sorry, I should have made an appointment. Was that anything important?” Patrick gives a vague synopsis of the call. “Mulling over business problems, examining opportunities, exchanging rumors, spreading gossip.” They introduce themselves to each other and shake hands. Kimball apologizes again for barging in. Patrick stuffs some magazines and his walkman into a desk drawer. “So, what’s the topic of discussion?” Kimball explains that Meredith hired him to investigate the disappearance of Paul Allen. “I just have some basic questions.” Patrick offers him coffee, which he turns down. He offers him a bottle of water, which he also turns down. Bateman presses the intercom button anyways and tells Jean to bring some water. “It’s no problem.” He asks what the topic of discussion is again, and Kimball repeats he’s investigating the disappearance of Paul Allen. Jean comes in with a bottle, and Patrick quickly puts a coaster down before she can put it on the desk. He tells Kimball he hasn’t heard anything. “I think his family wants this kept quiet.” “Understandable. Lime?” offers Bateman. Kimball insists he’s ok. He asks Patrick his age, where he went to school, and his address, the American Gardens building, which Kimball says is very nice. “Thanks,” Patrick says smugly. Kimball asks what he knew about Paul Allen. “I’m at a loss. He was part of that whole Yale thing.” Kimball asks him what he means. “Well I think for one that he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot of cocaine. That Yale thing.” Kimball asks what kind of person Paul was. “I hope I’m not being cross-examined here.” “You feel like that?” “No. Not really.” Kimball asks where Paul hung out. Patrick names some places including a yacht club. “He had a yacht?” “No, he just hung out there.” “And where did he go to school?” “Don’t you know this?” “I just wanted to know if you know.” Patrick tells him St. Paul’s, then says he just wants to help. “I understand.” Patrick asks if he has any witnesses or fingerprints. Kimball tells him about the message on the answering machine, and that Meredith doesn’t think he went to London. “Has anyone seen him in London?” “Actually, yes. But I’m having a hard time getting actual verification.” He tells him that someone thought they saw Paul there but mistook someone else for him. Patrick asks whether the apartment had been burglarized. Kimball tells him about the missing luggage. Patrick asks whether the police had become involved yet, but Kimball says no. “Basically, no-one’s seen or heard anything. It’s just strange. One day someone’s walking around, going to work, alive, and then…” “Nothing.” “People just disappear,” says Kimball with a sigh. Bateman says “The earth just… opens up and swallows them.” “Eerie. Really eerie.” Bateman excuses himself by telling Kimball he has a lunch appointment with Cliff Huxtable at the Four Seasons in 20 minutes. “The Four Seasons? Isn’t that a little far up town? I mean, aren’t you going to be late?” “No, there’s one down here.” Patrick promises to call him if he hears anything, and shows him the door.

Patrick does stomach crunches while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and then does some jump-rope.

Nighttime. A seedy part of town. A blonde woman in a blue coat, a hooker, stands in front of a warehouse on a street corner. She has a face that says she’s been hooker for too long. A limousine drives up. Patrick rolls the window down as the car stops in front of her. “I haven’t seen you around here,” he tells her. “Well you just haven’t been looking.” “Would you like to see my apartment?” She is reluctant. He holds out some money and asks again. “I’m not supposed to, but I can make an exception,” she says, taking the money. “Do you take a credit card? Just joking.” He opens the door and invites her in. The car drives away.

Patrick makes a phone call on a large cordless phone. “I’d like a girl, early 20’s, blonde, who does couples. And I really can’t stress blonde enough. Blonde.” He hangs up. He tells her his name is Paul Allen, and that he’s going to call her Christie. “You’ll respond only to Christie, is that clear?” She nods.

Patrick’s apartment. Patrick pours some mineral water into a bathtub, where Christie is bathing and drinking champagne. “That’s a very fine chardonnay you’re drinking.” The song ‘If You Don’t Know Me by Now’ is playing in the background. Patrick is dressed in a suit and bow tie. “I want you to clean your vagina,” he tells her. She puts down the champagne and picks up a bath sponge. “From behind. Get on your knees.” He tells her she has a nice body, playfully splashing her with water. The phone rings. It’s the second girl in the lobby downstairs. He tells the doorman to send her up. He tells Christie to dry off and choose a robe, then come to the living room.

He opens the door for the second girl, and takes her coat. “I’m Paul. Not quite blonde, are you? More like dirty blonde. I’m going to call you Sabrina. I’m Paul Allen.” He asks both girls if they want to know what he does for a living. They both say no, lewdly. “Well, I work on Wall Street. At Pierce and Pierce. Have you heard of it?” Sabrina shakes her head, and Patrick clenches his jaw. “You have a really nice place here Paul,” says Christie. “How much did you pay for it?” “Well actually Christie, that’s none of your business. But I can assure you, it certainly wasn’t cheap.” Sabrina starts to take out a cigarette. “No! No smoking in here.” He offers them chocolate truffles. “I don’t want to get you drunk, but uh, that’s a very fine chardonnay you’re not drinking.” He goes over to the stereo and puts on a Phil Collins CD. “I’ve been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, ‘Duke’. Before that, I really didn’t understand any of their work. It was too artsy. Too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collin’s presence became more apparent.” He goes and stands in the doorway of the bedroom, invitingly. “I think Invisible Touch is the group’s undisputed masterpiece.” The girls follow him into the bedroom. “It’s an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums.” He tells Christie to take off the robe, which she does. “Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of each instrument,” he says, setting up a video camera on a tripod. He tells Sabrina to remove her dress. “In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, and sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don’t you dance a little? Take the lyrics to ‘Land of Confusion’. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the abuse of political authority. ‘In Too Deep’ is the most moving pop song of the 1980s,” he continues, wrapping a scarf around Christie’s neck while Sabrina dances in her lingerie. “About monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I’ve heard in rock.” He turns the camera on and points it towards the bed. “Christie, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collin’s solo career seems to be more commercial, and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way. Especially songs like ‘In the Air Tonight’ and ‘Against All Odds’. Sabrina, don’t just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works better within the confines of the group than as a solo artist. And I stress the word ‘artist’.” He goes to the stereo and switches CDs. “This is ‘Sussudio’, a great, great song. A personal favorite.” He walks back to the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt.

He has sex with both women at once. He flexes his muscles and admires himself in the mirror while doing them doggy-style. He makes them look into the camera. They do oral sex, then missionary. Patrick flexes his muscles in the mirror again. Christie rolls her eyes. They do more doggy-style.

Patrick sleeps with a woman on either side of him. He awakens some time later. Christie’s arm touches his. “Don’t touch the watch.” He gets up and goes over to the dresser. The women get up and start to dress. He opens a drawer to reveal a collection of scissors, carving tools and other sharp objects. He takes out a coat hanger. “Can we go now?” asks Christie. “We’re not through yet.”

Some time later, he pays them and shows them the door. They take the money quickly and appear to be in tears. Sabrina’s nose is bleeding. They leave and he closes the door behind them.

McDermott, Van Paten and Bateman are seated in a bar lounge with drinks in front of them, discussing women. “If they have a good personality and they are not great looking, who fucking cares?” says McDermott. “Well let’s just say hypothetically, what if they have a good personality?” replies Bateman. There is a moment of silence, and then all three men burst out laughing. “There are no girls with good personalities!” they say in unison, high-fiving each other. Van Paten says “A good personality consists of a chick with a little hard body who will satisfy all sexual demands without being too slutty about things, and who will essentially keep her dumb fucking mouth shut.” McDermott continues: “The only girls with good personalities who are smart or maybe funny or halfway intelligent or talented, though god knows what the fuck that means, are ugly chicks.” Van Paten agrees. “And this is because they have to make up for how fucking unattractive they are.” Bateman asks them if they know what Ed Gein said about women. Van Paten: “Ed Gein? Maitre d’ at Canal Bar?” “No. Serial killer. Wisconsin. The 50’s.” “What did Ed say?” “He said ‘When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right.’” McDermott: “And what did the other part of him think?” “What her head would look like on a stick!” Bateman laughs heartily, but Van Paten and McDermott just look at each other nervously. Luis comes up to their table and says hello. He takes out his new business card and asks their opinion on it. It is a nice looking card with gold lettering. Van Paten says it looks nice. McDermott is uninterested. Bateman swallows as a dramatic crescendo of music starts. Luis leaves and walks up the stairs. Bateman watches him go and Luis gives him look back over his shoulder. Van Paten asks about dinner. “Is that all you ever have to contribute?” snaps Bateman. “Fucking dinner?” McDermott tells him to cheer up. “What’s the matter? No shiatsu this morning?” Bateman pushes his hand away as he tries to touch his shoulder. “Do that again and you’ll draw back a stub.” McDermott tells him “Hang on there little buddy,” but Bateman stands up and goes up the stairs behind Luis.

Putting on his leather gloves, he enters a bathroom with nice wallpaper and gold mirrors. He slowly walks up behind Luis who is using a urinal. Hands shaking, he slowly puts his fingers around Luis’ neck. Luis turns around, looks at Patrick’s hands, takes off one of his gloves, and plants a kiss on the back of his hand. “God. Patrick, why here?” Patrick is too shocked to say anything and he can’t bring himself to kill Luis. “I’ve seen you looking at me. I’ve noticed your… hot body,” Luis says, rubbing a finger over Patrick’s mouth. “Don’t be shy. You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted this, ever since that Christmas party at Arizona 206. You know the one where you were wearing that red striped paisley Armani tie…” Patrick walks over to the sink in a daze and starts washing his hands, with his gloves still on. He looks like he’s about to cry. Luis walks up behind him. “I want you. I want you too!” Patrick starts walking towards the door. “Patrick?” “WHAT IS IT?” he yells. “Where are you going?” “I’ve got to return some videotapes.”

He rushes down the stairs. He runs into a man holding a tray of glasses. Looking up the stairs, he sees Luis make a ‘call me’ gesture with his hand. He leaves without saying a word to McDermott or Van Paten.

Patrick walks down the hall to his office. He stops. Kimball is leaning over Jean’s desk, talking to her about any reservations Paul Allen might have made. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you, come into my office,” Patrick says, shaking his hand. “Jean. Great jacket. Matsuda?”

Inside his office. “Do you remember where you were the night of Paul’s disappearance?” asks Kimball. “Which was on the 20th of December.” “God. I guess I was probably returning videotapes.” He looks at his datebook. “I had a date with a girl named Veronica.” “That’s not what I’ve got,” says Kimball. “What?” “That’s not the information I’ve received.” “What information have you received? I could be wrong.” “When was the last time you were with Paul Allen?” “We’d gone to a new musical called ‘Oh Africa, Brave Africa’. It was laugh riot. That was about it. I think we had dinner. I hope I’ve been informative. Long day. I’m a bit scattered.” “I’m a bit scattered too. How about lunch in a week or so, when I’ve sorted out all of this information?” Patrick says okay. Kimball asks him to sort out exactly where he was on the night of the disappearance. “Absolutely. I’m with you on that one.” Kimball takes a CD out of his briefcase. “Huey Lewis and the News! Great stuff! I just bought it on my way over here! Have you heard it?” Patrick is stunned, and terrified of possibly becoming friends with this man. “Never. I mean I don’t really like singers.” “Not a big music fan, huh?” “No I like music, just they’re… Huey’s too black sounding for me.” “To each his own.” Kimball closes his briefcase. “So, lunch next week?” “I’ll be there.”

Patrick and Courtney are having sex. Patrick orgasms, then rolls off her. He pulls a stuffed black cat from underneath himself, putting it on Courtney’s lap. He gets off the bed and starts getting dressed in front of a mirror. “Will you call me before Easter?” she asks. “Maybe.” “What are you doing tonight?” “Dinner at uh, River Cafe.” “That’s nice,” she says, lighting a cigarette. “I never knew you smoked.” “You never noticed. Listen, Patrick, can we talk?” “You look… marvelous. There’s nothing to say,” he says, shutting her out. “You’re going to marry Luis.” “Isn’t that special… Patrick? If I don’t see you before Easter, have a nice one okay?” she asks, with a hint of depression in her voice. “You too.” He starts to leave. “Patrick?” “Yeah?” “Nothing…” He leaves.

A club. Androgynous men and women pack the dance floor. The song ‘Pump up the Volume’ is playing. Bryce is telling Bateman about STDs while in line to use private stalls for drugs. “There’s this theory now that if you can catch the AIDS virus by having sex with someone who is infected, you can catch anything. Alzheimer’s, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, leukemia, diabetes, dyslexia!” “I’m not sure but I don’t think dyslexia is a disease,” says Bateman. “But who knows? They don’t know that. Prove it.” Bryce snorts some white powder. “Oh God. It’s a fucking milligram of sweetener.” Patrick sniffs some. “I want to get high off this, not sprinkle it on my fucking oatmeal.” “It’s definitely weak, but I have a feeling if we do enough of it we’ll be okay,” says Bateman. Someone leans over the divider. “Could you keep it down? I’m trying to do drugs!” “Fuck you!” says Bryce. Bateman tells him to calm down. “We’ll do it anyway.” “That is if the faggot in the next STALL thinks it’s okay!” “Fuck you!” says the man. “Fuck YOU!” says Bryce. “Sorry dude. Steroids. Okay let’s do it.”

A club balcony. The song ‘What’s On Your Mind’ is playing. Three blonde women are seated across from Patrick. One of them asks where Craig went. Bryce tells them Gorbachev is downstairs and McDermott went to sign a peace treaty. “He’s the one behind Glasnost.” Bryce makes a ‘he went to get cocaine’ gesture to Bateman by tapping his nose. “I thought he was in mergers and acquisitions,” she says. “You’re not confused are you?” asks Bryce. “No, not really.” Another woman says “Gorbachev is NOT downstairs.” “Karen’s right, Gorbachev is not down stairs. He’s at Tunnel.” Bateman tells one of the girls to ask him a question. “So what do you do?” “I’m into uh, well murders and executions mostly.” “Do you like it?” “Well that depends, why?” “Well most guys I know, who work in mergers and acquisitions, really don’t like it.” He asks her where she works out.

On the street, Patrick and the girl are talking. “You think I’m dumb don’t you. You think all models are dumb.” “No. I really don’t.” “That’s okay. I don’t mind. There’s something sweet about you.” They both get in the back of a cab. Somewhere a car alarm is going off.

Patrick is lounging on the sofa in his office. He has sunglasses on. Between his fingers is a lock of blonde hair. Jean knocks on his door, and he quickly stuffs the hair into his shirt pocket. He picks up a paper and starts twirling a pen. She enters slowly, wearing a baggy brown coat and beige shirt. “Doin’ the crossword?” she asks. Every line of the crossword is filled in with either ‘meat’ or ‘bones’. She asks him if he needs any help, but he ignores her. She puts something on his desk. As she walks back to the door, he says “Jean, would you like to accompany me to dinner? That is, if you’re not doing anything.” She says she doesn’t have any plans. He sits up and crosses his legs. “Well! Isn’t this a coincidence. Listen, where should we go?” She says she doesn’t care where. “How about anywhere you want?” he tells her. “I don’t know Patrick, I can’t make this decision.” “Come on!” he says, chuckling and pointing his pen at her. “Where do you want to go? Anywhere you want, just say it, I can get us in anywhere.” She thinks for a minute. “How about…” Patrick flips through his Zagat booklet. “Dorsia?” Patrick looks up. “So. Dorsia is where Jean wants to go.” “I don’t know, we’ll go wherever you want to go.” “Dorsia is fine.” He picks up a phone and dials the restaurant. “Dorsia, yes?” says the man on the other end. Can you take two tonight at, oh, say nine o’clock?” “We’re totally booked.” “Really? That’s great.” “No I said we are totally booked!” “Two at nine? Perfect! See you then!” He hangs up. Jean gives him a quizzical look. “Yeah?” he asks, taking off his sunglasses. “You’re… dressed okay.” “You didn’t give a name.” “They know me,” he lies. “Why don’t you meet me at my place at 7:00 for drinks?” She smiles and starts to leave. “And Jean? You might want to change before we go out.”

Jean looks out the window of Patrick’s place. A telescope is pointed out the window. She’s dressed in a pretty green strapless dress. “Patrick it’s so elegant. What a wonderful view.” Patrick gets some frozen sorbet out of the fridge. Next to the sorbet is a severed head wrapped in plastic. “Jean, sorbet?” “Thanks Patrick. I’d love some.” He gives it to her. “Do you want a bite?” “I’m on a diet, but thank you,” he says. “No need to lose any weight. You’re kidding right? You look great,” she tells him. “Very fit.” “You can always be thinner… look better.” “Well, maybe we shouldn’t go out to dinner. I don’t want to ruin your willpower.” “That’s alright. I’m not very good at controlling it anyway.” He goes over to a kitchen drawer and starts running his finger over some steak knives. “So, what do you want to do with your life? Just briefly summarize. And don’t tell me you enjoy working with children.” She tells him she’d like to travel and maybe go back to school. “I don’t really know. I’m at a point in my life where there seems to be so many possibilities.” Patrick runs his hand across some stainless steel meat cleavers on a triangular base. “I’m just so unsure.” He asks her if she has a boyfriend. “No, not really.” “Interesting.” “Are you seeing anyone? I mean, seriously?” she asks. “Maybe. I don’t know. Not really,” he says with a smile. “Jean, do you feel, fulfilled? I mean, in your life?” “I guess I do. For a long time I was too focused on my work. But now I’ve really begun to think about changing myself, developing and growing.” Patrick reaches into a closet and takes out some silver duct tape. “Growing. I’m glad you said that. Did you know that Ted Bundy’s first dog, a collie, was named Lassie?” he laughs. “Who’s Ted Bundy?” “Forget it.” “What’s that?” “Duct tape. I need it for… taping something.” “Patrick, have you ever wanted to make someone happy?” She starts to put her spoon down on his coffee table. “No! Put it in the carton!” “Sorry.” He takes something else out of the closet and walks behind her. She repeats her question. “I’m looking for uh…” He holds up a nail gun and points it at the back of her unsuspecting head. “I guess you could say I just want to have a meaningful relationship with someone special.” His finger moves toward the trigger. The phone rings, and the answering machine picks it up. It’s Evelyn. “Patrick… Patrick! I know you’re there. Pick up the phone you bad boy. What are you up to tonight?” He puts the nailgun down behind the couch. “It’s me. Don’t try to hide. I hope you’re not out there with some number you picked up because you’re MY Mr. Bateman. My boy next door.” Jean sips some wine, looking at Patrick as she listens. “Anyway you never called me and you said you would, and I’ll leave a message for Jean about this tomorrow to remind you, but we’re having dinner with Melania and Taylor, you know Melania she went to Sweetbriar. And we’re meeting at the Cornell club. So I’ll see you tomorrow morning honey!” Patrick winces. “Sorry I know you hate that. Bye Patrick. Bye Mr. Big Time CEO. Bye bye.” She hangs up. Jean says “Was that Evelyn? Are you still seeing her?” He doesn’t answer. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask that. Do you want me to go?” “Yeah,” he finally says. “I don’t think I can control myself.” “I know I should go. I know I have a tendency to get involved with unavailable men.” She asks him if he wants her to go. “I think if you stay, something bad will happen. I think I might hurt you. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?” “No, I guess not. I don’t want to get bruised.” She gets up and starts leaving. On her way out, she reminds him that he has a dinner date with Kimball the next day. “Thanks. It slipped my mind completely.”

A crowded restaurant. Bateman and Kimball sit across from each other, eating some beef dishes. “So. The night he disappeared. Any thoughts about what you did?” asks Kimball. “I’m not sure. Uh, I had a shower, and some sorbet?” “I think you’re getting your dates mixed up.” “Well, where do you place Paul that night?” He tells Patrick that according to his datebook, Paul had dinner with Marcus Halberstram, thought Marcus denied it. “Does Marcus have an alibi?” “Yes. I’ve checked it out, it’s clean. Now, where were you?” “Well, where was Marcus?” “He wasn’t with Paul Allen. He was at Atlantis with Craig McDermott, Fredrick Dibble, Harry Newman, George Butner, and… you.” Patrick looks up. “Oh right, yeah, of course.” Kimball makes a ‘slipped your mind’ gesture. “We had wanted Paul Allen to come, but he had made plans. And I guess I had dinner with Victoria the following night.” Kimball says “Personally, I think the guy just went a little nutso, split town for a while, maybe he did go to London. Sightseeing, drinking, whatever. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he’ll turn up sooner or later. I mean, to think that one of his friends killed him for no reason whatsoever would be too ridiculous. Isn’t that right Patrick?” he says with an eerie smile. Patrick smiles back faintly.

Patrick takes a limo to the part of town where he met Christie. She’s standing on the same corner. He rolls down the window and calls out to her. “I’m not so sure about this,” she tells him. “I had to go to emergency last time.” He promises that this won’t be anything like last time. She says no. “Just come in the limo and talk to me for a minute. The driver is here. You’ll be safe.” He holds out some money. Reluctantly, she takes it and gets in. He hands her a drink. “Nothing like last time. I promise,” he repeats. “Alright.” He tells her she’s looking great, and asks how she’s been. “I might need a little surgery after last time. My friend told me I should maybe even get a lawyer.” “Lawyers are so complicated,” he says, writing her a cheque. She takes it and bolts from the car. The car keeps pace with her as she walks. Bateman rolls down the window and whistles at her, waving more money. She stops and looks at the wad. She tries to grab it, but he pulls his hand back. He opens the car door again, moving over to let her get back in. “Half now, half later.” He closes the door. He tells her her name is Christie again, and that they are meeting a friend of his named Elizabeth. “She’ll be joining us in my new apartment shortly. You’ll like her. She’s a very nice girl.”

Paul Allen’s apartment. Patrick breaks open a capsule of ecstasy onto a spoon, and puts it into a bottle of wine. A redhead woman in a white silk shirt and black jacket is sitting on the couch across from Christie. She tells her she looks familiar. “Did you go to Dalton? I think I met you at a surf bar, didn’t I. It was spicy. Well maybe not spicy but it was definitely a surf bar.” She talks on and on in a self-important tone, neither Patrick or Christie really listening to her. Christie tells Patrick that this place is nicer than his other one. “It’s not that nice,” he says. She asks where he and Elizabeth met. She says it was at the Kentucky Derby in 86. “You were hanging out with that bimbo Alison Poole. Hot number.” “What do you mean? She was a hot number.” “If you had a platinum card she’d give you a blowjob. Listen, this girl worked at a tanning salon, need I say more?” She sips her wine. She asks what Christie does. “She’s my… cousin. She’s from… France,” says Bateman. Elizabeth asks for the phone to call someone. She asks if Christie summers in Southampton. The person she’s calling doesn’t answer. “Elizabeth, it’s 3 in the morning.” “He’s a god damn drug dealer, these are his peak hours.” She says that the wine tastes weird. She leaves the man a message on his answering machine. She looks at Bateman when she can’t remember where she is. “Paul Allen’s.” “I want the number idiot. Anyway I’m at Paul Norman’s and I’ll try you again later, and if I don’t see you at Canal Bar tomorrow I’m going to sic my hairdresser on you.” She hangs up. “Did you know that guy who disappeared, didn’t he work at Pierce and Pierce? Was he a friend of yours?” He says no. She asks if he has any coke. He shakes his head. “Or a Halcyon? I would take a Halcyon.” “Listen,” he says. “I would just like to see the two of you get it on.” They stare at him. “What’s wrong with that? It’s totally disease-free.” “Patrick you’re a lunatic.” He asks her if she finds Christie attractive. “Let’s not get lewd. I’m in no mood for lewd conversation.” He says he thinks it would be a turn-on. She asks Christie if he does this all the time. Christie remains silent. He tells her to drink her wine. “You’re telling me you’ve never gotten it on with a girl?” he asks Elizabeth. “No. I’m not a lesbian. Why would you think I would be into that?” “Well, you went to Sarah Lawrence for one thing.” “Those are Sarah Lawrence GUYS, Patrick. You’re making me feel weird.”

Some time later, the drugs having kicked in, and Elizabeth and Christie are feeling each other up on the couch. Patrick says wistfully “Did you know that Whitney Houston’s debut LP, called simply ‘Whitney Houston’, had four number-one singles on it? Did you know that Christie?” Elizabeth starts laughing. “You actually listen to Whitney Houston? You own a Whitney Houston CD? More than one?” she laughs, falling off the couch. “It’s hard to choose a favorite amongst so many great tracks. But ‘The Greatest Love of All’ is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written, about self-preservation, dignity, its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it’s not too late to better ourselves.” Elizabeth is still laughing. “Since, Elizabeth, it’s impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, but we can always empathize with ourselves. It’s an important message, crucial really, and it’s beautifully stated on the album.”

All three have sex, Patrick on top of both of them. He moves his face down to Elizabeth’s torso, and she starts giggling. Christie rolls out from underneath them. She watches them as they fool around under the sheets, and she starts gathering her clothes. A stain begins to form on the sheets: Blood. Elizabeth is screaming. Patrick looks up at Christie with blood on his mouth and a crazed look on his face. Christie runs out of the room, and Patrick chases her naked. She runs to a door and throws it open, to reveal a closet with two dead women in plastic bags hanging on coathangers. The full horror of Patrick’s existence finally revealed to her, she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. She enters another room and almost vomits. Spraypainted on the wall is the words ‘DIE YUPPIE SCUM’ and the room is covered with blood and faeces. She backs out and sees Patrick turn the corner naked wielding a chainsaw. She cuts through a maze of doors and finally runs into a bathroom. She falls into a pool of blood next to another dead, naked woman. Patrick runs in, covered in Elizabeth’s blood and starts biting her leg. She kicks him in the face and runs. “Not the face! Not the fucking face you piece of bitch trash!” She runs through the living room and out into the hallway, pounding and screaming on neighbours’ doors, but to no avail. Patrick runs after her, stark nude, and chainsaw in hand. She runs down a circular set of stairs. Patrick reaches the top and holds the chainsaw out over the gap, waiting for the right moment. When she nears the bottom, he lets go, and the chainsaw falls end over end, finally hitting its target. He screams in victory. The chainsaw has impaled Christie through the back.

Patrick doodles a woman impaled with a chainsaw with a crayon on a paper tablecloth. He hasn’t touched his dessert. Evelyn is sitting next to him, asking him to commit to their relationship. The restaurant is crowded with middle-class looking people. “I think Evelyn, that uh, we’ve lost touch.” “Why, what’s wrong?” she asks, waving to someone. A woman flashes a gold bracelet to her, and she mouths “It’s beautiful. I love it.” “My need to engage in homicidal behaviour on a massive scale cannot be corrected, but uh, I have no other way to fulfill my needs. We need to talk. It’s over, it’s all over,” he tells her, scratching a red X over his drawing. “Touchy touchy. I’m sorry I brought up the wedding. Let’s just avoid the issue, alright? Now, are we having coffee?” “I’m fucking serious. It’s fucking over, us, this is no joke, uh, I don’t think we should see each other any more.” “But your friends are my friends, and my friends are your friends. I really don’t think it would work.” She tries to brush some food away from the corner of his mouth, but her stops her. “I know that your friends are my friends, and I’ve thought about that. You can have ’em.” She finally understands. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? What about the past? Our past?” “We never really shared one,” he replies. “You’re inhuman.” “No. I’m-I’m in touch with humanity.” She starts crying. “Evelyn I’m sorry, I just uh… you’re not terribly important to me.” She cries so loudly that the whole restaurant turns to look at her. “I know my behaviour can be erratic sometimes…” “What is it that you want?” she cries. “If you really want to do something for me then stop making this scene right now!” he snaps. “Oh God I can’t believe this,” she weeps. “I’m leaving,” he says. “I’ve assessed the situation and I’m leaving.” “But where are you going?” “I have to return some videotapes.”

Evening. Patrick stops near the lobby of a building to use an ATM. He sticks his card in the machine. Looking down he sees a stray cat. “Here kitty kitty.” He picks up the cat and starts petting it. A message comes on the screen of the ATM: ‘FEED ME A STRAY CAT’. He tries to put the cat in the card slot of the ATM, but it pushes itself away. He pulls out a 9mm pistol and points it at the cat’s head. A woman in a fur coat sees this. “Oh my God. What you doing? Stop that!” He shoots her in the chest and she falls to the ground. He lets the cat go. A siren is heard a block away, and a police car pulls up at the other end of the lobby. He takes his card and walks away. He tries to steal a car, but every car on the street is locked, and he only winds up setting off all their car alarms. He kicks the back of a Porsche and runs. Two police cars cut him off on the next street. They get out, guns drawn. “Drop the weapon! Drop it now! Get on the ground!” He starts to put his hands up, then turns the gun on the officers. They exchange gunfire. He runs behind a parked car for cover, firing and hitting one of them. He fires five more shots, and both police cars explode in a massive fireball. Stunned by his luck, he looks at the gun, then at his watch, and walks away. He breaks into a run, under the support columns of a skyscraper. He walks into the lobby of an apartment. “Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Smith? Don’t forget to sign in,” says the man at the desk. He pulls out the gun and shoots him in the head. He runs past the elevators. One of them opens and a janitor gets out. He goes around a revolving door, back into the lobby, shoots the janitor, then out the other side. He runs into another lobby. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, he goes up to the desk. Smiling at the doorman, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen, signs in, and goes up in the elevator, crying.

He reaches his office. He looks out the window, then hides from the searchlight of a passing police helicopter. Still crying, he makes a phone call. An answering machine picks it up. “Harold, it’s Bateman. You’re my lawyer so I think you should know, I’ve killed a lot of people. Some girls in the apartment uptown uh, some homeless people maybe 5 or 10, um an NYU girl I met in Central Park. I left her in a parking lot behind some donut shop. I killed Bethany, my old girlfriend, with a nail gun, and some man, some old faggot with a dog last week. I killed another girl with a chainsaw, I had to, she almost got away and uh someone else there I can’t remember maybe a model, but she’s dead too. And Paul Allen. I killed Paul Allen with an axe in the face, his body is dissolving in a bathtub in Hell’s Kitchen. I don’t want to leave anything out here. I guess I’ve killed maybe 20 people, maybe 40. I have tapes of a lot of it, uh some of the girls have seen the tapes. I even, um…” He almost can’t say it. “I ate some of their brains. I tried to cook a little.” He starts laughing. “Tonight I, uh, hahahaha… I just had to kill a LOT of people!” Crying again. “And I’m not sure I’m gonna get away with it this time. I guess I’ll uh, I mean, ah, I guess I’m a pretty uh, I mean I guess I’m a pretty sick guy.” He’s smiling. “So, if you get back tomorrow, I may show up at Harry’s Bar, so you know, keep your eyes open.” He hangs up and tries to compose himself. The helicopter can still be heard buzzing around but is getting fainter.

Morning. He showers and picks a suit from his walk-in closet. He goes to Paul Allen’s place, putting on a surgical mask because of the smell of the bodies he left there. Opening the door, he finds the place empty and repainted white. Three people are talking in one of the rooms, and the floor is lined with cloth and there is a ladder and some other redecorating equipment. He heads towards the closet where he left two bodies. It contains only paint cans, ladders and buckets. He takes off the mask, stunned. “Are you my 2:00?” asks a well-dressed 40-something woman behind him. “No.” “Can I help you?” “I’m looking for Paul Allen’s place. Doesn’t he live here?” “No he doesn’t. Did you see the ad in the Times?” “No. Yeah. I mean yeah. In the times.” “There was no ad in the times. I think you should go now.” He asks what happened here. She tells him not to make any trouble, and tells him again that he should leave. He starts to leave. “Don’t come back,” she warns. “I won’t. Don’t worry.” He closes the door behind him.

Outside, Bateman calls Jean from a payphone. He downs the rest of a bottle of pills while he waits for her to pick up. She answers. “Jean… I need help.” He sounds distraught. “Patrick is that you? Craig McDermott called, he wants to meet you, Van Paten and Bryce at Harry’s Bar for drinks.” “What did you say you dumb bitch…” he croaks. “Patrick I can’t hear you.” “What am I doing?” he laughs. “Where are you Patrick? What’s wrong?” He starts crying. “I don’t think I’m going to… make it, Jean. To the uh, office, this afternoon.” “Why?” She sounds worried. “JUST… SAY… NO!” he screams. “What is it? Patrick, are you alright?” “Stop sounding so fucking SAD! JESUS!” he screams, laughing. He hangs up, then tries to compose himself.

Jean goes to Patrick’s desk. She opens a drawer and finds a leather notebook. The first few pages have regular appointments. One page has a drawing of someone getting killed with a shotgun in the mouth.

Patrick reaches Harry’s Bar. He straightens his dishevelled hair and goes inside. Bryce, Van Paten and McDermott are sitting and drinking. McDermott tells him he looks wild-eyed. “Rough day at the office?” Bryce is drinking mineral water. “He’s a changed man! But he still can’t get a reservation to save his life.” Bateman tells them he isn’t going anywhere unless they have a reservation. They discuss various restaurants. Bateman spots his lawyer, Harold Carnes, across the room, and excuses himself. His lawyer is telling someone how the Japanese will own most of the country by the end of the ’90s. “Shut up, Carnes, they will not. So uh, did you get my message?” “Jesus yes! That was hilarious! That was you, wasn’t it! Bateman killing Allen and the escort girls. That’s fabulous. That’s rich.” He asks him what he means. “The message you left. By the way Davis, how’s Cynthia? You’re still seeing her, right?” “What do you mean?” “Nothing. It’s good to see you. Is that Edward Towers?” He starts to walk away but Bateman stops him. “Davis. I’m not one to bad-mouth anyone. Your joke was amusing. But come on man. You had one fatal flaw. Bateman is such a dork, such a boring, spineless lightweight. Now if you said Bryce, or McDermott, otherwise it was amusing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.” For some odd reason, Carnes keeps calling Patrick “Davis”. Patrick angrily stops him again. “I did it, Carnes! I killed him! I’m Patrick Bateman! I chopped Allen’s fucking head off,” he whispers with tears in his eyes. “The whole message I left on your machine was true.” Carnes tries to leave again. “No! Listen, don’t you know who I am? I’m not Davis, I’m Patrick Bateman!” He no longer sounds sure who he is. “We talk on the phone all the time. Don’t you recognize me? You’re my lawyer.” He tells Carnes to listen carefully. “I killed Paul Allen. And I liked it. I can’t make myself any clearer.” Carnes tells him that that isn’t possible. “And I don’t find this funny anymore.” “It never was supposed to be! Why isn’t it possible?” “It’s just not.” “Why not you stupid bastard?” says Patrick. “Because I had dinner with Paul Allen in London twice, just ten days ago.” “No you… didn’t.” Patrick is stunned. He begins to doubt whether he actually killed Allen or not or all those other people. Maybe it was all a fantasy. Maybe Patrick Bateman’s real name is Davis. Carnes excuses himself again and he lets him go.

Jean continues to look with horror through Patrick’s notebook. A crude drawing of a woman getting her limbs cut off with a chainsaw. A naked woman nailed to boards. The more pages she turns, the worse the images get. Page after page is filled with shocking fantasies of rape, murder and mutilation of women.

Patrick returns to the table. The guys are watching President Ronald Reagan talking about Iran-Contra on TV. “How can he lie like that?” says Bryce. Van Paten continues to ask where they have reservations, even though he isn’t really hungry. “How can he be so fucking… I don’t know, cool about it?” “Some guys are just born cool I guess,” says Van Paten. Bateman starts laughing. “Bateman? What are you so fucking zany about?” “Ha ha, I’m just a happy camper! Rockin’ and a-rollin’!” Turning back to Reagan on the TV, Bryce says “He presents himself as this harmless old codger, but inside… but inside…” “But inside doesn’t matter,”

In 1571, the Yucatán people fell ill to the plague. One man found a plant and along with other people, drank it. The substance turned the people blue and made them incapable of breathing in air. They quickly moved to the ocean and created a civilization in the deep water, Talokan. One of the women who ingested the plant had a baby named K’UK’ulkan. The baby grew up to become ruler of Talokan. When Fen died, she asked to be buried on the land. K’UK’ulkan led some guards up to the land where he saw a civilization. They attacked the civilization to make room for his mother’s burial. One of the villagers called him “Namor,” meaning “the boy without love.”

Shuri works in her lab, trying hard to create an artificial Heart-Shaped Herb to use for her brother and Wakanda’s king, T’Challa, who is dying of an illness. Ramonda slowly walks into the lab, announcing the King’s death. A year later, Wakanda is having trouble with other nations wanting their Vibranium. The Dora Milaje catch French military men trying to steal from their outpost. Later, Ramonda talks to the United Nations and reveals the French’s attempt to steal. She reminds the countries that even though the Black Panther is gone, they will still fight.

At a mining outpost, Americans mine in the ocean using a vibranium detector that was created by an MIT student, Riri Williams. They use this to find vibranium in the ocean. Suddenly they come under attack by Talokanils who do not want them stealing their vibranium. The last remaining helicopter of survivors is struck down by Namor. In Wakanda, Ramonda and Shuri go to the water and mourn the year since T’Challa’s passing. They burn their funeral garments to signify the end of the mourning period, despite Shuri not being completely ready for this. Namor then arrives, getting through the border by going under the water. He reveals to them the existence of Talokan and wants their help to stop foreigners from taking vibranium. He also explains that Wakanda is not the only place that has vibranium, Talokan has it too. Ramonda tells him off, worried of his presence. He tells them he is going to kill the scientist who made the machine and that they can help him, but they cannot get in his way.

Shuri and Okoye go to meet Everett Ross, who gives them the name and location of the young scientist, despite possibly giving away private information. Okoye and Shuri then go to Cambridge, Massachusetts to find Williams. They follow her to her garage where she reveals that she is working on an Iron Man type armor. However, they are followed by the FBI. The three get away, Okoye in a car, Shuri in a motorcycle, and Williams in her armour. Suddenly, they are met by Talokanils, Attuma and Namora. A brief skirmish ends in Shuri and Williams getting captured.

Ross arrives at the scene the next day and meets with his ex-wife, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. He also finds Kimoyo Beads and hides them. In Wakanda, an infuriated Queen Ramonda reprimands Okoye for losing Shuri, which is exacerbated by previous incidents such as when she seemingly sided with Killmonger when he usurped the throne, and fires her from her position as general. Shuri and Williams wake up in Talokan. Namor shows Shuri the civilization, trying to convince her of his ideals, even giving her his mother’s bracelet. However, she disagrees in killing Williams. Meanwhile, Ramonda goes to Haiti to see Nakia, who had left Wakanda six years prior. She asks Nakia to find Shuri for her. Nakia does some spying and figures out the location. She then breaks Williams and Shuri out as Ramonda talks to Namor about his plan.

They return to Wakanda, but only for more torment as Namor and his people invade. They flood the city causing an all out war. Namor takes care of all of the Wakandan vehicles before flooding the throne room holding Ramonda and Williams. Williams starts drowning, so Ramonda swims to save her. She is able to get Williams to safety, but only to drown in the process. Shuri mourns her mother’s passing as Namor tells her she is Queen now. He and his people then leave the country. Meanwhile, Allegra de Fontaine finds out that Ross has been communicating with Wakanda this whole time and has him arrested.

M’Baku talks to Shuri after the funeral and gives her moral judgement that she should not kill Namor. He then tells her he will provide housing for the displaced Wakandans following the attack. Shuri then uses Namor’s mother’s bracelet to create the artificial heart-shaped herb which finally works. She goes to the Astral Plane after taking it and is greeted by Erik Killmonger, who claims they are the same. They argue a bit before Shuri claims she is going to kill Namor out of revenge. Shuri wakes up and makes herself a suit. She then drops into a meeting between M’Baku and the elders as the Black Panther.

In preparation of the battle, Shuri and Williams realize that they could weaken Namor by heating his body up to where it cannot get oxygen. They then make a second Ironheart armor. Shuri gives Okoye new armor, acting much like Iron Man’s as well, called the Midnight Angels. Okoye recruits Aneka to be apart of her two woman team. In the ocean, they use a vessel to lure the Talokanils into a trap. The battle commences as Namor seems to gain the upperhand. However, Black Panther traps him in a Royal Talon Fighter as they take off away from the battle. Meanwhile, the Dora Milaje fight the Talokanils on the side of the vessel while the Jabari Tribe, Nakia, and the others battle the ones on top. Ironheart and the Midnight Angels take care of the airborne Talokanils.

Black Panther heats up the Royal Talon Fighter, weakening Namor, but he begins to break out with his spear. Black Panther shoots a blast from her Vibranium Gauntlets which explodes the whole ship, sending the two adversaries into the island below. The two fight some more until Namor impales Shuri. However, instead of finishing her off, he is more worried about getting to the water before he dies. An injured Black Panther breaks free and gets in front of the limping Namor. She then yells “Wakanda Forever” as she armors up, sending a blast from the exploding Talon Fighter into Namor. He is set ablaze as he collapses. She stands over him to finish him off, but remembers her brother, T’Challa. With these memories of the man he was, she decides to spare Namor’s life as long as he returns to Talokan.

Namor has gratitude for the Black Panther and joins her as they return to the fight scene and tell everyone to stop fighting. Black Panther then yells “Wakanda Forever” once again as the rest repeat it back. In the aftermath, Williams returns to MIT without her armor as the Wakandans do not want any controversy with letting her keep it. Shuri leaves for Haiti instead of challenging for the throne, which ultimately is challenged by M’Baku. Later, Namor paints in his room as Attuma greets him. Namor assures her that their new alliance with Wakanda will be beneficial. On his way to prison, Okoye breaks Ross out of custody.

In Haiti, Shuri meets with Nakia before leaving for the beach where she burns her funeral ceremonial robe in accordance to Ramonda’s wishes, allowing her to finally grieve T’Challa.

Ki-woo Kim (Choi Woo-Shik) is a young man living in poverty in the slums of a nameless South Korean city with his family - father Ki-taek Kim (Song Kang-ho), mother Chung-sook Kim (Jang Hye-jin), and sister Ki-jung (Park So-dam). The family lives in a garden unit where they struggle finding a Wi-Fi signal to sneak into in order to get access to the Internet to watch TV, get fumigated on, and have to watch men urinating in the alley outside their home. They make ends meet by doing menial tasks such as folding pizza boxes - and even then, get criticized by the pizza employees for messing up the boxes. Ki-woo’s wealthy friend Min-hyuk pays the family a visit, giving them a gift - a rock that is supposed to bring those who have it wealth and prosperity. He then tells Ki-woo that he has been tutoring the teenage daughter of a very wealthy family. He is leaving to study abroad but is in love with the daughter, and knows that any of the other university boys would steal her away. He wants Ki-woo to be her tutor, knowing he will watch over her so that Min-hyuk can propose to her once she graduates high school. Ki-woo knows he isn’t qualified since he isn’t in college, but Min-hyuk promises to vouch for him, and so he agrees and has Ki-jung forge credentials for him to take to his interview.

Ki-woo interviews at the very wealthy Park family where he meets Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun), his scatterbrained wife Mrs. Park (Choi Yeo-jeong), and their children, teenage daughter Da-hye and young son Da-song. Ki-woo realizes he needs to flirt with Da-hye to get the job, and he does - Mrs. Park pays him an exorbitant amount of money and mentions they need an art tutor for Da-song. Da-song had a traumatic incident where he saw a “ghost” in the house and had a seizure and has been needing help with his art. Ki-woo introduces them to Ki-jung, who forges documents for herself and goes by “Jessica,” and she too begins making money hand over fist. When the Park’s limo driver takes her home, Ki-jung leaves her underwear in the car in order to get him fired: she then suggests her “Uncle” as the new driver - who is really Ki-taek. The last position is that of the housekeeper, Moon-kwang (Lee Jeung-eun). She has worked for the home since before the Park family lived there - she worked for the previous owner, an eccentric architect. In order to get her fired, the Kims exploit her allergy to peaches, causing her to have allergic reactions: they then convince Mrs. Park that she is seriously contagiously ill and cannot be around their son. She leaves, devastated, and Mrs. Kim is given the job, fooling the Park family into hiring the entire Kim family.

The Kim family enjoys their massive increase of income, and when the Park family decides to leave to go camping for Da-song’s birthday weekend, they take the opportunity to stay in the huge Park house for the weekend. They spend the evening drinking and eating and making a mess of the place when the doorbell rings: it’s Moon-kwang. She claims she was fired so quickly she left without being able to get something and just wants it back. Mrs. Kim reluctantly lets her in, and Moon-kwang runs into the basement and begins screaming, opening a secret passage behind some shelves. She goes to her husband, Geun-sae (Park Myung-hoon), who has secretly been living in the bunker ever since the previous owner moved out in order to hide from loan sharks. She gives him food while Mrs. Kim looks on in horror - she tells Moon-kwang she needs to leave, and as Moon-kwang begs her to let them stay, the rest of the Kim family (who had been eavesdropping) falls off the stairs and into view - and they call each other “dad,” etc., which Moon-kwang films on her phone, realizing the con the family has pulled. She threatens to send it to the Park family and uses that so she and her husband can force the Kim family to do their bidding.

The Kim family manages to get the upper hand on them, getting them into the secret bunker, but the Park family calls: they’ve canceled their camping trip due to rain and will be home in eight minutes. The Kims scramble, trying to clean up as much mess as they can, keeping the other two in the basement. They manage to do a good enough job that the rest of the family is able to hide while Mrs. Kim gives the Parks their dinner - when Moon-kwang breaks out and runs upstairs, Mrs. Kim shoves her back down the stairs, where she hits her head and is severely wounded. Moon-kwang and Geun-sae are locked in the bunker. Mr. and Mrs. Park end up sleeping in the living room in order to keep an eye on Da-song who is camping out in the backyard, forcing the Kims to stay under the table, frozen all night, even as the Parks complain about Mr. Kim’s smell - and then later, have sex. Eventually, in the dead of night, they are able to sneak out. They return home to find their apartment completely flooded with rain and sewage. Ki-woo takes the rock, and the family sleeps in a shelter for the night.

The next day, Mrs. Park decides to throw an impromptu party for Da-song. The Kim family, in their roles as help, are invited and have to pretend that they don’t know that there are two people locked in a bunker under the house. Ki-woo takes the rock down into the bunker, where Moon-kwang has died and is ambushed by Geun-sae, who bludgeons him in the head with the rock. He then enters the party, where he stabs Ki-jung in the chest. The party explodes into horror, and Da-song has a seizure - Geun-sae was the “ghost” he had seen in the house prior. Mr. Park screams at his driver, Mr. Kim - who is trying to stop Ki-jung’s bleeding - for the car keys to take his son to the hospital, and he throws them to him. They land under Geun-sae, who is fighting with Mrs. Kim. She manages to kill him by stabbing him with a meat skewer. Mr. Park gets the keys but expresses disgusts at Geun-sae’s smell - this triggers Mr. Kim, who snaps and stabs Mr. Park, killing him. Mrs. Park faints as Mr. Kim flees.

The story opens in 2049, thirty years after the events of the first film. An on-screen text states that the Tyrell Corporation has collapsed decades before, in the wake of violent revolts involving their Nexus-6 through -8 Replicants, forcing the company into bankruptcy. After the world’s ecosystems collapsed in the mid 2020s, famine swept the Earth, killing millions. With his invention of synthetic farming, a wealthy businessman named Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) ended food shortages and acquired Tyrell’s remaining assets to form his own corporation. The Wallace Company has reinvigorated the Replicant industry by mass producing the Nexus-9 Replicants, a new generation of artificial humans with modified behavior to make them more obedient than the older models. These Replicants have implanted memories and open-ended lifespans, and are still used for slave labor on the off-world colonies (the Moon, Mars, and the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, etc.), but some are also used as Blade Runner units, hunting down and “retiring” the few remaining older model Replicants that are still at large.

In the opening scene, Agent K (Ryan Gosling), one of these Nexus-9 Replicants, travels to a protein farm outside Los Angeles in his flying Spinner vehicle, where he has tracked down an older model Replicant called Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), who was part of a group of Series 8 Replicants that had gone AWOL. After a brief but violent fight, Morton tells him that as a newer model, K cannot come close to knowing what it means to be human. He implies that K would never help humans kill his own kind if he had ever witnessed the kind of “miracle” that he has. K retires him and is ready to leave when he notices a flower placed beside a dead tree in the desolate landscape next to the farm. This prompts him to thoroughly scan the area, which reveals a chest buried under the ground. He requests his office to send a forensic team to unearth it.

K returns to the LAPD office, where he undergoes a standard ‘baseline test’ for Replicants and passes it. He then goes home to his apartment in a seedy area of town. He spends his time at home with a holographic woman named Joi (Ana de Armas), a futuristic form of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and has apparently formed a deep bond with her, despite the fact that they cannot physically interact. For this reason, he has bought her a mobile hologram projector which allows him to free her program from its home-based console. He can now take Joi outside on the top of his apartment building in the pouring rain, and it also allows her program to touch objects. Joi is extremely happy, but K is called back to the station before they can experiment with Joi’s new capabilities any further.

Downtown, the Forensics team has discovered that the chest contains a human skeleton and a lock of hair. They belong to a female who most likely had complications during childbirth 30 years before. Superficial cuts in the bones suggest an emergency Cesarean section as the cause of death. Upon closer inspection, K locates a serial number engraved on one of the woman’s bones, indicating that the skeleton wasn’t from a human, but a Replicant female. The identification causes quite a stir since Replicants were previously unable to reproduce. K’s superior, Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright), reminds him that if the public knew that the line between humans and Replicants is blurring, or disappearing altogether, it would tear apart what remains of civilization. She commands the team to destroy the evidence, and orders K to burn down the farm, track down the Replicant child, and retire it, despite the mixed feelings he may have about retiring something that was born - and has a soul. Before leaving, K takes some of the female Replicant’s hair.

K goes to the Wallace Company to inquire about the serial number and hair of the female replicant. It is housed in the old Tyrell pyramid, although now much more austerely lit. A clerk tells him that the number belongs to an older model Replicant; information may be hard to find, given the fact that an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) event called the ‘Blackout’ in 2022 destroyed almost every digital file the company had before that date. All that remains is some raw hard-copy data. Fortunately, there appears to be something left. K is helped by a Replicant woman called Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), who gives him access to what appears to be an old memory file containing an audio recording. It belonged to an experimental Replicant named Rachael, who went missing 30 years before. She can be heard talking to a Blade Runner called Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). K detects a very strong connection between the two. Luv thanks K for finally being able to close the case on Rachael.

K does some research on Deckard, and finds his old colleague Gaff (Edward James Olmos) who is now living in a retirement home. Gaff tells him that Deckard and Rachel fell in love, and eloped. K asks if Gaff knew that Deckard would one day leave society; Gaff confirms, saying that there was something in Deckard’s eyes that told him he was finished hunting Replicants.

Luv reports what she has learned to Wallace, who is blind but can see with the help of small drones. He is just witnessing the activation of a new female Replicant. He seems sympathetic to his creation, yet he also carelessly slashes the woman’s abdomen, apparently frustrated by the fact that she cannot bear children. He laments that humanity has only founded less than ten off-world colonies; in order to spread out, much more Replicants will be necessary. The only way he can meet the ever-growing demand for more Replicants is to engineer specimens who can procreate. Tyrell obviously learned how to do this, but his records were destroyed in the Blackout. The only way to learn Tyrell’s secrets is to find Rachael’s child. He commands Luv (who is emotionally shaken by his actions but remains obedient) to obtain Rachael’s remains and follow K to locate the child.

Meanwhile, K is walking through the city’s entertainment district to buy dinner, where a mysteriously cloaked woman commands three Replicant prostitutes to find out what he knows. One of them, Mariette (Mackenzie Davis), tries to seduce him for sex, but noticing he carries a holographic projector, she figures that he is not into “real girls”, and leaves. In the meantime, Luv has entered the police station to retrieve Rachael’s remains, coldly killing the forensic agent who discovers her doing it.

K returns to Sapper’s farm and locates a baby sock and a picture of another woman holding the baby, implying that Sapper and several other Replicants have been protecting Rachael’s secret for decades. He also finds a date carved into the bottom of the tree, 6-10-21, which visibly upsets him. He burns the farm and returns to LA. Reporting his findings to Joshi, she tells him about the disappearance of Rachael’s remains, and asks him about his most precious childhood memory. Even though he knows that it must be an implanted one, K says that he clearly remembers being chased through an old factory as a kid by a group of older boys. They wanted to take away his wooden carving of a horse, so he hid it inside an old furnace. K remembers that the horse had a date on it, the exact same date carved into the rock, a fact that he doesn’t share with Joshi. Joshi suggests he try the DNA bank to identify the child.

Assuming that the date carved in the tree and the horse is meant to be a date of birth, K starts to dig into the DNA bank to find someone born on June 10, 2021. Again, only raw data remains, but he finds records of two children born that day, a boy and a girl. They have the same DNA… which is an impossibility (only identical twins have the same DNA, and they should be of the same gender), so K suspects that one has been copied from the other. The DNA data came from an orphanage outside the city. The girl later died from a genetic disease, so K theorizes that the boy may have been hidden by the Replicants in the orphanage, which is in the ruins of San Diego.

He travels there in his Spinner but is shot down by a tribe of feral scavengers who live among the ruins of a massive old ship breaking yard. They try to attack him, but Luv, who is keeping an eye on him from above through remote camera surveillance, uses precision bombs to repel them. After repairing the damage to his spinner, K proceeds to the orphanage, an old abandoned section of a ship, where the caretaker (Lennie James) is clearly using the children as cheap laborers. He coerces the man into showing him the old administrative files, but finds that the sections he is looking for have been completely torn out. While exiting, he notices how familiar the surroundings feel to him. He walks deeper into the ship section, and is shocked to find the location and the furnace from his memory; the wooden horse is still hidden inside it. K returns to the LAPD station in an upset state for another baseline test, which does not go smoothly.

Not knowing what to make of the revelation, he returns home. Joi is convinced that this means that his childhood memory is real, and K is Rachael’s son, suggesting he was born instead of manufactured, and that he has a soul, as opposed to other Replicants who are thought to be ‘soulless’ and thus inferior to humans. She thinks he deserves a human name, and starts to call him ‘Joe’. K is still not convinced that the memory is real, so Joi suggests that he should contact an expert on implanted memories.

K arrives at the lab of Dr. Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), who designs memory implants for Wallace’s Replicants. Dr. Stelline is happy to see someone, being kept inside a dome at all times since she suffers from a compromised immune system, and can’t be exposed to other people. Her parents left Earth for one of the off-world colonies, but she wasn’t allowed to come along because of her disease. Her youth was lonely, but this caused her imagination to flourish, making her one of the best creators of artificial memories. K asks how fake memories can be discerned from real ones. Dr. Stelline says that fake memories tend to be too detailed, since real memories are ‘messy’ as they tend to reflect an emotional rather than a photographic recollection; but a good fabricated memory always contains something personal of the maker. K asks her to take a look at his memory, and give her thoughts. A special device allows Dr. Stelline to see the memory in his head. Overcome by emotion, she says the memory is real; K leaves in a fit of anger. As he goes outside, he is apprehended by the police.

K is confronted by an angered Joshi for failing his last baseline test, which may mean that he is going to be retired. K tells her that he is in his current state because he succeeded in his mission: he has killed Rachael’s offspring, who was so well-hidden that even he didn’t know who he was. Joshi agrees to suspend him, and gives him 48 hours to disappear. Going home, he finds Mariette in his room. Joi reassures him that this is her doing, because she needs Mariette for something. She synchronizes her holographic program with Mariette, so she is able to steer Mariette’s body and make love to K. The next morning, K seems to feel awkward about the unexpected threesome. He is called to the station, and leaves without saying goodbye, but not before Mariette placed a tracking device in his coat. Joi tells Mariette to leave; Mariette scoffs that, having been inside Joi’s consciousness, she noticed that not much was there (showing that Replicants are not above feelings of superiority either).

K tells Joi that people will be coming for him. Joi insists on coming with him so that she cannot reveal what she knows; K is reluctant as transferring her to the mobile projector would put her at risk of being lost if the projector is damaged, but ultimately accepts. She instructs him to destroy the antenna in the projector so that she cannot be moved to another device and remove any chance of tracking it. Luv, who is monitoring the position of the projector, is no longer able to track K.

In the meanwhile, Luv has arrived at the station, asking Joshi to cooperate and tell her where K is. Joshi refuses, even when Luv’s initially friendly disposition changes drastically. She tortures Joshi for information, but to no avail, so Luv kills her and uses her computer to find locate K.

K has taken the wooden horse to a specialist, Doc Badger (Barkhad Abdi), who finds traces of radioactive tritium in the wood. They deduce that there is only one area nearby that can account for the type of wood and such high radiation readings. K leaves the city, taking care not to be noticed, although Luv is unknowingly tracking him.

K arrives in the abandoned ruins of Las Vegas, and enters a deserted hotel/casino. Judging by the booby traps, he figures he is in the right place. It doesn’t take long for Deckard to show himself, keeping K at gunpoint in the supposition that K is there to kill him. They fight for a while before Deckard becomes convinced that K is only there for answers. He confirms that Rachael was pregnant, but has never seen the child, nor does he know its whereabouts. Deckard was still actively hunted, so out of love for her and the child, he left a still-pregnant Rachael in the care of people who could protect her, hoping that his ignorance was the best way to keep everyone safe. He taught the other Replicants how to tamper with birth records and how to avoid capture. After a while, Deckard notices that someone has entered the area. Convinced that K has been followed, they proceed to Deckard’s Spinner to flee, but a rocket grenade destroys the Spinner and incapacitates both Deckard and K. Luv enters with a few henchmen, and although K dispatches some of them, Luv fights back and badly injures him. She notices K’s mobile projector and destroys it, effectively killing Joi, to K’s anguish. Leaving him for dead, she kidnaps Deckard and takes him back to Wallace.

K’s wounds are tended by a group of Replicants who have been tracking him as well. They include Mariette and are part of a Replicant freedom movement. Their leader, Freysa (Hiam Abbass), reveals how she was there when Rachael died in childbirth, and how her group of rebellious Replicants, including Sapper, went to great lengths to hide the baby, as they saw the child as a living miracle. If Replicants could have children, the human world could no longer deny them their rights and freedoms. She confirms that the Blackout was their deliberate attempt to erase as many digital files as possible, in order to protect the secret of how Rachel was able to have children, and to prevent everyone, including the child, from being found. K tells her that he is Rachel’s child, but Freysa tells him that the child was a girl. K is confused, and asks how he could have a real memory of Rachael’s offspring if he isn’t her son. Freysa answers enigmatically that this is also part of the puzzle. The memory of the wooden horse was apparently implanted in all other Replicants, and became a unifying motivator for freedom. Thinking back on all he has discovered so far, K deduces that the memory must have originated with Dr. Ana Stelline herself (explaining her emotional response to it), and that she is Rachael and Deckard’s lost daughter. The Replicants urge K to return to LA; Wallace will do anything to get clues from Deckard about the Replicant resistance movement. If he succeeds, he may be able to create Replicants with reproductive capabilities, thereby creating a self-perpetuating army of slaves. The resistance wants this prevented at all costs, even if it means killing Deckard.

K finds himself back in LA, observing a giant three-dimensional ad for the Joi hologram with great sorrow, knowing that the Joi he loved is gone forever. At the Wallace Company, Deckard is brought to Wallace, who shows him Rachael’s remains, calling it the lock and Deckard the key to unraveling the mystery of Replicant reproduction. Deckard maintains that he has no idea who or where his child is. Wallace insinuates that Deckard’s first meeting with Rachael was set up from the beginning, and that it was always the intention that they would end up together and reproduce. He starts a playback of the first conversation between him and Rachael, which emotionally affects Deckard, who still refuses to cooperate. Wallace then tries to entice him with something that he really covets, in exchange for information on how to find Freysa. A woman walks in from the shadows, and she appears to be an exact copy of Rachael as she appeared to Deckard 30 years ago, down to the clothing and hairstyle she wore. Deckard is shocked and moved, but he ultimately dismisses this Rachael as a fake, stating that the real Rachael’s eyes were green. Frustrated by his failure, Wallace immediately has Luv execute the fake Rachael. He orders Luv to take Deckard to one of the off-world colonies, where they have the means to make him talk.

Luv takes off with a hand-cuffed Deckard in a Spinner with two escorting vehicles, and flies along the LA shoreline. K catches up, using his Spinner to destroy the escorts and blow Luv’s vehicle from the sky, forcing it to crash on the beach. K lands next to it and after an exchange of gunshots, he gets into a fight with Luv. He receives severe wounds from Luv’s relentless punches and knife, and Luv leaves him for dead. She re-enters the vehicle, trying to free Deckard from his cuffs as the Spinner is being dragged into the sea by tidal waves, but then K enters. He fights with Luv and pushes her down under water with all of his power, finally drowning the life out of her. He manages to release Deckard just before the vehicle sinks completely. Deckard says that he should have let him die; K states that he did: the world will believe that Deckard went down with the vehicle.

The story takes place in the fertile, eastern lands bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and kept by the gods. Within the cradle of ancient civilization empires are built, wars fought, alliances forged, and heroes born.

Agamemnon (Brian Cox), king of Mycenae, has united most of Greece’s kingdoms under his rule and now advances his army upon the nation of Thessaly, hoping to include it in his collection of ever-growing conquests. King Triopas (Julian Glover) bargains with Agamemnon to each let one of their best fighters decide who wins the battle rather than engaging in open war. Triopas calls upon the giant Boagrius (Nathan Jones) while Agamemnon calls to Achilles, but the legendary warrior is nowhere to be found. A messenger boy (Jacob Smith) is sent to fetch him and Agamemnon curses the stubborn nature of the fiercest warrior Greece has ever seen. A half-god and blessed with incomparable strength and skill, Achilles lives to fight but he refuses to associate with Agamemnon, preferring instead to seek his own destiny and be immortalized in history. Achilles easily defeats Boagrius, sealing Agamemnon’s control over the nation, and calls out if there is anyone else worthy enough to fight him. Triopas offers the Scepter of Thessaly to Achilles to pass on to Agamemnon. Achilles refuses the request and stalks off.

Meanwhile, Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy feast in the banquet hall of King Menelaus of Sparta (Brendan Gleeson) as honored guests and peace ambassadors to their home nation. However, young Paris sneaks away to be with Menelaus’ beautiful wife, Helen (Diane Kruger), whom he loves dearly. He convinces her to come back with him to Troy, stowing her away on his brother’s ship. When Hector finds out he is clearly angry but it is too late to return to Sparta with Helen and seek pardon. Finding Helen gone, Menelaus vows revenge on Troy and seeks the approval of his brother, Agamemnon, who is only too happy to oblige, though Agamemnon’s decision comes mostly from his desire to sack Troy the seemingly undefeatable city.

Odysseus (Sean Bean), king of Ithaca and under command of Agamemnon, goes to convince Achilles to accompany them in the conquest of Troy. He finds him sparring with his young cousin, Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund), who is more than eager to join in the fighting. Achilles refuses to go, despite Odysseus’ assurance that this war will go down into history. Achilles later seeks advice from his mother, the sea nymph Thetis (Julie Christie), who is gathering shells to make a new necklace for him. She tells him that if he chooses to stay home he will find a wife, raise a family, and die old and loved. If he goes to Troy, he will find his eternal glory and history will remember his name for thousands of years. However, should he go to Troy, he is doomed to die and will never return.

Meanwhile, Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, greeted warmly by their fellow Trojans. The city is guarded by a high, thick wall that has remained impenetrable since its founding. They meet their father, King Priam (Peter O’Toole), who welcomes Helen and praises her beauty. Hector is reunited with his wife, Andromache (Saffron Burrows), and his infant son.

Achilles decides to join Agamemnon’s campaign against Troy but brings his own warriors, the fierce and infamous Myrmidons, led by Eudorus (Vincent Regan). Patroclus accompanies them as well. The Myrmidons prove to be faster rowers than the Greeks and arrive on the shores of Troy before anyone else. Achilles gives an impassioned speech to his men, telling them that they will be immortalized in the campaign. Concerned for this cousin’s safety and inexperience, Achilles tells Patroclus to stay and watch the ship. The Myrmidons take the beach with ease and sack the Temple of Apollo where priestess and cousin of Hector and Paris, Briseis (Rose Byrne), is taken captive. In a defiant move, and despite a warning from Eudorus not to offend the gods, Achilles decapitates the statue of Apollo. Prince Hector leads an offensive to keep the Greeks at bay and runs into the temple where Achilles confronts him but refuses to fight him. Achilles explains that their fight would be suited best in front of an audience and he allows Hector to leave.

Briseis is brought to Achilles’ hut as his prize. She berates him for killing priests of Apollo before he is summoned to see Agamemnon who is preparing to celebrate the victory. There, tensions rise as Achilles and the king argue over claims to the victory. Agamemnon goes further by bringing in Briseis, claiming her as his own spoil of war, enraging Achilles. He threatens to fight for her but she angrily interjects, saying that no one else will die for her. Achilles stays his blade, to the surprise of Agamemnon. Achilles vows that Agamemnon will one day fall under his sword.

That night, Priam seeks the advice of his advisors and elders with his sons in attendance, discussing how best to defend against the Greeks. Paris offers an alternative to bloodshed; he will fight Menelaus for Helen’s hand. The winner will take her home and the loser will burn before nightfall. Later, Priam speaks with Paris in a courtyard and admits that, in all the wars hes fought for power or land, a war fought for love makes more sense. He gives Paris the Sword of Troy, forged at its founding and containing the history of their nation. He explains that as long as a Trojan wields it there is hope for their people.

Hector goes to see his wife and son. She fears for his life and can’t imagine living on without him. He comforts her before getting up to see his brother. In the halls, he sees a cloaked figure and gives pursuit to find that it’s Helen trying to leave the city. She is remorseful for being the sole reason so many Trojan men died that day but Hector tells her that returning to Menelaus will not end the war and that she is a princess of Troy now. Helen returns to Paris.

The next day, Agamemnon’s army marches for Troy while Achilles, still seething over his loss of Briseis, watches from a nearby hill with his men. Hector and Paris ride out to meet Agamemnon and Menelaus before battle. Agamemnon demands that the Trojans return Helen to his brother and submit to his rule. Hector bravely rebuffs but Paris offers to fight Menelaus one-on-one, hoping that will settle the dispute. While Agamemnon could care less about returning Helen to his brother, he allows Menelaus the opportunity to issue revenge. The two begin their fight and Menelaus is clearly stronger. Paris, fighting under his brother’s advice of waiting until Menelaus tires, is wounded and disarmed but, before Menelaus can deliver a death blow, ducks away and crawls back to his brother. Stunned at his cowardice, Menelaus demands the fight to continue but Hector defends his brother and drives his sword through Menelaus, killing him. Enraged, Agamemnon charges forward with his army.

Watching from his hilltop, Achilles curses under his breath at Agamemnon’s inability to keep his ranks in formation. Hector proves to be the more able warrior and overpowers the Greeks with his tactics. One of the strongest Greek warriors, Ajax (Tyler Mane) is felled by Hector. Odysseus advises Agamemnon to fall back before he loses his entire army and the Greeks retreat to the beach where their archers provide defense.

With Menelaus dead, the primary reason for the assault on Troy is gone and Agamemnon struggles to think of a way to rally the troops to his cause. Odysseus suggests that Agamemnon put his reservations aside and enlist Achilles to fight again. Outside, Briseis is tossed around between Greek soldiers, having been given to them by Agamemnon. Before she can be cruelly branded, Achilles steps in and takes her back to his hut. He gives her a wet cloth to clean with and some food. When she questions why he fights and defies the gods, he shows her a more reflective side to his nature and explains that the gods are jealous of men for their short, mortal lives. As such, everything is more beautiful.

Priam consults with his advisors again while Paris laments over his cowardice. Helen assures him that, though Menelaus was a strong warrior, she hated her life with him. She’d rather have someone to love and grow old with than to see him die on the battlefield. Hector advises his father that the Greeks underestimated Trojan strength and that they should not do the same. However, General Glaucus (James Cosmo) wants to strike preemptively. High Priest Archeptolemus (Nigel Terry) claims Troy is favored by the gods, citing bird omens. Despite Hector’s warnings to keep behind their walls, Priam favors his advisors and issues an attack before daybreak.

As Achilles sleeps that night, Briseis takes a dagger and holds it to his throat. Without opening his eyes, he encourages her to kill him but she hesitates. They realize their feelings for each other and make love. Achilles decides that he’s had enough of war and offers to take Briseis away from Troy. Afterwards, he speaks with Eudorus and tells him that they will go home. Patroclus is devastated, having hoped to take part in battle. Achilles returns to his hut.

Just as dawn approaches, the Trojan army, led by Hector, set up on the dunes and sent hundreds of lit arrows into the sand. The Greeks awake in time to see large balls of hay being rolled down the hill towards camp, ignited in huge fireballs by the torched arrows. Banging their shields to intimidate their enemy, the Trojans advance towards the Greek camp. Suddenly, Achilles appears in his armor and rallies the troops to fight. Achilles fights his way towards Hector and the two engage in combat. Greeks and Trojans alike surround them, edging them on, until Hector slits Achilles’ throat with a swift slash of his sword. Achilles falls, gasping for breath, while the Myrmidons look on in horror. But when Hector removes his helmet, he discovers that the man he wounded is not Achilles but Patroclus. Hector, repentant but resolute, drives his sword into the boy’s chest to finish him. He addresses Odysseus and tells him they’ve fought enough that day. Before leaving, Odysseus tells Hector that Patroclus was Achilles’ cousin.

The Myrmidons return to camp as Achilles emerges from his tent. Seeing them battle-worn, he asks why they disobeyed him. Eudorus laments that Patroclus disguised himself in Achilles’ armor, even moved like him, and fell under Hector. Achilles is outraged and attacks Eudorus. Briseis tries to stop him but he throws her to the ground.

Hector returns to his wife. He admits that he killed a boy who was much too young and feels that his actions will have severe repercussions. He shows his wife a hidden passage under Troy that she can take civilians through to get to the mountains should he die and the walls be breached. Though she is upset to have to consider the plan, she heeds his advice.

Achilles puts his cousin on a funeral pyre and sets it alight. Agamemnon watches and says, “That boy may have just saved the war for us,” knowing that the rage of Achilles will not wane until he’s had revenge. Meanwhile, Helen watches as Paris practices his archery in preparation for battle, hitting his target with increasing accuracy.

The following morning, Achilles sets off to enact vengeance upon Hector. Briseis begs him not to go, but he ignores her. He takes his chariot to the gates of Troy and calls for Hector who dresses in his armor and says goodbye to his wife. He meets Achilles outside alone. Achilles throws down his helmet so that Hector can see his face. Though Hector tries to reason, Achilles is bent on bloodlust. As they begin to fight, Priam and Paris watch while Helen comforts Andromache who can’t bring herself to look. The two fight furiously, breaking each other’s spears. Hector trips on an embedded stone and is ordered by his opponent to stand and resume the fight. Achilles overpowers Hector when he throws the tip of a spear into his chest and finishes him off with his sword. He then ties Hector’s legs together behind his chariot and drags him away, back to the beach while the Trojans look on in horror. When he returns to his hut, Briseis cries out and asks when the killing will stop before leaving.

That night, Achilles is visited by a stranger in a cloak. The stranger kisses Achilles’ hand before revealing himself as King Priam. Having stealthily entered the Greek camp unnoticed, Priam begs for the return of his son’s body to be given a proper burial. He tells Achilles that, while Hector killed his cousin, he did not know who it was and he asks Achilles how many cousins and brothers he’s killed in his time. Despite being enemies, he asks for respect. Achilles relents. He weeps over Hector’s body, promising to meet him in the next life, before giving him to Priam. When Briseis comes forward, Achilles allows her to go home and apologizes for hurting her. He gives Priam his word that the Greeks will not attack Troy for 12 days to allow for proper mourning.

When Agamemnon hears of Achilles’ secret treaty with Priam, he becomes incensed. Odysseus, who notices the sculpture of a horse a fellow soldier has made for his son, proposes a plan, using the 12 days of mourning to their advantage.

After 12 days, the Trojans discover that the beach has been abandoned and various bodies lie in the sand. They appear to have been taken by disease and, where the heart of the camp once was, a large wooden horse has been erected. Priam is advised that the horse was left as a gift to the god Poseidon and is encouraged to bring it back to Troy. Paris, who is suspicious, urges his father to burn the horse immediately, but Priam brings the horse into the city where its revered as a sign of the end of the war. A Trojan scout, hiking through the cliffs outside the city, comes upon a cove apart from the main beach and discovers the Greek armada hiding there. However, he is killed by arrow before he can warn the rest of Troy.

Meanwhile, the whole city celebrates into the night. Once everything has quieted down, the horse opens and Achilles, Odysseus, and a small detachment of Greek soldiers emerge and slay several guards and open Troy’s gates. The Greek army quickly pours into the city, pillaging and burning homes and killing any Trojan who stands in their way while a tearful Priam can only watch. Soldiers of Troy attempt to defend the royal palace, but fail. As Priam prays before the statue of Apollo and asks why he’s been forsaken, Agamemnon approaches behind him and stabs him in the back. Achilles, meanwhile, searches the city for Briseis.

Paris and Andromache lead surviving civilians down to the secret passage where Paris gives a young boy, Aeneas (Frankie Fitzgerald) (a progenitor of the Romans), the Sword of Troy, reciting what his father told him. He then returns with his bow and arrow to help fight.

Briseis is praying before a statue of Apollo when she is grabbed from behind by Agamemnon. Achilles finds them and rushes to her rescue. Agamemnon tells Briseis his intent to take her back to Greece as his slave before she takes a concealed knife and fatally stabs him in the neck. His guards accost her but Achilles kills them. As he is helping her up, Paris arrives and shoots an arrow through Achilles’ left heel. Standing up to face Paris, despite Briseis’ cries, Achilles is shot again through the chest. He removes the arrow only to be shot several more times. He finally collapses and tells Briseis that she was his peace in a lifetime of war and urges her to escape. Briseis goes with Paris and they leave as the Greeks arrive at the palace to find Achilles dead, seemingly taken by a single shot to the heel (thus perpetuating the myth surrounding his death).

Anastasia (Ana) Steele is a 22-year-old college student living in Vancouver, Washington with her wealthy best friend/roommate, Katherine (Kate) Kavanagh. They are both on the cusp of graduating from WSU, where Kate is a journalist for the college paper. She is scheduled to interview the “enigmatic CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc,” Christian Grey, who is a benefactor of the university and will hand out the diplomas at graduation. However, she comes down with the flu and gets Ana to go to Seattle to do the interview in her place. Ana reluctantly heads to Seattle to conduct the interview and is caught off guard when she comes face-to-face with the handsome 27-year-old billionaire CEO. The interview is rather awkward with Ana being rather nervous and Christian being very intense and arrogant with his responses. We learn a few things about Christian: He is a control freak, and he is adopted, and he is not gay (apparently many people think he is because he is never seen with women despite his good looks and status). He even turns the tables and starts asking Ana questions about herself, and we get a slight sense of a flirty attraction between the two. The interview ends, and Christian sees Ana out to the elevators where they part ways.

Ana feels embarrassed and foolish in the way she conducted the interview, and she is also rather smitten with Christian but ignores her feelings. We meet Ana and Kate’s friend, Jose Rodriguez, who is a photographer and has a crush on Ana (though she is not interested in him in that way at all).

Later in the week, Ana goes to her part-time job at a hardware store called Clayton’s and is surprised when Christian walks in. He says he is in town on business and needs a few things (cable ties, duct tape, rope, etc). They exchange some friendly banter, yet Ana tries to remain professional despite being totally disarmed by Christian. Paul, the son of the owner of Clayton’s, comes into the store and gives Ana a rather intense hug which immediately puts Christian off. Paul retreats and Christian and Ana discuss doing a photo shoot for Kate’s article the next day. Christian gives Ana his business card and tells Ana he is glad Kate wasn’t able to make the interview. Ana finally accepts that she “likes” Christian, but knows that it’s a “lost cause” because of who he is.

Ana and Kate arrange for Jose to take photos of Christian at the Heathman Hotel in Portland. The photo shoot goes well, and Christian asks Ana to go for coffee with him afterwards. Kate and Jose are not happy about this turn of events, and Kate even feels that there’s something “dangerous” about Christian and that Ana is too “innocent” to start anything with him.

During their coffee date, Christian and Ana get to know each other a little more personally. He talks about his mother Grace (a doctor), father Carrick (a lawyer), older brother Elliot (construction worker), and little sister Mia (studying cooking in Paris). Ana talks a little about her mother Carla (living with husband #4 in Georgia) and her step-father Ray (lives in Montesano, her birth father died when she was young). Christian also inquires about her romantic life, asking if she is interested in either Jose or Paul, to which she declines. Ana asks Christian if he has a girlfriend to which he replies, “I don’t do the girlfriend thing.” As he is walking her to her car, a cyclist almost hits Ana, but Christian pulls her out of the way just in time. They embrace, and she tries to kiss him, but he refuses her and warns her to stay away from him and that he is not the right guy for her. They part ways and Ana is very hurt and tells herself that she will not be seeing him again.

After final exams are over, Ana and Kate plan to celebrate that night at a bar. Unexpectedly, Ana receives a package from Christian: first-edition copies of Tess of the d’Urbervilles worth thousands of dollars. She wonders why he would send her such an expensive gift despite rejecting her. That night at the bar, Ana gets very drunk and calls Christian asking why he bought her those books. He is very surprised to hear from her, and is worried about her drunken state. She drunkenly insists on knowing his motives for sending the books while he insists on knowing exactly where she is. She vaguely tells him her location and hangs up, only to have him call back and say that he’s coming to get her. Feeling sick, she goes outside with Jose, who makes a pass at her. She refuses him, and Christian arrives to break up the situation. Ana proceeds to throw up in a flower bed while Christian holds her hair back, and Jose retreats back into the bar. Christian insists on taking Ana home but makes her drink some water first. Elliot, who came with Christian, is dancing and flirting with Kate. Christian leads Ana to the dance floor, but she passes out.

Ana wakes up in Christian’s hotel room at the Heathman. Christian lets her know that they did not have sex, but he did undress her and sent her clothes to be cleaned because they were splattered with vomit. She showers and they discuss the events of the previous night (her drinking, Jose’s advances, the expensive books, etc). He sent her the books as an apology, and because he can’t seem to stay away from her despite not wanting a romantic relationship. They discuss her future plans to apply for internships and move to Seattle after graduation. She tries to tempt him to touch her, but he clearly states that he won’t until he has her “written consent” and offers to take her to Seattle to his apartment to show her what he means by that. Extremely intrigued, Ana accepts. After breakfast, they leave the hotel, but not before sharing a passionate kiss in the elevator. Christian takes her home and says he will pick her up later that evening.

At home, Ana tells Kate (who spent the night with Elliot) how things seem to be moving along with Christian. She goes to work at Clayton’s and discovers Jose has been trying to contact her, but she decides to let him “stew” for a while. Christian picks her up after work, and they take his private helicopter, Charlie Tango, to Seattle. They arrive at his apartment building, Escala, where they have some wine, and he has Ana sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) so she can’t say anything to anyone about what he is about to show/tell her. She signs and asks if Christian is going to “make love” to her, and he says he doesn’t make love, he “fucks.” He leads her to a room in his apartment and tells her that she can leave at any time if she wants to because what he is going to show her may scare her away. She insists on seeing what’s inside the room, so they go inside to find that it is filled with all kinds of sex toys and bondage equipment.

Christian explains that he is a Dominant (Dom), and he wants Ana to be his Submissive (Sub). If she agrees to this, there are rules she must follow, and she will surrender herself to him “in all ways.” If any rules are broken, she will be “punished.” Basically, Christian wants a BDSM (bondage dominance submission masochism) relationship where he can get off by controlling her, and she will be “happy” by pleasing him with her submission. Ana is taken aback by all of this; however she doesn’t leave. They leave the room and discuss things further, with Christian being very business-like about everything and urging her to ask questions knowing it’s a lot for her to take in. He gives her more paperwork that explains the “rules” of the Dom/Sub relationship and reveals he’s had 15 submissive in the past. The paperwork also explains “hard limits,” or things that are not negotiable such as sexual acts involving children or animals, fire, breath control, etc. Ana reveals that she is a virgin, which shocks Christian. He feels foolish and just “assumed” she’s been with men because she is so beautiful. He takes her to his bedroom to deflower her and “make love” by having “vanilla sex” (sex without toys or anything kinky). She has her first orgasm while he is only playing with her nipples. He has sex with her twice (missionary position and doggie-style), and she thoroughly enjoys every second of it.

After a short sleep, Ana finds Christian playing a sad song on his piano. He says he can’t sleep because he isn’t used to sleeping with anyone else. They go back to his bedroom and fall asleep together. In the morning, Ana fixes breakfast for herself and Christian while thinking about everything that has happened. Christian joins her and urges her to eat all of her breakfast (he’s obsessed with Ana eating full meals all the time). She speaks to Kate on the phone who tries to get details out of her about her night with Christian, but she is coy about it and hangs up. She asks Christian if it is okay for her to discuss their sex life with Kate despite signing the NDA; however she will not mention his Red Room of Pain (her nickname for the playroom of sex toys and bondage). He says he doesn’t want her to because Elliot and Kate are sleeping together, and his family knows nothing about his bondage lifestyle. He also reveals that he’s never had vanilla sex before and that he actually enjoyed it.

They take a bath together and fool around some more. She gives him a blow job (unbelievably, an amazing one despite it being her first time doing that), and he goes down on her and has sex with her while her hands are tied together with one of his neck ties (the gray one that’s on the cover of the book). Suddenly they hear voices outside the room, one of which turns out to be Christian’s mother. After throwing some clothes on, they go into the living room where Christian happily introduces Grace to Ana. Grace is glad to meet her and comments on not seeing Christian for 2 weeks, and she misses him. After a brief exchange, Grace leaves, and Christian takes a business call. Ana notices Jose has called her again, much to Christian’s dismay. He gives Ana the BDSM contract and urges her to read it carefully and do internet research about BDSM so she can make a fully informed decision.

They leave in his Audi R8 Spyder to go back to Portland. Christian says it’s okay for Ana to discuss things with Kate (short of the BDSM stuff), but to make sure she doesn’t talk to Elliot. They stop at a restaurant on the way, and they discuss his sexual past and lack of regular dating/relationship experience. Christian reveals he was seduced by his mother’s friend when he was 15 years old and was her submissive for 6 years. They are still good friends to this day, and his mother has no idea about any of it. Ana is disgusted that Christian was sexually abused as a teen, but he doesn’t see it that way. His relationships with his past subs dissolved due to “incompatibility” and he feels that he and Ana are very compatible and urges her to do the research in hopes that she will sign the contact and be his. Ana seems to have some reservations about the whole thing, but Christian’s allure keeps her intrigued.

Christian takes Ana home, and they agree to see each other again on Wednesday. Kate is eager to know the details about Ana’s first sexual experience. Ana admits she’s unsure about their future as a couple saying that Christian is “complicated.” Kate talks about how much she’s into Elliot and her upcoming family trip to Barbados. Jose calls Ana and apologizes for making a pass at her, but expresses his disdain about her seeing Christian. She promises to have coffee with him sometime soon, and they hang up. Kate and Ana pack up much of their apartment, and Ana thinks about her situation with Christian, and if she wants to pursue a sexual relationship with him. After much avoidance, she gets out the contract and reads it.

The contract is extremely business-like and outlines all the rules that Ana must obey, all the sexual acts that they may engage in (which may be negotiated), and exactly what is expected by both the Dom and the Sub. The Dom will financially provide for everything and make sure the Sub is in good emotional and physical condition, and in return, the Sub will submit to every need and want the Dom has. Breaking any of the rules will result in punishment of the Dom’s choosing, such as whipping or spanking. Ana tries to take it all in, still having major reservations about the whole idea of being Christian’s “sex slave,” but part of her finds the whole prospect thrilling and very hot. She goes to sleep dreaming of Christian.

The next day, Christian sends a brand-new MacBook Pro to Ana, and also equips her with an email address so he can contact her. They send a few emails back and forth discussing their future date on Wednesday and questions about the contract. Ana goes to work at Clayton’s and gets coffee with Jose on her lunch break. She forgives him for making a pass at her, and they are friends again. Later that night, Ana and Christian exchange some flirty emails and then Ana begins her internet research on BDSM.

The next day, Ana decides to go for a run and think some more about the contract. As a joke, Ana emails Christian that she’s “seen enough” and that “it was nice knowing you,” but regrets sending it worried that Christian won’t see it as a joke at all. Turns out she’s right, as he shows up in her bedroom not long after claiming that her email required an in-person response to remind her just how “nice” it was to know him. He ties her to her bed with the same gray necktie again and blindfolds her with his t-shirt. After some foreplay with wine and ice, they have sex. Afterwards, they discuss his “indecent proposal” and he discloses that he was “collared” when he was a submissive to “Mrs. Robinson” (this is a nickname Ana gives to the woman that dominated Christian years ago, obviously a reference to “The Graduate”). He offers to introduce her to some of his former submissive, but she immediately refuses and is put off by the notion. He accuses her of being jealous, which upsets her and she asks him to leave. He gives her a passionate and romantic kiss before leaving and says to Ana “What are you doing to me?” He leaves and Ana starts to cry, struggling with the fact that she has strong feelings for him, but she is afraid of getting hurt if she agrees to be his submissive. Kate comforts her and says that he seems to have commitment issues. She also informs Ana that her dad called while she was with Christian to tell her that her mother can’t make graduation because her husband, Bob, has a minor injury.

Ana emails Christian her comments and concerns about the contract, including the following: why can’t she masturbate, why can’t she touch him, she’s not on board with being “punished” physically, she refuses to eat from a “food list” he has provided, etc. After some emails back and forth, she goes to bed feeling troubled.

The next day, Ana calls her mom to discuss Bob and how she won’t be able to see Ana graduate, which Ana is okay with. She and Christian email back and forth some more, with him confirming their date for 7pm the following day which he will pick her up for. She insists on driving herself and meeting at Escala, to which he reluctantly obliges. Ana calls her step-father, Ray, and realizes how much she can’t wait to see him at her graduation because he’s always treated her like his real daughter and they have a special bond. Ana and Kate pack up their apartment some more and go to bed.

The next day, Paul shows up at Clayton’s during her shift and asks her on a date. She refuses him and makes it clear that she is seeing Christian Grey, much to his disappointment. Later, she drives to Escala and meets up with Christian at the bar. They sit in a private dining room and immediately get into a discussion about the contract. He tells her that she can walk away anytime she wants to, but once she goes, that’s it. This pains her to hear. They eat oysters, and he compromises with her on several contract issues, assuring her that they will take it slow because he knows she is inexperienced. They flirt, and she realizes that if she stays any longer, they will wind up having sex in the dining room. She gets up to leave, and he embraces her and pleads with her to spend the night with him, but she refuses which frustrates him. The valet brings Ana’s car around, and Christian is appalled that she is driving an old Beetle which he feels is very unsafe. She assures him that she’s fine with it, and they part ways. When she gets home, she reads an email from Christian saying that he hopes she will take him up on his offer because he really wants to make it work with her. She goes to sleep, once again, crying.

Ana has an erotic dream about Christian involving a braided leather riding crop. She wakes up and vaguely tells Kate about her evening. Kate reads Ana her valedictorian speech while trying to get her mind off of Christian. Ray arrives, and they go to the graduation. She sees Christian there, wearing the same gray necktie that he’s tied her hands with during sex. Things get underway, and Christian makes a speech about trying to eradicate hunger around the world and that he had personally been a victim of going hungry, which shocks Ana and makes her wonder about his life before he was adopted. Diplomas are handed out, during which Christian and Ana share a brief exchange about her ignoring his emails, which puzzles her. Afterwards, Kate winds up introducing Christian to Ray as Ana’s “boyfriend,” much to Ana’s embarrassment, however, Christian goes along with it. He and Ray have a nice conversation about fishing. We meet Kate’s brother, Ethan, who just came back from Europe. Ana is not happy with Kate, but she insists that she’s doing Ana a favor and that Christian just needed a push. Privately, Ana tells Christian that she wants “more” than just the BDSM stuff if they engage in any kind of relationship, which puzzles him but yet, he doesn’t dismiss it. She then verbally agrees to “try” to engage in the relationship he wants, and he is thrilled. Ray and Ana go out for lunch, parting ways with Christian.

Later that night, Ray drops Ana off at home, and they say their goodbyes. She discovers her cell phone is dead, and upon charging it, she discovers 2 texts from Christian from the previous night, as well as an email on her laptop, both of which hoping she was okay driving home in her Beetle. They exchange more emails, and he decides to come over so they can discuss the contract again. She decides that she will give him the expensive books back and wraps them up before his arrival.

Christian arrives, and they drink fancy wine out of teacups. She tells him that she feels cheap when he buys her expensive things, but he tells her it is his pleasure to do so and that she is most certainly not cheap. They discuss more specifics in the contract (use of sex toys and such). She admits that she is very uncomfortable with the idea of being punished, but he will not negotiate it saying “it’s all part of the deal.” Christian makes a deal with Ana that he will try to give her more beyond the BDSM, but he still isn’t sure how it will work because he doesn’t know any other way to have a relationship. In return, she has to accept his graduation present to her: a red hatchback, two-door compact Audi. They have sex, with Ana getting to have all the control by being on top, and go to sleep. Upon waking, Ana tries to touch Christian’s chest but he tells her not to. She asks him again why he doesn’t like to be touched, and he says, “Because I’m fifty shades of fucked up.” He goes on to say that he had a very rough introduction to life and doesn’t want to go into detail about it. While he is getting ready to leave, he urges Ana to seek out contraception because he hates wearing condoms. Ana is sad that he is leaving and rolls her eyes at one point, which is something Christian has warned her not to do, or he will spank her. He puts her over his lap and spanks her 18 times. It’s not too painful, and Ana seems to semi-enjoy the experience. Christian then has sex with her from behind and soothes the redness on her butt from the spanking with baby oil.

Taylor, Christian’s live-in assistant, picks him up from Ana’s apartment. She feels uncomfortable with herself that she actually enjoyed the spanking and isn’t sure what kind of girl she is anymore. She calls her mom and they have an emotional conversation about men, and she urges Ana to come to Georgia to visit them and get away for a while. Kate comes home and sees Ana is upset about Christian again, urging her to dump him. After some wine, Kate leaves to call Elliot and Ana emails Christian. They exchange emails about Taylor selling her Beetle, and Ana refers to herself as a girl that Christian “occasionally fucks.” This angers him, and she goes on to to say that she doesn’t like him very much right now because he never stays with her. She abruptly shuts off the laptop and lies in bed, crying. Not even 10 minutes later, there is a commotion of Kate yelling at someone and Christian bursts into Ana’s bedroom. Kate offers to throw him out, but Ana says it’s fine. He wants to know why she is upset and feels it must be something he’s done (men really are oblivious). Ana feels that he is trying to change her, but he doesn’t see it that way and likes her the way she is. He just needs to feel that control over her by getting her to obey him and punishing her when she doesn’t. Christian points out that she was sexually aroused after the spanking, so some part of her did enjoy it. He wants them to be honest with each other for their relationship to work. He lies down in bed with her, and they sleep.

In the morning, Christian wakes up and realizes he’s going to be late for a meeting. He leaves Ana with a promise to see her on Sunday. Ana gets ready for her last day working at Clayton’s feeling good about her relationship with Christian. She exchanges a few emails with Christian about her confused feelings about being spanked. He tells her that she shouldn’t feel ashamed and that she should free her mind and her body. Later at work, she gets another delivery from Christian: a blackberry so that he can contact her even more frequently now. He sends her an email saying he’s leaving for Seattle and that he will see her on Sunday at Escala.

Ana and Kate finally finish packing their apartment. Taylor comes to get Ana’s Beetle so he can sell it, and Ana asks him how long he’s been working for Christian (4 years). He also adds that Christian is “a good man” and Ana hopes this is the truth. Jose and Elliot show up later, and Ana and Jose decide to leave Kate and Elliot alone and get a drink at a bar. Later on, Ana discovers an email, several missed calls, and a stern voicemail from Christian (she promised to email after work, but she forgot). She calls him and they talk for a bit, ending with him wishing her luck with the move tomorrow. The next day, Elliot helps Kate and Ana move into their new place in Seattle. Christian has fancy champagne delivered to them as housewarming gift.

Sunday arrives, and Ana heads to Escala. Upon arriving, Christian shows her a picture that was taken of them as a couple at the graduation in the Seattle Times (she is captioned as a “friend”). Christian has scheduled for the best ob-gin in the city, Dr. Greene, to see Ana for a full examination and to prescribe her birth control pills. Before the doctor shows up, Christian invites Ana for dinner at his mother’s house that evening, adding that he’s never introduced a girl to his family before. Dr. Greene arrives and exams Ana, leaving her with a prescription. Christian and Ana eat lunch together and then he takes her to the playroom/Red Room of Pain. He goes into Dominant mode and starts giving her orders as to how she should act when they are in the playroom. Her hair must be braided, and she must wear nothing but her panties and sit on her knees by the door until he tells her otherwise. She does as she is told and he is pleased. They engage in some kinky sex with her being shackled from the ceiling, fondled with a riding crop, and then fucked up against a wooden cross on the wall. Despite her exhaustion, he has sex with her a second time, this time doggie-style with her hands tied together with a cable tie that he bought at Clayton’s. With such excitement, Ana squirts all over Christian.

After some sleep, they get ready to go to Christian’s parents’ house for dinner. Christian, however, pocketed Ana’s panties during foreplay in the playroom and hasn’t given them back. Ana decides to call his bluff and not ask for them back because he knows that’s what he wants her to do, so she goes to the dinner without any panties on. Taylor drives them to the Greys’ house, and they discuss Mrs. Robinson briefly (she taught Christian how to dance). They arrive, and the family greets them, including Kate, Elliot, and Mia who is back from Paris. Ana begins to feel that Christian only invited her along because Elliot invited Kate and he felt obligated. She also discloses to the family that she’s planning on going to Georgia for a few days to see her mother, and Christian is obviously not thrilled about this. During dinner, they discuss various topics (Paris, Elliot’s current construction job, etc) and Christian discreetly caresses Ana’s thigh under the table, however, she abruptly shifts her legs away from him in response. He states he wants to show Ana the grounds and they leave the dining room together, with Christian practically dragging her across the backyard into the boathouse. She knows he’s angry, but pleads with him not to spank her and instead gently touches his face and initiates a tender romantic kiss. He responds passionately but breaks away from her saying, “What are you doing to me?” He reveals that by her shifting her legs from him during dinner was her way of refusing him (no one has ever refused him before), and he found it very arousing. He’s mad that she never told him about going to Georgia and he’s going to have a quick, rough anal sex with her and not let her cum as punishment.

After their tryst, Mia comes to find them so they can say goodbye to Elliot and Kate. Ana and Christian say their own farewells and head back to Escala. They discuss her trip to Georgia and Christian gives his blessing for her to go if it means so much to her. She says she needs time away from him and everything that has happened so she can get some clarity. Christian is worried that she is changing her mind about things, but tells her to take the time and sign the contract after Georgia. They arrive at Escala and get ready for bed. She wants him to make love to her and to be able to touch him, but he refuses. She insists on knowing more about his past so she can get to know him better, and he decides to tell her a few things after they engage in more kinky sex. He inserts 2 small metallic balls into her vagina and has her get him a glass of water (they stimulate as she walks). He spanks her a few times (for pleasure, not punishment), and they have sex. As they finally settle for sleep, Christian abruptly tells Ana that his birth mother was a crack whore who died when he was 4 years old.

Ana wakes the next morning alone. She feels saddened by the new information Christian has told her and has a better understanding of why he lives an isolated life; however she still doesn’t know why she can’t touch him. She meets Mrs. Jones, Christian’s housekeeper, in the kitchen. She finds Christian in his study, taking a business call. After his call, they have sex on his desk. He’s disappointed that she still wants to go to Georgia. Later during breakfast, he offers Ana his private jet for her trip, but she refuses. They discuss her internship interview that she has scheduled that day, though she refuses to tell Christian which publishing company it’s for so he won’t interfere. She brings up the info he told her the previous night about his birth mother and he reveals he’s never told anyone that before. He makes her promise to think about their arrangement while she is away, and they tell each other how much they’ll miss each other.

Ana goes to her interview at Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP). She meets Elizabeth Morgan, who is head of human resources. She is interviewed by Jack Hyde, the acquisitions editor. The interview goes well. At home, Ana and Kate discuss Christian. Kate says she thinks Christian is in love with Ana, and that Ana should confess her feelings to him, but she just isn’t sure about all of it. Later, her and Christian exchange more flirty emails and she tells him that she will contact him when she is in Georgia. Kate and Ana go to the airport, and part ways to get on their flights. Ana discovers Christian has upgraded her ticket to first class. She enjoys the perks of first class despite being annoyed at Christian’s stalker-ish tendencies. She sends him a few flirty emails before takeoff, and one of his responses talks about her being “bound and gagged in a crate.” After landing in Georgia, Ana sends a long email to Christian about how much she is “caught up in his spell” but the “crate” comment scares her because she doesn’t know if he’s joking or not. She shares her complicated feelings towards him and how she needs some distance to sort them out.

Ana has an emotional reunion with her mother and Bob. She texts Christian and her friends that she arrived in Georgia safely. She remembers Jose has an art gallery opening coming up and thinks about asking Christian to go with her. Later, at the beach, Ana and her mom discuss Christian and her mom gives her some good advice about men not being as complicated as women make them out to be, and that Ana should just take him literally and not over-think things. At the house, Ana unpacks and checks her email and sees Christian’s reply. His response is very long, basically saying that Ana has totally disarmed him and he has never wanted to share his lifestyle more with anyone else than he does with her. He wants to make things work between them and will do whatever it takes to make her trust him and be comfortable. She realizes how much she misses him after reading it.

Ana and Christian send emails to each other throughout much of the night. Christian leaves her hanging at one point, saying that he’s having dinner with an old friend and he will be driving. She figures out that the “old friend” is probably Mrs. Robinson and isn’t too happy. She sends Christian one last email asking him if it is Mrs. Robinson and doesn’t get a response. The next day, Ana and her mother are at a bar drinking Cosmopolitans and talking more about men. Her mom gets the feeling that Ana isn’t telling her everything that’s bothering her about Christian. Ana finally gets a response from Christian on her Blackberry, confirming that it was Mrs. Robinson and that she is just an old friend. He also makes a remark about how many Cosmos she’s drinking, and she figures out that he’s there somewhere watching her. She sees him across the room, and he walks over to their table. Ana is very mad but contains herself and introduces him to her mom. They exchange some friendly banter and Carla invites him over to dinner for the next evening, and he accepts. She excuses herself to the bathroom so Ana and Christian can be alone, and they discuss Mrs. Robinson while she is gone. Ana sees her as a child molester, and Christian just doesn’t see it that way and says that their sexual relationship is over, and she shouldn’t be mad about him meeting up with her. He says that she was a “force for good” and that she “helped” him when he needed it the most. Ana inquires more about their past relationship and how it ended, to which Christian reveals that her husband eventually found out about them. Ana asks “Did you love her?” Just as Carla returns and the conversation ends. Christian excuses himself and tells Ana he will call her in the morning. Carla is convinced that Christian has strong feelings for Ana and urges her to go to him and see it through, considering he’s flown across the country just to see her.

Ana knocks on Christian’s door and he opens it while taking a business call. She demands an answer to her last question, to which he says “no.” She decides to stay and he is glad and notes that no one has ever been so mad at him like she has, except his family. They embrace and have wind up having sex in the bathroom, despite the fact that she has her period (it doesn’t bother him). Afterwards, she notices a few burn scars on his chest that must have been from cigarettes. He assures her that Mrs. Robinson didn’t make those, and defends her again saying that she kept him from going down the same path as his birth mother. He goes to her for advice about lots of things, including Ana herself. He’s never had these in-depth discussions with anyone before Ana, except with his therapist, Dr. Flynn. He turns the tables and asks how she feels about their arrangement. She admits that she doesn’t think she can be his submissive for entire weekends (as stated in the contract), and he agrees, saying jokingly that she’s, “not a great submissive.” They discuss spanking, and he tells her that she can always use a “safe word” to stop him if she can’t take it. They talk some more and have sex in the bathtub. Ana admits to herself that she loves Christian. Later, they talk more about Christian’s past sexual partners, to which there are many (he can’t give her a specific number), and they were all submissive (however only 15 have been in the playroom). He reveals that he’s paid for sex in the past, and there are BDSM places around for people to go if they want to learn and engage in the lifestyle. Ana is shocked by this and says that she can’t shock him back. He reveals that she has shocked him several times (being a virgin, not wearing her underwear to his parents house, etc). He tells her that he has a surprise for her in the morning, and they go to sleep.

They get up very early the next day, and he takes her to a mystery location. While in the car, the song “Toxic” by Britney Spears comes on through Christian’s iPod. He says that one of his past submissive, Leila, put that song on there. Ana asks why things ended with Leila, and he says because she wanted more and he didn’t. He has never wanted more, until he met Ana. He’s had four long-term relationships apart from Elena (Mrs. Robinson’s real name, the first time we’ve heard it). They all ended with Christian not wanting more, and they did, apart from one who found someone else. All of the others “just didn’t work out.” All of the new information boggles Ana’s mind as they arrive at an airfield where Christian says they’re going to “chase the dawn” by going gliding. After the trip, he gives her a romantic kiss and they head out to eat breakfast at an IHOP. He says Carrick used to take him to IHOP as a kid when his mom as away at medical conferences. They order food and Ana brings up the fact that Christian has “changed his mind” about the nature of their relationship. He thinks of it more as that they have to “redefine our parameters.” She admits she was scared that he would leave her if she didn’t agree to everything in the contract, and he says that he isn’t going anywhere.

Christian drops Ana off at her mother’s house and they part ways. She tells Carla about her evening and offers to help her make a meal for Christian’s visit that night. Ana emails Christian, thanking him for gliding trip, and they exchange more flirty emails. Later, Ana gets a call from Elizabeth Morgan at SIP, and they offer her an internship, and she accepts. She gets a call from Christian soon after, and he tells her that an emergency has come up in Seattle, and he has to fly back right away and will not make dinner. He says Taylor will pick her up from the airport tomorrow. Later, Ana thinks about Christian’s change in attitude about wanting a more traditional relationship with her and realizes that Elena must have given him some advice about it, hence the change. She wonders if he landed safely and Seattle and emails him. They exchange more flirty banter. However, the “situation” in Seattle is not under control yet (Christian never reveals what it is).

Ana flies home the next day. Taylor meets her at the airport in Seattle and drives her to Escala. She asks how Christian is, and he says he is “preoccupied.” She arrives at Christian’s apartment, and he immediately embraces her and takes her to the bathroom where he goes down on her, and they have sex. They take a shower together, and she tells him that she got a job, but she won’t say where. She also invites him to go to Jose’s photography show in Portland on Thursday, and he accepts. He washes her body, and she asks if she can do the same to him, to which he refuses and initiates sex with her again instead.

Later, after eating a meal, Ana asks about the “situation,” and Christian says it’s “out of hand” but nothing for her to worry about. Christian requests that Ana go to the playroom in fifteen minutes. He’s had a whole wardrobe of clothes bought for her, as well. She goes to her room and assumes the required submissive playroom attire (panties only) and kneels by the playroom door. Christian enters and grabs something from a drawer. He instructs her that he is going to do something very intense to her, and she will not be able to see or hear him. He takes her to the bed, braids her hair, and shows her the flogger that he’s going to use on her. He reminds her of the safe words she should use if she is in pain (“yellow” to slow down, “red” to stop completely). She lies on the bed, blindfolds her, puts iPod ear buds in her ears, and ties her arms and legs (spread eagle style) to each of the four posts of the bed with leather cuffs. Beautiful music plays in her ears while Christian drags the flogger around her body to create different sensations. Eventually they have sex, and he releases her from her constraints and massages her shoulders afterwards. She asks him about what he heard her say in her sleep during their night together in Georgia, and he tells her that it was stuff about cages, strawberries, that she wanted more and that she missed him. She is relieved that it wasn’t anything else, and he wonders if she is hiding something from him.

Later, after sleeping, Ana wakes up and has to take her birth control pill (the time zone changes have screwed up her schedule). She finds Christian playing a sad song on his piano. She asks him when he started playing, and he says that when he was 6 years old, he threw himself into learning piano to please his new parents (Grace and Carrick). He wants to have sex on the piano, but she just wants to talk. They discuss the contract, and Christian says that the contract is pretty much obsolete at this point. She asks him to clarify what that means, and he states that he wants her to follow the rules all the time, but not the rest of the contract (unless they are in the playroom), and that he will still punish her if she breaks any of the rules. She wants to reread the rules, and he fetches her a copy of the contract to do so.

After reading, Ana rolls her eyes, which has always been a rule-breaker for Christian. She realizes what she’s done, and asks if he wants to spank her now, to which he obliges. However, she teases him by getting him to chase her around the kitchen. He playfully goes along with it and says that it’s almost as if she doesn’t want him to catch her, and she admits that’s exactly what it is. She states, “I feel about punishment the way you feel about me touching you” and he is immediately saddened and horrified by this, showing just how much the notion of anyone touching him makes him fearful. Ana says she lets him spank her because he needs it, and he admits that he does need to hurt her, but nothing that she couldn’t take. She wants to know why he needs to hurt her, and he says that if he tells her the reason, she will run screaming from the room and will never want to return. He doesn’t want to risk losing her because he couldn’t bear it and starts kissing her and begging her not to ever leave him. She senses in all of this, that Christian is lost in some private darkness and needs help. She decides to let him punish her. He is shocked and confused by this change of events, but she insists that he shows her “how much it hurts.” She admits she is confused and not sure about going through with it, but at least they will both know if, once and for all, if she can handle the extent of his need for control.

Christian leads Ana to the playroom and asks her to bend over a bench. She gets herself ready, mentally, telling herself that she can do this. Christian clarifies that he is going to hit her six times with a belt on the butt and that she will count each time. He tells her he is doing this because she rolled her eyes and tried to run away from her, and he doesn’t want her to do that. He begins, and hits her once with the belt and it hurts a lot. With each hit from the belt, Ana is in a lot of pain and cannot control tears streaming down her face despite wanting to control herself. After the sixth and final blow, he immediately embraces her lovingly; however she pulls away and wants nothing to do with him. She calls him a “fucked-up son of a bitch” and leaves the playroom. Christian is completely shocked and does not understand.

Ana cries in the other room, sad that she’s in love with “fifty shades” and that this was all a wake-up call that there is no way she can be with him if she has to endure punishment like that. Christian joins her, bringing her cream and Advil for the soreness on her butt. He holds her and begs for her not to hate him, and she apologizes for the terrible thing she said. She also states that she can’t be everything he wants her to be, and he disagrees, saying that she is everything he wants. She doesn’t understand, saying that she isn’t obedient, and she is “sure as hell” not going to let him hit her ever again like he just did. With a sudden bleak expression, he says, “You’re right. I should let you go. I’m not good for you.” She doesn’t want to go and finally confesses that she has fallen in love with him. He is horrified by this, saying that she can’t love him; that it is wrong and that he can’t make her happy. She claims he does make her happy, but he says “Not at the moment, not doing what I want to do.” With that, she resolves to leave him and asks for some privacy to shower and get dressed. Brokenhearted, Ana takes out a gift she got for Christian (a model kit for a glider) and leaves it for him with a note saying it reminds her of happier times.

The film begins with a feather falling to the feet of Forrest Gump who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. Forrest picks up the feather and puts it in the book Curious George, then tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him. The listeners at the bus stop change regularly throughout his narration, each showing a different attitude ranging from disbelief and indifference to rapt veneration.

On his first day of school, he meets a girl named Jenny, whose life is followed in parallel to Forrest’s at times. Having discarded his leg braces, his ability to run at lightning speed gets him into college on a football scholarship. After his college graduation, he enlists in the army and is sent to Vietnam, where he makes fast friends with a black man named Bubba, who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him when the war is over. Later while on patrol, Forrest’s platoon is attacked. Though Forrest rescues many of the men, Bubba is killed in action. Forrest is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism.

While Forrest is in recovery for a bullet shot to his “butt-tox”, he discovers his uncanny ability for ping-pong, eventually gaining popularity and rising to celebrity status, later playing ping-pong competitively against Chinese teams. At an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. Forrest reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie counterculture lifestyle.

Returning home, Forrest endorses a company that makes ping-pong paddles, earning himself $25,000, which he uses to buy a shrimping boat, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. His commanding officer from Vietnam, Lieutenant Dan, joins him. Though initially Forrest has little success, after finding his boat the only surviving boat in the area after Hurricane Carmen, he begins to pull in huge amounts of shrimp and uses it to buy an entire fleet of shrimp boats. Lt. Dan invests the money in Apple Computer and Forrest is financially secure for the rest of his life. He returns home to see his mother’s last days.

One day, Jenny returns to visit Forrest and he proposes marriage to her. She declines, though feels obliged to prove her love to him by sleeping with him. She leaves early the next morning. On a whim, Forrest elects to go for a run. Seemingly capriciously, he decides to keep running across the country several times, over some three and a half years, becoming famous.

In present-day, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny who, having seen him run on television, asks him to visit her. Once he is reunited with Jenny, Forrest discovers she has a young son, of whom Forrest is the father. Jenny tells Forrest she is suffering from a virus (probably HIV, though this is never definitively stated). Together the three move back to Greenbow, Alabama. Jenny and Forrest finally marry. The wedding is attended by Lt. Dan, who now has prosthetic legs and a fiancee. Jenny dies soon afterward.

In the near future, the Solar System is being struck by mysterious power surges of unknown origin, threatening the future of human life. After surviving an incident on an immense space antenna caused by one of these surges, Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), son of famed pioneering astronaut H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) is informed by U.S. Space Command (SpaceCom), the United States Armed Forces branch operating in Space, that the source of the surges has been traced to the “Lima Project” base. The Lima Project had been sent some 26 years prior to search for intelligent life from the farthest regions of the Solar System under Clifford McBride’s leadership, and disappeared 16 years prior in orbit around Neptune. A SpaceCom officer informs Roy that they believe Clifford may still be alive, and Roy is tasked with the mission of traveling to Mars to try and establish communication with him. Roy accepts the mission, and is joined by an old associate of his father, Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland).

After taking a commercial flight to the Moon, Roy and Colonel Pruitt are escorted by US military personnel to the SpaceCom lunar base, taking them across no-man’s-land. En route to the base via lunar rovers, they are ambushed by scavenging pirates, who kill most of the group except for Roy and Pruitt. After reaching the base, a dying Pruitt is placed into intensive care. Roy transfers to a SpaceCom flight, crewed by four SpaceCom officers, whom make up of Captain Lawrence Tanner (Donnie Keshawarz), Donald Stanford (Loren Dean), Franklin Yoshida (Bobby Nish), and Lorraine Deavers (Kimberly Elise). The crew aboard the Cepheus then flies to Mars.

During the journey to Mars, the ship receives a distress signal from a Norwegian bio medical research space station. Boarding the space station, Roy and the ship’s captain find it abandoned, only to be attacked by an aggressive baboon escaped from the Norwegian station. The ape kills Captain Tanner before being neutralized by Roy. Another baboon attacks Roy but he is able to escape the station with the captain’s body.

While preparing to make a routine landing on Mars, another power surge hits the ship, forcing manual intervention. The interim captain finds himself too scared to fly, leaving Roy to take the controls and land the ship safely.

Having landed on Mars (which apparently has only one manned settlement), Roy first goes through the cold the moody customs office headed by the sole customs officer and employee Tanya Pincus (Natasha Lyonne) before he is taken to the underground SpaceCom base, where he briefly meets Helen Lantos (Ruth Negga), the facility director, and is then tasked with recording voice messages to be sent to the Lima Project, in hopes that Clifford will respond. After going off-script, the crew apparently receive a response, but Roy is abruptly taken off the mission, as his personal connection to the mission is deemed to pose a psychological risk to himself and the mission’s success.

While being kept in a “comfort room”, he is visited by Lantos, who reveals she is a native Martian and has only been once to Earth as a child. She also reveals that she is the daughter of Lima Project crew-members. In a secret conversation, she shows Roy classified footage from the Lima Project, revealing that Clifford’s crew mutinied against him trying to return back to Earth, leading him to kill them all by turning off their life-support systems, and that her parents were among the crew killed. She also tells him that the crew that brought him to Mars are soon heading to the Lima Project base themselves, where they intend to destroy it with a nuclear payload. The two decide that Roy is the only person who should confront Clifford, and Helen sneaks Roy out of the base, leading him to an underground lake beneath the rocket launch site.

As the rocket takes off, Roy climbs aboard, and after being discovered, the crew is instructed to neutralize him. The ensuing altercation results, despite Roy’s best efforts, in the death of the entire crew. Now alone, Roy takes command of the ship. During the long journey to Neptune, he reflects on his relationship with his father, as well as that of his estranged wife, Eve. The isolation and stress of the mission take a toll on his mental condition, but after several weeks he arrives at the Lima Project.

While approaching the base in a small module, another surge strikes, damaging the module and forcing Roy to enter the base through a space-walk. Finding the Lima base nearly abandoned and most of its crew dead, he plants the nuclear payload and finally meets his father. Clifford McBride, now the sole survivor of the base, explains to his son that the cause of the surges is the ship’s malfunctioning anti-matter power source, which was damaged during a mutiny, and which he has been unable to solve. Clifford also reveals that he has continued to work on the project all these years, refusing to lose faith in the possibility of non-human intelligent life.

Despite his father’s protests, Roy arms the payload and prepares to return to his ship with Clifford, who ultimately resorts to using the thrusters on his spacesuit to launch himself into deep space, refusing to go back to Earth. Roy tries to save him, but Clifford refuses the help, leaving a distraught Roy to watch as his father drifts away in Neptune’s orbit. Alone, Roy manages to thrust himself back onto his ship, going through Neptune’s ring using a piece of the Lima Project ship’s hull to shield himself, while also bringing along with him the data retrieved from the base. Not having enough fuel to return on his own power, he uses the shock-wave from the nuclear explosion to propel the ship home.

The film opens with Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) sitting at his desk in his room, writing. He talks about walking home from the movies one night. As he is bouncing and messing with a ball, he recites parts of the movie that he’s just seen when a group of guys pull up in a red Corvair. They start to call him a greaser because he has greasy hair, and he tries to evade them. They’re the Socials, clean-cut teens dressed in Varsity letter jackets and chinos, also known as the rich kids or the South Side Socs. The Socs stop, get out, and attack Pony, knocking him to the ground as he struggles. The soc on top of Pony puts his knees on Pony’s elbows, asking, “How would you like that haircut to begin just below the neck?” Ponyboy struggles but is unable to unpin himself. As the socs try and shut him up, the knife accidentally slips and cuts his head slightly. Hearing his screams, Pony’s older brothers, Darrel (Patrick Swayze) and Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and the rest of their gang, Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio), Dallas Winston (Matt Dillion), Steve Randall (Tom Cruise), and Two-Bit Matthews (Emilio Estevez) come to his rescue, chasing off the Socs. Darrel, Sodapop, and Ponyboy lost their parents in a car crash. Darrel, a high school grad with a job, acts as the father figure. Soda is a dropout who works at a gas station. The three are allowed to live together without parental supervision as long as they stay out of trouble. Pony is still in high school at Darry’s insistence and is actually a good student, earning good grades. However, Pony is often absent-minded, getting into trouble when he doesn’t let his older brothers know where he is after dark and other small slips. Darry is very protective of his two younger brothers, more so with Pony, since they are all still reeling from the trauma of losing their parents.

Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy go to a drive-in movie and sit in the bleachers. Cherry (Diane Lane) quarrels with her Soc date and leaves his car, going to sit in front of the greasers with her friend . Dallas tries to chat her up but Cherry seems to connect more with Ponyboy and Johnny. Dallas finally says something offensive and Cherry, unafraid of his tough-guy attitude, tells him to shut his mouth. When Dallas reaches for her, Johnny stops him, being the only member of the group able to do so. Spurned, Dallas stalks off. Pony goes with Cherry to the concession stand. While waiting in line, they talk about their respective friends. Pony’s view is that he and his friends are persecuted by the Socs because they’re poor, dress differently and are often considered delinquents. Cherry counters, saying that her group has their own problems, ones that the greasers couldn’t even imagine. Back at their seats, Two-Bit joins the group and after the movie ends, the three boys and two girls walk together chatting. Cherry’s boyfriend, Bob, stops in his car nearby. He’s drunk and harshly admonishes her for hanging out with the greasers. Two-Bit immediately pulls out the butterfly knife he carries and smashes the end off a bottle to use as a weapon. To avoid a violent fight, Cherry reluctantly goes with Bob.

While they walk past Johnny’s house, they hear Johnny’s parents having a violent fight. Johnny decides he’s going to sleep out in the vacant lot near his house until his parents stop fighting. When he arrives home, Ponyboy is harshly reprimanded by Darry for staying out so late. When his brother tries to stop the argument, Darry pushes Pony a bit too hard, spilling him to the floor. Pony runs out of the house despite Darry’s attempts to apologize and he finds Johnny in the vacant lot. Still very much upset, Pony gets Johnny to walk to the local park with him.

Not long after, the Socs find Ponyboy and Johnny in the park, still angry about the greasers trying to pick up Cherry and her friend. They mock both Pony and Johnny for having long, greasy hair and Pony throws an insult back. The Socs are further provoked when Pony spits at them and tries to run, making it as far as the park’s fountain. The Socs knock Johnny to the ground and dunk Ponyboy’s head in the water, nearly drowning him. Johnny pulls out a switchblade to stop them. Bob is left dead and everyone flees. Johnny, unusually calm only a few minutes after he kills Bob, decides that he and Pony should find Dallas, who will be able to help them in their predicament. They go to a house where Dallas had been partying with an old friend (a cameo by singer Tom Waits) and talk to him about hiding out. Dallas gives them instructions to board a train to a small village called Windrixville where they can hide out in an abandoned church. Johnny and Ponyboy hop a freight train and make their way, break into the church, and fall asleep. The next morning Johnny comes back with bologna and bread, cigarettes, a paperback copy of “Gone With the Wind” and, oddly, a bottle of peroxide. Pony is puzzled by the last item until Johnny tells him that they should cut their hair and dye Pony’s blonde so they can’t fit the descriptions the police will have for them. Johnny also mentions that if they have to appear before a judge, that the judge will order them to get their hair cut anyway. They cut their hair with Johnny’s switchblade and Ponyboy dyes his blond. The two hide out in the church for several days, waiting for word from Dallas. The two spend several days playing cards, betting with cigarettes, Pony reads “Gone With the Wind” to Johnny, and they try to trap a rabbit. One morning, Pony wakes up early and sees the valley below the church in the sunrise, admiring its beauty. He recites a Robert Frost poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” that Johnny takes to heart.

A few days later Dallas arrives and takes them out to eat. He tells Ponyboy about how the police are looking for Bob’s killer, even hauling Dallas himself in for questioning. Soda and Darry are both worried about Pony’s disappearance but Dallas has assured them that the two are safe.

Johnny wants to turn himself in as it sounds like they can claim self-defense, but Dallas tries to discourage him, warning him of what can happen if Johnny gets jail time. On returning to the church, they find it burning and a group of young kids milling about with two adults and a school bus. The woman exclaims some kids are trapped inside. Johnny and Ponyboy feel responsible, thinking that one of them must’ve dropped a lit cigarette that sparked the fire. Over Dallas’ harsh objection, they enter to rescue the kids, Dallas reluctantly following. They find the kids in a back room and carry them to safety, Dallas helping out. Suddenly the roof collapses and Johnny is badly burnt and his back is broken. Dallas pulls both of them to safety. EMS finally arrives and takes them back to their hometown and the hospital. The boys are all hailed as heroes, and Ponyboy is tearfully reunited with Darrel and Sodapop.

The Socs and Greasers plan a big rumble to settle things after the death of Bob, and Cherry acts as the go-between: No knives or other weapons; fighting will only be hand-to-hand. Two-Bit and Pony go to the hospital to visit Dallas and Johnny. Johnny is suffering from horrible burns and is in traction, laying on his chest, seemingly paralyzed. The visit is very emotional and Johnny becomes very upset when a nurse tells him that his mother has come to visit. He doesn’t want to see her, as he feels she doesn’t care about him. He orders the nurse (a cameo by the novel’s author, SE Hinton) to send her away, and faints. Pony and Two-Bit leave, shaken by the encounter. When they visit Dallas, he is arguing with a nurse. Dallas asks about Johnny and they tell him the outcome doesn’t look promising. Dallas is desperate to join the big rumble and asks Two-Bit for his knife, talking about revenge for Johnny’s sake.

On the night of the rumble, despite signs of exhaustion, Ponyboy wants to go. Darrell reluctantly lets him participate, telling him and Soda to run if cops arrive. The Socs arrive and the big rumble gets underway in a heavy rainstorm as the groups pair off and start slugging. Both sides get their licks in but after a while the Socs retreat, the Greasers whooping with delight at their victory. Just before the first punch is thrown, Dallas arrives, having left the hospital. When the fight ends, Dallas grabs Pony and they drive to the hospital to see Johnny, who is weaker than ever. On the way, Dallas tells Pony to stay tough and nothing will ever faze him. When they arrive, Dallas tells Johnny that the Socs have been driven out of their territory for good. Johnny seems not to care and tells Pony to “stay gold”. Johnny dies and Dallas becomes incredibly upset, dry-firing a pistol at a doctor and babbling madly before he runs off. Pony heads home to find Darrell and the rest of the gang nursing their wounds. He tells them that Johnny died and Dallas tore off in a fury. While Pony worries that Dallas will do something crazy, Dallas holds up a convenience store and is shot and wounded. He calls Pony’s house, asking for a place to hide from the police. The cops chase him and shoot him when he waves the unloaded gun at them. The police open fire and his friends arrive just as he dies; his last word is “Pony”. Pony faints from exhaustion.

At the trial Cherry gives her testimony and Ponyboy is declared not guilty. Back at school Ponyboy is now neatly dressed and coiffed; Cherry ignores him and a teacher gives him an extension to finish his writing assignment.

At home Darrel rides Ponyboy as Sodapop runs off into the night. The three brothers reunite and Sodapop tells Darrel to stop being so hard on Ponyboy, the three only have each other and they all need to get along. They have a group hug and return home.

We back out of the webbing of neurons and brain cells as the title credits appear, finding ourselves emerging from a pore on the sweat-glistened skin of the protagonist: our narrator (Edward Norton), as he looks down the barrel of a gun that’s been stuck in his mouth. The gun is held by a man named Tyler (Brad Pitt) who checks his watch, counting down to ‘ground zero’ before he asks if the narrator has anything to say. The narrator mumbles through the gun before it’s removed and says more clearly that he can’t think of anything. As Tyler looks out of the high rise window to the dark city below them, the narrator recalls just how he met Tyler before stopping himself and bringing us to the beginning of the story.

The narrator tells us he hasn’t slept for six months. His job as a traveling product recall specialist for a car company doesn’t help his insomnia since he must travel often, experiencing bouts of jet lag in addition to the everyday stress of his position, admiring the ‘tiny life’ of single-serving soap and shampoo at every location. If he can’t sleep, he surfs the channels or browses through “Furni” (a parody of IKEA) catalogs purchasing the next piece of decor to add to his apartment; he’s a self-proclaimed slave of consumerism. He goes to his doctor seeking help, but all the doctor will do is suggest an herbal supplement instead of drugs and that the narrator visit a support group for testicular cancer to see real pain. There, the narrator meets Robert ‘Bob’ Paulson (Meat Loaf), the ‘big moosie’ and an ex-bodybuilder and steroid user who suffers from an extreme case of gynecomastia due to hormone treatment after his testicles were removed. Bob is quite willing to hug the narrator in support. Stuck between Bob’s enormous breasts, the narrator finally finds peace and bursts into tears. The emotional release allows him to sleep and he subsequently becomes addicted to support groups, mapping out his week attending different meetings and feigning illness. However, the appearance of a woman named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) throws the narrator’s ‘system’ out of whack. He recognizes her as a ‘tourist’, having seen her at multiple meetings – including testicular cancer – and he is disturbed by her lies to the point where he can’t sleep anymore.

After one meeting, he confronts her. She argues that she’s doing exactly what he does and quips that the groups are ‘cheaper than a movie and there’s free coffee’. Instead of ratting each other out, they agree to split up the week and exchange numbers. Despite his efforts, the narrator’s insomnia continues. On a flight back from one of his business trips, the narrator meets Tyler Durden. Tyler offers a unique perspective on emergency procedure manuals in the plane and they strike up a casual conversation. Tyler is a soap salesman, if he’s not working nights as a projectionist and slipping bits of porn between reels. The narrator arrives at the baggage claim to discover that his suitcase has been confiscated, most likely due to a mysterious vibration, before he taxis home. However, home, a fifteenth story condominium, has been blasted into the night by what was theorized to be a faulty gas line ignited by a spark from the refrigerator. Having nowhere to go, the narrator finds Tyler’s business card and calls him up. They meet in a parking lot behind a bar where Tyler invites the narrator to ask to come live with him…on one condition: that the narrator hit Tyler as hard as he can. The narrator, though puzzled, complies and they engage in a fist fight before sharing a couple of drinks. The experience is surprisingly euphoric and the narrator and Tyler return to Tyler’s dilapidated house where it’s clear that Tyler is squatting.

Tyler and the narrator engage in more fights over the coming days and they soon attract the attention of other ‘tough guys’. Finding their little fighting group growing, Tyler establishes a formal ‘fight club’ in the basement of the bar where they had their first fight. Membership quickly increases and Tyler and the narrator fashion a series of rules, the first two being ‘you do not talk about fight club.’ The rules are consistently broken, with members inviting their friends to join them. Time and again, Tyler proves his insightful, if unorthodox and immoral, views on life.

The narrator meets up with Marla by chance, telling her that he hasn’t attended any other meetings because he’s joined a new support group for men only. While he still treats her with mild contempt, it’s clear that he considers her with interest. When she overdoses on Xanax, she calls the narrator who, tired of her rambling, sets the phone down. He discovers later that Tyler picked up the phone, followed the call to Marla’s home, and brought her back to the house where they engaged in vigorous sex, much to the narrator’s disgust. The next morning in the kitchen, Marla finds the narrator, who is astonished to see her in his house. The Narrator’s astonishment insults her and she leaves in disgust. After she leaves, Tyler enters the kitchen and joyfully reveals that he and Marla had sex the night before. He also gravely makes the narrator promise that he’ll never mention Tyler to Marla.

That night the narrator joins Tyler while he steals human fat out of the dumpster of a liposuction clinic. Tyler says that the best fat for making the soap he sells comes from human beings. Back in their kitchen, Tyler shows the narrator how to render tallow from the fat. After explaining a bit about the history of soapmaking, Tyler plants a wet kiss on the back of the narrator’s hand and dumps pure lye on the spot, causing a horrific chemical burn. Tyler refuses to let the narrator wash the lye off his hand, saying that water will worsen the burn, and tells the narrator that the burn is a rite of passage – Tyler has burned his own hand in an identical way. Tyler also forces the narrator to accept allegiance to him and then neutralizes the burn with vinegar. Later, when they meet with a cosmetics salesperson at a department store, the narrator remarks that Tyler’s soap sells for a very high price.

With the narrator, he holds a college dropout (Joon Kim) at gunpoint and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t pursue his dream of becoming a veterinarian. He allows Lou (Peter Iacangelo), the owner of the bar where their fight club is held, to beat him up before coughing blood all over him and demanding to stay in the basement. Horrified, Lou agrees. Tyler gives the club members a “homework assignment”: they will all pick a fight with a complete stranger and lose. The narrator says it’s a much harder task than anyone would think. Bob accosts people in a downtown plaza; another member antagonizes a priest.

After a period of days, Marla leaves and Tyler introduces the narrator to his newest hobby. Using his proficient skills in soap-making, Tyler has turned the basement of the house into a laboratory where he uses soap and other ingredients to make explosives. Tyler and the narrator continue managing fight club, but this time, at a much different frequency. Receiving flack at work, the narrator finally confronts his boss (Zach Grenier) with knowledge about substandard practice and negotiates to work from home with increased pay to keep his mouth shut. When his boss objects and calls security, the narrator beats himself up severely so that, by the time security arrives, they are led to believe that the narrator’s boss assaulted his employee.

Tyler eventually assigns homework to his recruits and preaches to them about the detriments of consumerism and relying on society and authority figures. He proposes to revert back to the time where a man’s worth depended on the sweat on his back and where he only used what he needed. This philosophy evolves into what Tyler calls ‘Project Mayhem,’ and the fighting in basements turns into mischievous acts of vandalism and destruction. Their actions do not go unnoticed, but Tyler manages to show the lead investigator that the very people he’s hunting are those that they depend on; waiters, bus drivers, sewer engineers, and more. They threaten the police chief with castration and the investigation is called off. The dilapidated house where Tyler and the narrator live turns into Mayhem central, where each new recruit is put through a rigorous period of initiation and training and where the latest plans are hatched. While Project Mayhem grows, the narrator begins to feel more and more distant from Tyler and jealousy sets in, making him go so far as to beat up and disfigure one recruit (Jared Leto) because he ‘wanted to destroy something beautiful’. As they walk away from this fight club meeting, Tyler drives the narrator and two members in a large Lincoln Town Car. In the rain, Tyler taunts the narrator, suggestion that he hasn’t even begun to live his life to his fullest potential. When he allows the car to drift into oncoming traffic, Tyler scolds the narrator for being weak and pathetic. Tyler then admits that he destroyed the narrator’s apartment. The narrator finally gives in, Tyler lets the car drift and they slam head-on into another vehicle. They emerge from the wreck with Tyler exclaiming that the narrator has a new life based on his living through a near-death experience.

When Tyler disappears for a while, the narrator is left at home with an ever increasing band of Mayhem members who watch television and laugh at their publicized acts of vandalism. When the narrator demands to know more about their mischief, Bob tells him “The 1st rule of Project Mayhem is you do not ask questions.”

Later Bob is killed during a botched sabotage operation and the narrator seeks to disband the group before things get out of control. He tries to find Tyler and discovers a list of phone numbers he recently used. The narrator trails the list all over the country, discovering that fight clubs have sprouted everywhere.

At one particular bar, the bartender addresses the narrator as ‘sir’ which prompts the narrator to ask if he knows him. The bartender, after being assured that he’s not being put through a test, tells the narrator that he is Tyler Durden. In shock, the narrator returns to his hotel room and calls up Marla, asking if they’ve ever had sex. Though irritated, Marla confirms their relationship and states that she knows him as “Tyler Durden.” Marla hangs up and Tyler suddenly appears in the room and confronts the narrator, telling him he broke his promise to not speak about Tyler to Marla. A few minutes of conversation confirms that they are, indeed, one person. The narrator has insomnia; he can’t sleep so, whenever he thinks he is (or at random parts of a day), Tyler’s persona takes over. The epiphany causes the narrator to faint. When he wakes up, he finds another phone list beside him with calls from all over the country.

He returns to his home to find it completely empty but one bulletin board yields a display of folders detailing certain buildings within the financial district. He finds that each one has been infiltrated by members of Project Mayhem and that Tyler is planning on destroying them, thereby erasing credit card company records and ‘wiping the slate clean’. In a panic, the narrator grabs all the information and reports himself to the local police. However, after telling the inspector everything he knows and being left with two officers, the narrator discovers that the officers are Mayhem members and they tell him that they were instructed by him to ‘take the balls’ of anyone who interfered with Project Mayhem…even him. The narrator manages to escape by stealing one of the officers pistols and runs to one of the buildings set for demolition. He finds an unmarked van in the parking garage filled with nitroglycerin and attempts to disarm the bomb. Tyler appears and goads him but the narrator successfully disarms the bomb. He and Tyler engage in a fierce fight which appears oddly on the surveillance cameras since the narrator is only fighting himself. The Tyler personality wins and reactivates the bomb and the narrator ‘brings himself’ to another building where they can safely watch the destruction.

Back at the opening scene the narrator, with the gun in his mouth, mumbles again and tells Tyler, “I still can’t think of anything”. Tyler smiles and says, “Ah, flashback humor”. The narrator begs that Tyler abandon the project but Tyler is adamant. He professes that what he’s doing is saving mankind from the oppression of consumerism and unnecessary luxuries and that there won’t even have to be any casualties; the people who work in the buildings are all Mayhem members, completely aware of the plan. Near breaking point, the narrator comes to realize that whatever Tyler does, he can do. He sees Tyler with the gun in his hand and realizes that it’s actually in his hand. He puts it up to his own chin and tells Tyler to listen to him. He says that his eyes are open and then puts the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. The bullet shoots out of the side of his jaw and Tyler is ‘killed’ with a gaping wound to the back of his head. As the narrator recovers, members of Project Mayhem arrive with snacks and Marla in tow (Tyler had previously instructed her to be brought to them).

The prologue, spoken by Galadriel, shows the Dark Lord Sauron forging the One Ring which he can use to conquer the lands of Middle-earth through his enslavement of the bearers of the Rings of Power powerful magical rings given to individuals from the races of Elves, Dwarves and Men. A Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed to counter Sauron and his forces at the foot of Mount Doom, but Sauron himself appears to kill Elendil, the High King of Arnor and Gondor, and Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor.

After Elendil falls, his son, Isildur, grabs the hilt of his father’s broken sword Narsil, and slashes at Sauron’s hand. The stroke cuts off Sauron’s fingers, separating him from the Ring and vanquishing his army. However, because Sauron’s life is bound in the Ring, he is not completely defeated until the Ring itself is destroyed in the lava and fire of Mt. Doom, where it was forged. Isildur takes the Ring and succumbs to its temptation, refusing to destroy it, but he is later ambushed and killed by orcs on the shores of the River Anduin. The ring is lost in the riverbed.

The Ring is found 2,500 years later, and eventually it comes to the creature Gollum, who takes it underground for five centuries, giving Gollum “unnaturally long life.” The Ring “abandons” him however, and is found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, much to the grief of Gollum, who called it his “precious”. Bilbo returns to his home in the Shire with the Ring, and the story jumps forward in time sixty years. At his 111th birthday, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir Frodo Baggins.

The Wizard Gandalf soon learns it is the One Ring, and sends him to Bree with Sam, with plans to meet him there after Gandalf goes to Isengard to meet the head of his order, Saruman. Saruman reveals that the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, have left Mordor to capture the Ring and kill whoever carries it; having already turned to Sauron’s cause, he then imprisons Gandalf atop his tall tower home, Orthanc. Gandalf sees Saruman’s ultimate plan; he has begun to destroy the forest surrounding Isengard for fuel to forge weapons for an army of larger and stronger orcs, the Uruk-hai.

Frodo and Sam are soon joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin. After encountering and eluding a Ringwraith on the road, they manage to reach Bree, and there they meet a man called Strider, who agrees to lead them to Rivendell and helps them elude the Ringwraiths again. The hobbits agree because Gandalf isn’t there to guide them. After some travelling, they spend the night on the hill of Weathertop, where they are attacked by the Nazgûl. Strider battles the spectres and fights them off, but Frodo is grievously wounded with a Morgul blade, and they must quickly get him to Rivendell for healing. While chased by the Nazgûl, Frodo is taken by the elf Arwen to the elvish haven of Rivendell, and healed by her father, Elrond.

In Rivendell Frodo meets Gandalf, who explains why he didn’t meet them at Bree as planned – while imprisoned atop Orthanc, he was able to escape with the aide of Gwaihir, a giant eagle. In the meantime, there are many meetings between various peoples, and Elrond calls a council to decide what should be done with the Ring. The Ring can only be destroyed by throwing it into the fires (that is, lava) of Mount Doom, where it was forged. Mount Doom is located in Mordor, near Sauron’s fortress of Barad-dûr, and will be an incredibly dangerous journey. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom as all the others argue about who should or shouldn’t take it.

He is accompanied by his hobbit friends and Gandalf, as well as Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. Also travelling with them are the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli and Boromir, the son of the Steward of Gondor. Together they comprise the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship set out and try to pass the mountain Caradhras, but they are stopped by the freezing cold and by Saruman, who uses his wizardry to create an avalanche. They are forced to travel under the mountain through the Mines of Moria. After journeying partway through the Mines, Pippin accidentally gives away their presence to a band of orcs. The Fellowship encounter a Balrog, an ancient demon of fire and shadow, at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf confronts the Balrog on the bridge, allowing the others to escape the mines, while he falls with the creature into the abyss below.

The group flees to the elvish realm of Lothlórien, where they are sheltered by its rulers, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn. Galadriel is tested when she tries to convince Frodo to give the ring to her but she regains her senses and bids him to protect the ring until it can be destroyed.

After resting, the band decide to travel on the River Anduin towards Parth Galen. Before they leave, Galadriel gives Frodo the Phial of Galadriel, a light source. After landing at Parth Galen, Boromir, affected by the ring’s power, tries to take the Ring from Frodo, who manages to escape by putting the Ring on his finger and vanishing.

Knowing that the Ring’s temptation will be too strong for the Fellowship, Frodo decides to leave them and go to Mordor alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship are attacked by Uruk-hai, larger and stronger orcs bred by Saruman that can withstand sunlight. Merry and Pippin, realizing that Frodo is leaving, distract the orcs, allowing Frodo to escape.

In a desperate act of self-redemption, Boromir rushes to the aid of the two hobbits but is mortally wounded by the orc commander Lurtz, and Merry and Pippin are captured. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli find Boromir, who regrets attempting to steal the Ring and dies. His body is later placed in a boat and sent over the Falls of Rauros and down the Anduin.

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his son Ralph are hunting deer; Ralph drops a buck as Keller recites the Lord’s Prayer, then smiles approvingly at the teen. On the drive home, Keller tells his son to always “be ready.”

An old RV drives past the Dover house. Later they talk about the family finances; Ralph wonders why they don’t rent out the grandfather’s old apartment, Keller says it is in too poor condition.

The Dover family, Keller, his wife Grace, son and daughter, walk to a neighbor’s house for Thanksgiving dinner with their friends the Birches. The families have a good time together. While the adults cook, the kids go out. Anna Dover jumps on the old RV parked by the curb. They realize someone is inside and return to the Birch house. Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) is an affable man and plays a lousy trumpet. After dinner, the two youngest daughters, one from either family, leave to go back to Anna’s house to get her safety whistle she is supposed to carry at all times.

Sometime later Keller realizes the girls haven’t returned and that the teens hadn’t escorted the two young ones. Keller searches his own home to no avail. Ralph returns from looking also and mentions the RV from earlier.

Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) has Chinese food alone and chats with the waitress. His phone buzzes.

After a police hunt, the white RV is found parked outside a gas station next to a wooded area. When Det. Loki, who heads the case, goes to confront the RV’s driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), Alex panics, tries to speed away but crashes into the trees.

Alex is taken in for questioning, but it is found that he has the IQ of a 10-year-old and rarely speaks. Detective Loki goes to see Alex’s aunt, Holly Jones (Melissa Leo), who raised him with his uncle after his parents died when he was six. Alex’s uncle left home a couple of years ago after a domestic dispute with his aunt. Alex spends most nights sleeping in the RV and does not have many things. The RV shows no forensic evidence indicating the girls were forcibly taken into or struggled inside the RV, and Alex’s low intelligence means he couldn’t have covered up such evidence.

At night many volunteers search the woods calling for the girls. Loki comes to the Birch house and gets better photos of their daughter. At the Dovers, Loki tells Grace they passed the lie detector tests they did, he asks if there was a reason the girls ran away. Grace is weepy and says the girls were happy, Loki vows to find the girl. He greets Keller, who seems sure it must be the RV driver.

Loki tells the Dovers the evidence against Alex Jones is weak and tries to calm Keller down. The polygraph tests taken prove inconclusive due to Alex’s low IQ, and he repeatedly denies ever having seen the children. As the police are unable to find evidence against Alex, he will be released in two days. Loki asks his Capt to hold Alex longer, but the senior refuses. Loki updates him on the search.

Loki interviews sex offenders within a 10-mile radius of the girls’ homes. Loki discovers that a Father Patrick Dunn has a bound and mummified body in a barricaded basement. The body is wearing a circular medallion with a maze-like design. Father Dunn claims that he did not know who the man was, but that in confession the man talked about killing sixteen children and also admitted to having a marital dispute. Father Dunn confesses that he convinced the man to come to his house, where he killed him “to save the children” and is arrested for murder.

The search of the woods and river continues. Keller has found out when Alex is being released and attacks him in the police parking lot. He hears Alex say “They didn’t cry until I left them.” Though no one is close enough to hear this to corroborate, Keller takes this as proof that Alex took the girls.

Captain O’Malley lets Keller off with a warning and sends him home after a brief talk with Loki.

At the Jones house, Loki interviews Alex and Holly again about the parking lot incident. He threatens to send the aunt to jail if Alex is not honest. He then leaves and stands in front of an old car.

Grace is distraught, Keller gives her a sedative to help her sleep. He tells his son to be brave and grownup and look after his mother, then leaves the house.

That night, Keller abducts Alex at gunpoint while walking his dog, and imprisons him in his father’s old abandoned, run-down apartment house. The next morning He shows Franklin Birch, the captured man bound with duct tape; Birch is horrified as Keller starts questioning.

Detective Loki researches past unsolved missing children’s cases. One is Barry Milland, a boy that went missing 26 years ago, when he was six years old. An interview with his mother shows her playing and replaying a VHS tape of him just before his abduction. He interviews Father Dunn again, in custody. Dunn says the man abducted kids in daylight and took more than one at a time. Loki feels the info is useless. The body is not identified by DNA or missing persons’ reports.

Keller repeatedly beats Alex for information, enraged that the man won’t say what he did with the girls.

During a candlelight vigil for the missing girls, Detective Loki notices a man acting suspicious but loses him in a chase.

That evening Birch watches the news item on TV about the man, they show a sketch and the next day he goes to see Keller and tell him there is another possible man.

Loki and his boss, Capt. O’Malley argues about resources for the continuing hunt.

Loki watches the video of Alex’ interview; he gets a phone call tip. A discount store clerk recognizes him and states that he comes in from time to time to examine children’s mannequins and buy children’s clothing. She promises to contact Loki if he comes to the store again.

Franklin is overcome with guilt and tells his wife Nancy (Viola Davis) what they have done and brings her to see Keller. Keller brings Nancy to the apartment where Alex is brutally beaten, bloody and tied to the bathroom floor. Shocked, she unties Alex and tries to talk to him nicely, but he attempts to escape. Keller grabs him. Tied again, Alex watches as Keller starts building something from plywood.

Later, Keller brings the Birches back to the apartment. Keller has built an enclosure around the bathtub in which he nails Alex. It is devoid of light except for a small PVC tube talk-hole. Keller says otherwise he would kill the man, and challenges the Birches to let him go. Franklin says it has to stop but does nothing when Nancy tells him to think of Joy.

While the Birches teen daughter Eliza is in the bath, the strange man walks silently in their house. Later the hooded man enters the Dover’s house, Grace hears something and jumps out of bed. She finds an open window and believes Anna had come back. Detective Loki arrives writes down her statement of someone coming in through the window. Grace shows him the basement, Keller’s well-organized workshop. Loki sees a bag of lye and asks Grace where Keller is; she says he is out looking for their daughter.

In the pouring rain, Loki follows Keller to a liquor store parking lot close to the building where Alex is being confined. Keller realizes the situation as he walks to the building, turns around, and goes into the liquor store instead.

Loki wonders what he was doing in the area. Keller approaches with a bottle and asks why he is being followed. He says this is first drink in nine years. Loki urges Keller to take care of himself and his wife. It has been six days, Keller gets very angry, but then goes home to sleep. He dreams he sees Anna.

Loki works at his computer. He reads an old news archive of a suicide, which occurred at 234 Campobello, the same location Keller was near.

The next day Keller tortures Alex with alternating scalding and freezing water from the shower-head. Alex tries to talk, but Keller just wants to hear where the girls are. Keller kneels to pray. Loki arrives at the boarded-up building and enters the ground floor. He finds Keller pretending to sleep on the floor. Keller gives the policeman a short tour of the ramshackle building, and then his cell phone rings with the store clerk, the intruder has been spotted. The clerk tells Loki the license plate number, and he leaves quickly.

Loki confronts Taylor at his home, notices he is strange and forcibly handcuffs him. He calls it in and searches the house. The walls are covered in drawings of intricate mazes. In a back room, locked boxes are filled with maze books, venomous snakes, and bloody children’s clothing. At the police station, Keller Dover and the Birches identify clothing belonging to their children from the crates, and Taylor confesses to killing them.

Taylor is weeping while handcuffed in the interrogation room and draws a maze. Loki watches for a while then enters. He loses control and beats Taylor during questioning, and other cops rush in. Taylor manages to grab one of the officers’ gun from his belt and commits suicide.

Back at the apartment prison Keller sits and recites the Lord’s Prayer.

At the police station, the Captain chides Loki for the death.

Keller is drinking as Alex finally talks and mentions something about finding the girls in a maze.

Keller goes to the Jones home to “apologize” to Holly for attacking Alex at the police station. She invites him in and tells Keller her son died of cancer and commiserated. Keller says he dreams of Anna in a maze. Holly also mentions her husband kept snakes. A newspaper headline grabs Keller’s attention, the report of Taylor’s suicide.

Capt. O’Malley tries to tell Loki to get over it, you can’t win them all and to find a girlfriend. Loki goes to his workstation in a rage. In a pile of photos, he notices a picture of a maze similar to the one Taylor was drawing. Back at Taylor’s house, another cop reveals the blood on the children’s clothes is later found to be pig’s blood. Taylor is now felt to be a fake killer copying a book titled “The Invisible Man” which prominently features mazes, especially a circular maze (seen in the “O” in the “Prisoners” logo and as the maze medallion worn by the body in Father Dunn’s basement) which Taylor was drawing while in custody. Loki can’t figure out how Taylor had the missing girl’s clothes.

He returns to the Dover’s house and finds a small sock in the bushes. Someone calls Grace, and she excitedly finds Keller.

Joy Birch has been found wandering, drugged and is hospitalized. Keller tries to question the young girl. Anna remains missing. In her drugged state, Joy rambles that Keller was there, giving the people around her the impression that Keller is somehow in on it. Keller rushes off as Loki chases him in the hospital, then to a car chase outside. Loki loses Keller, but heads towards Keller’s apartment building and discovers the imprisoned Alex.

Keller has gone to Holly’s, with a tool belt and offering to do some penance for his behavior. Holly once again is friendly and invites him in for a tea. Keller confronts her about the girls, but the woman holds him at gunpoint and forces him to put on handcuffs and consume the same sedative used to drug Anna and Joy. At gunpoint, she directs him to an old car outside. She reveals that she and her husband had been religious people, like Keller, until their son died of cancer at a young age. Holly and her husband decided to make war on God by making children disappear without a trace to turn their parents into demons, as evidenced by what Keller had become. Her husband then disappeared and she “does what she can.” She orders Keller to drive slowly and tells him Alex never touched the girls. The car had been covering a pit, Holly tries to force him in and shoots him in the leg, he drops into the hole. She closes the lid and parks the car again over the lid.

The Captain tells Detective Loki to go to Holly’s and let her know about Alex.

With a small flashlight, Keller explores his dungeon. He finds his daughter’s whistle and prays for Anna’s safety.

Loki arrives. Holly goes to a locked room to get Anna. Loki enters the house and sees an old photo of Holly’s husband and the RV. He then creeps toward a noise. Holly is injecting the girl with a syringe, and Loki demands she stop, they both fire their weapons. Holly is killed, and a wounded, bloody Loki races the girl to the hospital.

The next morning a bandaged Loki reads a newspaper, the headline says Barry Milland, aka Alex Jones, has been reunited with his family. Grace comes in and says Anna will be okay, the Birches and Dovers leave. Grace says Keller still hasn’t contacted her; she realizes Keller will be going to jail when caught.

The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the widely used John Hughes setting of Shermer, Illinois (a fictitious suburb of Chicago based on Hughes’ hometown of Northbrook, Illinois), as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five are all from different cliques or social groups: John Bender (Judd Nelson) “The Criminal”; Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) “The Princess”; Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) “The Brain”; Andy Clark (Emilio Estévez) “The Athlete”; and Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) “The Basket Case”. The school’s disciplinary principal, Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason), gives them all an assignment; they will write an essay about “who you think you are” and the violations they committed to end up into Saturday detention.

The seeming delinquent of the group, Bender, is instantly hostile toward his classmates, acting out several times. He acts as though he will urinate on the floor, suggests that he and Andrew close the library door and have forced sex with Claire, challenges Andrew’s athletic prowess and rigs the main door to the library so that it can’t be braced open so Vernon can keep an eye on them from his office. During lunch, he jovially mocks Brian’s home life and then offers everyone a glimpse into his relationship with his own father who abuses him both verbally and physically. In a rage, Bender runs off and sits alone, hurt by what he revealed to the group.

They pass the hours in a variety of ways: they dance, harass each other, tell stories, fight, smoke marijuana, and talk about a variety of subjects. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their secrets, for example, Allison is a compulsive liar, and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their virginity and Andy got in trouble because of his overbearing father. They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these evolving friendships, they are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their respective cliques and never speak to each other again.

Mr. Vernon actually has several epiphanies of his own. When he’s down in the basement looking through the personal files of his teachers, he’s caught by the school’s janitor, Carl Reed (John Kapelos), who essentially blackmails him for his silence about Vernon’s poking through private information about his staff. The two spend the rest of the day talking. Vernon admits he’s frightened of the future; that the very students he has in detention will one day be running the country. He also claims that since he’s been into education for many years that the kids haven’t changed, they are still defiant, arrogant and disrespectful of authority. Carl tells Vernon he’s dead wrong, that Vernon is the one who’s attitude has soured his perspective for a job he once liked. The kids will always be the way Vernon described them.

The group decides to sneak out of the library and go to Bender’s locker. Bender retrieves a small amount of marijuana hidden there. On their way back, they nearly run right into Vernon. While trying to find a route back to the library undiscovered, Bender sacrifices his own freedom to help the others escape. (He also stuffs his stash down Brian’s pants.) Vernon catches up with him in the gym, shooting hoops. Vernon takes Bender to a small closet. With his obvious hatred for the student apparent, Vernon challenges him, offering him one defenseless punch. Bender is too scared to take the challenge and Vernon reminds him that people won’t take the word of a delinquent student over that of a high school principal. He leaves Bender locked in the closet. Bender slips out through the ceiling and rejoins the group, retrieving his stash from Brian. The group spends the rest of their time smoking weed and even relaxing while Vernon talks to Carl in the basement. They loosen up, play music and dance. Bender sneaks back to his closet when the end of their detention approaches.

Late in the day, some of the group talk about what they did to land into Saturday detention: Claire had skipped class to go out with friends. In an earlier moment, she worries about whether or not her parents will ground her and suggests that they have a strained marriage where they use Claire to get back at each other. Brian tells everyone that he had felt suicidal after failing a project in his shop class and had brought a flare gun to school to possibly kill himself (the gun had gone off in his locker, starting a fire). Andrew’s story seems to be the most painful: he had attacked another student (a friend of Brian’s) in the locker room after gym class, beating on him while his friends cheered him on and covering the boy’s buttocks in duct tape, causing the boy minor but humiliating injury. Andrew says he did it because his father is an overbearing tyrant (he describes him as a “mindless machine I can’t relate to anymore”) who can’t abide his kids being seen as losers and that they must win at all costs. Alison isn’t clear about the reason why she’s in the detention session other than to say she had had nothing better to do on a Saturday.

In the end, some of their more hidden character traits emerge: Claire is a natural leader. Bender develops a softer attitude and becomes more friendly with everyone. Claire spends some time with him in the locked closet making out with him and it seems the two will try a romantic relationship. Andrew becomes interested in Allison after she allows Claire to give her a makeover. Brian realizes he can write very eloquently, as he gets to show everyone later.

At Claire’s request and the consensus of the group, Brian agrees to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier on behalf of them all, which challenges Vernon and his preconceived judgments about them. While Brian accedes, instead of writing about the actual topic, he writes a very motivating letter that is in essence, the main point of the story. He signs the essay “The Breakfast Club”, and leaves it on the table for Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one read at the end, and they differ slightly; illustrating the shift in the students’ judgments of one another, and their realization that they truly have things in common. The beginning of the letter is as follows:

“Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us… in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That’s how we saw each other at seven o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed.”

The letter read before the closing credits reads as follows:

“Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain… …and an athlete… …and a basket case… …a princess… and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”

In civil-rights era Jackson, Mississippi, 23-year-old Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone), a recent graduate of the University of Mississippi and an aspiring writer, attends a bridge game at the home of her friend Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O’Reilly). Skeeter’s girlhood friends have all gotten married and started families, but Skeeter is disturbed to see how they treat their African American maids.

Elizabeth’s maid, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), fields a call from “white trash” Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who wants to help with a benefit being organized by the Junior League. Elizabeth and fellow socialite Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), head of the local Junior League chapter, laugh at Celia’s efforts to be accepted, as they don’t think she’s up to their social standards. (We learn later that Celia’s married to Hilly’s former boyfriend, which might have something to do with Hilly’s attitude.) Celia mentions to Aibileen that she’s looking for a maid. After refusing to use Elizabeth’s toilet because Aibileen uses it (“they carry different diseases than we do!”), Hilly describes the Home Health Sanitation Initiative she hopes to get passed in the state legislature. The bill would require white-owned homes to have a separate toilet for the Negro “help.” This conversation is conducted within earshot of Aibileen.

Skeeter has been assigned to write the Miss Myrna housekeeping column for the local newspaper. Because she has never had to do much housework herself, she asks Aibileen for assistance. In addition to doing all the cooking and cleaning for Elizabeth’s family, Aibileen is the de facto mother of Elizabeth’s toddler daughter, Mae Mobley (Eleanor Henry and Emma Henry), for whom Elizabeth shows heart-rendingly little concern. Every day Aibileen tells Mae Mobley, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

When Skeeter gets home, her mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), is trying on a dress. Charlotte gets Skeeter to try it on and bugs her about still being single. Skeeter mentions the job she landed, and her mother frets that she’ll never get married. Charlotte asks whether Skeeter is attracted to women, as she’s “heard of an herbal remedy than can cure such ‘unnatural’ urges.” Skeeter is horrified.

At dinner that night Skeeter makes a rude remark about liking girls and her mother excuses herself from the table because Skeeter has upset her cancerous ulcer. Skeeter runs to a favorite spot outdoors, a small bench under a tree, and remembers how Constantine (Cicely Tyson), the maid who raised her from a child, comforted her when she wasn’t asked to a dance. Skeeter desperately misses Constantine, who according to Charlotte quit while Skeeter was away at college. Skeeter can tell there’s more to the story, but no one will say what really happened. Disturbed by the sudden loss of Constantine and at how Elizabeth and Hilly treat their own maids with bigoted condescension, Skeeter conceives a writing project: a book about the lives of Jackson’s maids. She describes the project to Elaine Stein (Mary Steenburgen), an editor in New York, and receives lukewarm encouragement; Elaine doubts that any maids will agree to participate. Skeeter approaches Aibeleen about the book, but Aibileen declines to be interviewed.

Hilly’s maid, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), disobeys Hilly’s order not to use the family’s bathroom during a violent thunderstorm that makes a trip to the outhouse dangerous. Hilly fires her over the objections of her own mother, Mrs. Walters (Sissy Spacek). In retaliation, Minny makes a chocolate pie into which she has baked her own feces, and takes it to Hilly in a fake act of contrition. While Hilly greedily eats two slices, she asks why her mother can’t have a slice, to which Minny explains that it’s a “special pie, just for Miss Hilly.” A moment later Minny tells Hilly, “Eat my shit!” Hilly asks if Minny’s lost her mind, and Minny replies, “No, ma’am, but you is about to. ’Cause you just did.” Hilly’s mother laughs and laughs and Hilly retaliates by having her mother committed to a nursing home.

Later that night, Minny’s husband beats her while Aibileen listens on the phone.

At church the next day, Aibileen hears a sermon about courage and changing her mind, resolves to help Skeeter with her book. She tearfully recounts to Skeeter and Minny the story of her son’s death years before: At age twenty-four, Aibileen’s son was run over by a truck at his workplace. The white foreman drove him to a colored hospital, dumped him on the ground, honked the horn, and left. By that point it was too late to save him, so Aibileen brought him home, where he died on the sofa right before her eyes. She expresses her pain, saying “The anniversary of his death comes every year, and every year I can’t breathe. But to you all, it’s just another day of bridge.” She becomes even more invested in the dangerous book project.

Meanwhile Minny goes to work for Celia Foote, who’s had no luck breaking into the Junior League social set and is therefore somewhat isolated. Celia pays Minny under the table because she doesn’t want her husband to know that she has no domestic skills. Although she is generally suspicious of white people, Minny finds herself becoming more comfortable around Celia, who is bubbly and treats Minny with respect, but is deeply insecure. Minny improves Celia’s dismal cooking skills by teaching her how to make fried chicken on her first day. They bond further when Celia suffers her fourth miscarriage. While Minny helps her into bed and soothes her, Celia is overwrought. She reveals that she married her husband Johnny (Mike Vogel) because she was pregnant, but quickly lost the baby and hasn’t told him about the three failed pregnancies that followed. She worries that she will never be able to have children.

Hilly’s new maid, Yule Mae (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), explains to her employer that her twin sons have graduated high school and that she and her husband have been saving for years to send them to college. However, they are short $75 on one tuition, and are on the verge of having to choose which son can go. Yule Mae respectfully asks Hilly for a loan, saying that she will gladly work for free until the loan is paid off. Hilly refuses, explaining that it’s “the Christian thing” to do because God does not give charity to those who are well and able. While vacuuming Hilly’s living room later, Yule Mae finds a ring, which she pockets and later tries to pawn, hoping to get the tuition money. Hilly finds out and has Yule Mae arrested at the bus stop in front of the other maids, all of whom are deeply shaken by the event.

Aibileen recruits a reluctant Minny into the book project, but Elaine Stein (who’s warming to the idea) insists the book will need at least a dozen voices – including the story of Skeeter’s own relationship with Constantine. After Yule Mae’s arrest, nearly all the local maids volunteer to help with the book. Though she has changed the names of everyone involved, Skeeter remains concerned that people will recognize the maids and create more trouble for the Negro community in the wake of the recent murder of Medgar Evars. Minny insists that they include the story about Hilly and the chocolate pie – which she refers to as her “terrible awful” – as insurance against being identified; an embarrassed Hilly will not want anyone to know that she ingested her maid’s feces and will do all she can to convince everyone that the book isn’t about Jackson.

Hilly has several times directed Skeeter, who writes the Junior League newsletter, to include an item about her proposed “sanitation initiative,” but Skeeter keeps putting her off. Now Hilly adds an item about a charity coat drive, the coats for which are to be dropped off at Hilly’s house. Skeeter includes both items, but changes “coats” to something else.

The next day Elizabeth gets a call and rushes herself, Mae Mobley, and Aibileen over to Hilly’s, where Hilly is screaming, “I told her to write ‘coats’! Not ‘commodes’!” On Hilly’s lawn are about 40 toilets. While Hilly continues her histrionics, Mae Mobley innocently sits on a toilet and Elizabeth slaps her till she sobs. Mae Mobley runs to Aibileen, who holds her and whispers, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

Skeeter eventually pries the story of Constantine’s departure out of her mother: Charlotte fired Constantine because Constantine’s daughter Rachel (LaChanze) refused to use the back door and embarrassed Charlotte while she was hosting an important DAR luncheon. Charlotte regretted it and tried to get Constantine to come back, going so far as to send her son, Skeeter’s brother, to Constantine’s new home in Chicago, but by the time he got there, Constantine had died.

Skeeter’s book The Help is published anonymously, and soon everyone in Jackson is reading it. True to Minny’s prediction, Hilly is horrified to find the chocolate pie story therein and goes out of her way to assure her friends that The Help isn’t about Jackson. Skeeter splits the advance she receives evenly among all the maids, promising that more is on the way. She’s offered a job at the publishing house in New York, which she is disinclined to take, but Aibileen and Minny insist that she must.

Stuart Whitworth (Christopher Lowell), whom Skeeter has been dating, breaks up with Skeeter when he finds out it was she who wrote The Help. Hilly also figures out who wrote the book and storms over to Skeeter’s house in a drunken fury. She threatens to tell Skeeter’s mother, but Charlotte kicks Hilly off her property after insulting her and insinuating she knows about the pie. Charlotte tells Skeeter to take the job in New York, which Skeeter does, and Charlotte tells her she’s proud of her.

Celia works hard to prepare a lavish meal for Minny in gratitude for all she has done. Celia’s husband, who has known all along that Minny is working for Celia, tells Minny she will have a job with them for as long as she wants it. Inspired, Minny leaves her abusive husband, taking their children with her.

One of the final scenes shows Hilly taking in her mail. One item is a check for $200, a donation from Celia to the Junior League benefit. When she sees that the check is made out to “Two-Slice Hilly,” she throws a tantrum and tears it up.

The film opens with three men driving in their car late at night on a highway. In the car are Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Jimmy and Tommy are asleep when Henry hears a loud thumping noise. Trying to figure out the source of the sound, Henry suddenly realizes they need to stop and check the trunk. When they open it, we see a beaten man wrapped in several bloody tablecloths. An enraged Tommy stabs the man several times with a kitchen knife and Jimmy shoots him four times with a revolver. Henry slams the trunk lid shut and we hear a voiceover (Henry) say “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

We now go back several decades, to see the events that will lead up to this scene.

In the 1950s, young Henry Hill idolizes the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn, and in 1955 quits school and goes to work for them. The local mob capo, Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) (based on the actual Lucchese mobster Paul Vario) and Paulie’s close associate Jimmy Conway (De Niro) (based on Jimmy Burke) help cultivate Henry’s criminal career.

Henry is teamed up with the young Tommy and the two sell cartons of cigarettes, given to them by Jimmy, to employees of a local factory, a crossing guard and some cops. While selling them, two detectives show up and confiscate the money and the load, arresting Henry. Tommy slinks away to tell Tuddy, Paulie’s brother. Henry goes to court and is given a slap on the wrist. Jimmy gives him a substantial reward for his silence (Jimmy calls it a “graduation gift”) and tells him he did well despite “getting pinched”: Henry revealed no names to the police and learned the two most important things in their line of work: “Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” The rest of the gang greets Henry with joyful acceptance.

As adults, Henry and Tommy (Joe Pesci) conspire with Conway to steal much of the billions of dollars of cargo passing through John F. Kennedy International Airport. They help out in a key heist, stealing over half a million dollars from the Air France cargo terminal. The robbery helps Henry gain more of Paulie’s trust, to whom Henry gives a sizable cut of the haul. However, because Henry is half-Irish, he knows he can never become a “made man”, a full-fledged member of the crime family. Nor can Jimmy Conway, who is also Irish.

Over the years, Henry’s friends become increasingly daring and dangerous. Conway loves hijacking trucks, and Tommy has an explosive temper and a psychotic need to prove himself through violence. At one point, he humiliates an innocent and unarmed young waiter “Spider” (Michael Imperioli), asking Spider to dance à la The Oklahoma Kid, then shooting him in the foot. A few nights later, when Spider stands up to an extremely intoxicated Tommy, Tommy (egged on by Jimmy) suddenly draws his gun and shoots Spider in the chest, killing him instantly. Jimmy is angry with Tommy for shooting Spider but Tommy is completely indifferent, callously asking where he can find a shovel to bury the dead man.

Henry also meets and falls in love with Karen (Lorraine Bracco), a no-nonsense young Jewish woman; they go to the Copacabana club two to three times a week (and the site of a famous continuous Steadicam shot). Karen feels uneasy with her boyfriend’s career, but is also “turned on” by it, especially when Henry viciously pistol whips her neighbor for trying to force himself on her and Henry gives her the bloody pistol to hide. Henry and Karen eventually marry (which involves convincing Karen’s parents that Henry is half-Jewish).

In June 1970, Tommy (aided by Jimmy Conway) brutally murders Billy Batts (Frank Vincent), a made man in the competing Gambino crime family, over a simple insult Batts throws at Tommy. The murder is a major offense that could get them all killed by the Gambinos if discovered. After stopping at Tommy’s mother’s place for a late-night meal (and also to pick up a shovel), Henry, Conway and DeVito bury Batts’ corpse in an abandoned field, bringing us back to the car trunk scene from the start of the movie. When they discover six months later that the land has been sold, they are forced to exhume, move, and rebury the badly decomposed body, a task that makes Henry physically sick and that Tommy and Jimmy consider another simple chore.

Henry’s marriage deteriorates when Karen finds he has a mistress, Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo). Karen confronts a sleeping Henry with a gun as he wakes up. As soon as she lowers the gun, Henry subdues her and screams that he has enough on his mind having to worry about being “whacked on the street” without waking up with a gun in the face. Henry is visited at Janice’s apartment by Jimmy and Paulie, who tell him that his philandering is bad for business. Paulie promises that he’ll convince Karen that Henry is worth taking back and that Henry will return to his home in a few days. In the meantime, Henry will go with Jimmy to Florida to find a deadbeat who owes Paulie money.

After beating and dangling the debt-ridden Florida gambler over a lion cage at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Henry and Jimmy are caught and sent to prison for four years because the guy’s sister was a typist for the FBI. There, Henry deals drugs to the other prisoners to keep afloat and to support his family, and, when he returns to them, he has a lucrative drug connection in Pittsburgh. Paulie warns Henry against dealing drugs, since mob bosses can get hefty prison sentences if their men are running drugs behind their back.

Henry ignores Paulie’s order and involves Tommy and Jimmy (as well as Karen and his new mistress, Sandy (Debi Mazar) in an elaborate cocaine smuggling operation. About the same time, December 1978, Jimmy Conway and friends plan and successfully carry out a record $6,000,000 offscreen heist from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK Airport. Soon after the heist, Jimmy grows increasingly paranoid when some of his associates foolishly flaunt their gains in plain sight, possibly drawing police attention, and begins having them murdered. Worse, after promising to welcome Tommy into the Lucchese family as a “made man,” the elder members of the family coldly shoot him in the head in retaliation for Billy Batts’ death and his reckless behavior. The murder upsets Henry and especially Jimmy, who are both expected to simply accept it and move on.

In an extended, virtuoso sequence titled “Sunday, May 11th, 1980,” all of the different paths of Henry’s complicated Mafia career collide: he must coordinate a major cocaine shipment; bring a small cache of pistols to Jimmy (he refuses to take them off Henry’s hands); cook a large meal for his family; placate his mistress Sandy, who processes the cocaine he sells; cope with his clueless babysitter/drug courier, Lois; avoid federal authorities who, unknown to him, have had him under surveillance for several months; and satisfy his sleazy drug connection customers, all the while a nervous wreck from lack of sleep and snorting too much of his own product.

Lois demands that Henry take her home so she can get her lucky hat, which she won’t fly without. Henry and Lois are arrested by the police as he backs out of his driveway. When Henry and Lois are booked, along with Sandy, the police bring in loads of coke-encrusted equipment from Sandy’s apartment. Karen bails her husband out of jail, after destroying all of the cocaine that was hidden in the house and getting her mother to put their house up as collateral for bail money. Henry and his family are left penniless and the couple break down together when Karen admits she destroyed the $60,000 in coke Henry had been planning to ship when he was busted.

After Henry’s arrest, Paulie and the rest of the mob abandon him. Henry meets a final time with Paulie who chastises him for lying about his drug dealing. Paulie gives him a few thousand dollars and turns his back on him. Karen meets with Jimmy to tell him that Henry has sobered up and also that Henry hasn’t been revealing any vital information about Jimmy or his other mob compatriots. Before Karen leaves, Jimmy tells her to take a look at some stolen dresses in one of his shopfronts. Karen becomes scared when she sees two shady-looking workers. Jimmy’s message to Karen and Henry is clear: they can be ignominiously eliminated if they talk about their connections.

Convinced that he and his family are marked for death, Henry decides to become an informant for the FBI. He and his family enter the federal Witness Protection Program, disappearing into anonymity to save their lives, but not before he testifies against Paulie and Jimmy in court. He is now an “average nobody” and tells us “I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” The movie’s quick final shot is of Tommy firing a pistol directly into the camera, a tribute to the final shot of The Great Train Robbery, hinting that Henry will never fully leave a life of crime.

Though Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has genius-level intelligence (such as a talent for memorizing facts and an intuitive ability to prove sophisticated mathematical theorems), he works as a janitor at MIT and lives alone in a sparsely furnished apartment in an impoverished South Boston neighborhood. An abused foster child, he subconsciously blames himself for his unhappy upbringing and turns this self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage in both his professional and emotional lives. Hence, he is unable to maintain either a steady job or a steady romantic relationship.

The first week of classes, Will solves a difficult graduate-level math problem that Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård), a Fields Medalist and combinatorialist, left on a chalkboard as a challenge to his students, hoping someone might solve it by the semester’s end. Everyone wonders who solved it, and Lambeau puts another problem on the board – one that took him and his colleagues two years to prove. Will is discovered in the act of solving it, and Lambeau initially believes that Will is vandalizing the board and chases him away as Will insults him. When Will turns out to have solved it correctly, Lambeau tries to track Will down.

One night after work, Will and his best friend Chuckie and a couple of their other friends go to a bar near Harvard University. At the bar, Chuckie spots a beautiful woman, Skylar (Minnie Driver) and he hits on her, claiming to be a Harvard student himself. One of Skylar’s fellow co-eds, Clark (Scott William Winters), tries to humiliate Chuckie, challenging his knowledge of American colonial history. Will steps to Chuckie’s defense, matching Clark step-for-step with historical facts he’d memorized. A potential fight is eventually defused and Will finds that Skylar is attracted to him, getting her phone number.

A few days later Will attacks a youth who had bullied him years before in kindergarten, and he now faces imprisonment after hitting a police officer who was responding to the fight – a tough judge refuses to be tricked by Will’s sharp knowledge of law precedent, which includes citing a case from the 1700s. Realizing Will might have the potential to be a great mathematician, such as the genius Évariste Galois, Lambeau intervenes on his behalf, offering him a choice: either Will can go to jail, or he can be released into Lambeau’s personal supervision, where he must study mathematics and see a psychotherapist to help him with his anger and defensive personality. Will chooses the latter even though he seems to believe that he does not need therapy.

Five psychologists fail to connect with Will. Out of sheer desperation, Lambeau finally calls on Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), an estranged old friend and MIT classmate of his. Sean differs from his five predecessors in that he is also from South Boston and pushes back at Will and is eventually able to get through to him and his hostile, sarcastic defense mechanisms. At one point, Will analyzes a watercolor painting that Sean had done himself and concludes that it reflects Sean’s suppressed feelings and guilt over the premature death of his wife. Sean becomes offended and hostile and grabs Will by the throat, threatening to sink his chances for reform, at which point Will ends the appointment and walks out; Lambeau walks in believing that Will has ruined his chances with yet another therapist. However, Sean sees Will as a challenge and tells Lambeau to bring him back each week.

In a later session, Will is particularly struck when Sean tells him how he gave up his ticket to see the Red Sox in the 1975 World Series (missing Carlton “Pudge” Fisk’s famous home run in the Sox infamous “Game 6”) in order to meet and spend time with a stranger in a bar, who would later become his wife. Will is spurred to try to establish a relationship with Skylar (Minnie Driver), a young woman he met at a bar near Harvard.

This doctor-patient relationship, however, is far from one-sided. Will challenges Sean in the same way that Sean is encouraging Will to take a good, hard, objective look at himself and his life. Sean’s own pathology is that he is unable and unwilling to even consider another romantic relationship in the aftermath of his beloved wife’s premature death from cancer several years before, possibly the primary reason why Sean agrees to take Will on as a client.

Meanwhile, Lambeau pushes Will so hard to excel that Will eventually refuses to go to the job interviews that Lambeau has arranged for him for positions that might prove challenging, even to his immense talents. Lambeau and Sean also squabble about Will’s future; Sean believes that Lambeau is pushing Will to fast and also points out that Will’s friends are the most dedicated and loyal people he associates with. Will’s accidental witnessing of this furious quarrel somehow acts as a catalyst for his decision to enter a deeper level of trust and sharing with Sean. He has apparently realized from this event that the situation is a little more complex than Will vs. The World. He now sees that these mentors are every bit as human, fallible, and conflicted as he is.

Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, where she will begin medical school at Stanford. Will panics at the thought. Skylar then expresses support about his past, which is received as patronizing and triggers a tantrum in which Will storms out of the dorm while in a state of undress. He shrugs off the work he’s doing for Lambeau as “a joke,” even though Lambeau is incapable of solving some of the theorems and admittedly envies Will. Lambeau begs Will not to throw it all away, but Will walks out on him anyway. At a later job interview, Will gives the interviewer a long explanation about why he doesn’t want to be a government code-breaker. At another interview, Will sends Chuckie in his place. Chuckie mocks the panel of representatives, even persuading them to give him all the cash they have before mildly threatening them with a call from his attorney.

Sean points out that Will is so adept at anticipating future failure in his personal and romantic relationships, that he either allows them to fizzle out or deliberately bails in order to avoid the risk of future emotional pain. When Will then provides a whimsical reply to Sean’s very serious query of what he wants to do with his life, Sean simply shows him the door. When Will further tells his best friend Chuckie (Ben Affleck) that he wants to be a laborer for the rest of his life, Chuckie becomes brutally honest with Will: He believes it’s an “insult” for Will to waste his potential as a laborer, and that his recurring wish is to knock on Will’s door in the morning when he picks him up for work and find that he just isn’t there, that he has left without saying goodbye. Chuckie’s honesty hits home with Will more than anyone else’s, even a trained professional like Sean.

Will goes to another therapy session, where Sean shares that he was also a victim of child abuse. At first, Will is defensive and resentful at Sean’s repeated reassurances that it was not Will’s fault that he was so horribly abused and abandoned. Will eventually breaks down in tearful acknowledgment. Finally, after much self-reflection, Will decides to cease being a victim of his own inner demons and to take charge of his life. When his buddies present him with a rebuilt Chevy Nova for his 21st birthday, he decides to go to California and reunite with Skylar, setting aside his lucrative corporate and government job offers.

The movie opens as Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a young ballerina in her mid twenties, is dancing the prologue to Swan Lake. Swan Lake is a ballet in which a princess is turned into the White Swan and can only be turned back if a man swears eternal fidelity to her. In the ballet, she is betrayed by the Black Swan, the evil magician’s daughter whom the magician has transformed to look exactly like the princess in order to trick the prince who has fallen in love with her. In the end, the princess commits suicide because the Prince’s infidelity has doomed her to remain a swan forever. As Nina dances in the role of the Princess, the magician appears and places the curse on the Princess. Nina then wakes up in her apartment, the dance sequence having been a dream. She begins her daily ballet stretching; telling her mother about her dream as her mother unintentionally ignores her. Nina mentions that the director, Thomas Leroy (pronounced Tomahs; the name is French), of her ballet company has promised to feature her more this season and her mother agrees that she’s been there long enough.

Nina goes to the ballet studio only to learn that Beth (Winona Ryder), the lead principal dancer, is being put out to pasture due to her age as she is over 40. As a result, Thomas (Vincent Cassel) is looking for a new face to be the lead. Thomas announces to the company that the first performance of the season will be a reworking of Swan Lake. He casually walks among the dancers as they’re practising nonchalantly, tapping several girls on the shoulder as he talks. He then tells those he tapped to attend their regular rehearsals; those he didn’t tap are to meet with him later in the principal studio.

Nina sees Beth having an emotional meltdown in her private dressing room, throwing things and breaking the full length mirror. After Beth leaves, Nina decides to take a peek inside. She sits down in Beth’s chair and stares at herself in a mirror surrounded by globe lights. She begins to go through Beth’s things and stashes several items in her pocket, specifically perfume, diamond earrings, a nail file and tube of lipstick. She sneaks out of Beth’s dressing room.

Later, in the principal studio, auditions are being held to find Beth’s replacement as the Swan Princess. Nina dances the White Swan impeccably, and then Thomas tells Nina to dance as the Black Swan. As Nina begins the dance her audition is interrupted by the late arrival of new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis). Already fearing imperfection and disappointing Thomas, she loses focus as Lily noisily closes the door and stops. Despite her flawless performance as the White Swan, Thomas is not impressed by Nina’s performance, stating she failed to capture the sensuality of the Black Swan. Nina goes home to her mother and bursts into tears and practices her dance moves until she cracks her big toe nail. Later, when her mother tucks her in, Nina tells her she can go to Thomas the next day and tell him she finished the Black Swan dance, but her mother tells her there is no need to lie and Nina nods in defeated agreement.

The next day, Nina visits Thomas in his office and tells him she finished the Black Swan dance at home and wants the role. He tells her that he’s decided to give it to another dancer, Veronica (Ksenia Soto). She says ‘okay’ and begins to leave but he slams the door and asks her why she’s giving up. He grabs her face and kisses her passionately. Angered by this unwanted advance, Nina bites him on the lip and runs out of his office which both shocks and impresses Thomas.

The girls begin running down the hall to find out who has been chosen as the new Swan Queen. Feeling certain she didn’t get the role, Nina congratulates Veronica for getting it. The girl runs to see the posting but walks back to Nina and berates her for the cruel joke before walking off down the hall. Stunned and confused, Nina goes to look at the posting. As she approaches, several girls gather around her shouting congratulations at her. Overjoyed, and nauseous, she runs to the bathroom where she calls her mother from one of the stalls and tells her that she won the part. When she leaves the stall she sees the word “whore” written on the mirror in red lipstick and frantically struggles to wipe it off. When Nina gets home, her mother has ordered her a beautiful pink and white frosted cake – strawberries and cream, their favorite from the local bakery – that she presents to Nina when she walks in the door to celebrate Nina acquiring the role in the ballet. Her mother starts to cut her a slice but Nina refuses, telling her she can’t eat something like that and when her mother gives her a look, Nina continues, saying that her stomach is still in knots. Becoming angry, her mother begins to throw the cake out which leaves Nina feeling guilty. She accepts a slice and takes a small bite.

Over the next several days, the stress of the role and her inability to perform get to Nina. She begins seeing a darker version of herself in random passers-by.

Thomas holds a gala to officially announce Beth’s “retirement” and Nina’s rise as the Swan Queen. Nina goes to the bathroom and on her way out encounters Lily coming in. In front of Nina, Lily takes off her panties and puts them in her purse, then sits down on vanity. She congratulates Nina on her role, but Nina is uncomfortable and attempts to excuse herself. Lily playfully asks her to stay, but Nina leaves.

As Nina and Thomas leave the party, Thomas is briefly called back inside. Intoxicated, with her eyes dripping with black mascara from crying, Beth confronts Nina and asks her if she had to suck Thomas’ cock to get the role. Nina is offended, and tells Beth that not everyone has to. Beth continues to rant until Thomas appears and diffuses the situation, soothing Beth by calling her “My little princess.” Beth shouts after them as Thomas leads Nina out. He takes Nina back to his place. When they sit on the couch, he brusquely asks her if she she’s a virgin. She looks away and smiles uncomfortably. He asks if she likes making love and when she won’t answer, he gives her a homework assignment: she must touch herself and find her sexuality so that she may better inhabit the role.

Later, when Nina’s mother is helping her dress for bed she sees scratches on Nina’s back, and asks what they are from. Nina says they’re nothing but a rash and her mother becomes angry and hints that Nina hasn’t scratched herself like this since she was younger, and she thought Nina was over this. Nina tries to brush her off but her mother grabs her hand and takes her to the bathroom to cut her fingernails with scissors. She accidentally cuts Nina’s finger and apologizes profusely but continues to trim Nina’s nails.

Nina wakes up the next morning and begins touching herself as Thomas asked. When she becomes aroused, she goes faster and turns over. As she gets closer, she turns her head to the left and is startled to realize her mother is asleep in the chair next to her bed.

The next day the company is practising and a girl runs in, crying hysterically. She runs to the teacher who comforts her and asks what happened. She says Beth is in the hospital after an accident when she got hit by a passing car. Later, Nina is sitting at the edge of a fountain with Thomas and he tells her he believes that Beth threw herself into oncoming traffic. She visits Beth in the hospital where she finds her room filled with beautiful flowers and cards wishing her a quick recovery. As Beth lays comatose in the bed, Nina lifts up the sheet draped over Beth and sees metal bars sticking out of her leg and a huge, infected gash on her calf. Horrified, she quickly turns to leave and bumps into Beth’s nurse (Leslie Lyles) who asks what she is doing there.

She goes to practice and still cannot get the passion of the Black Swan into her performance. Suddenly the lights go out and Thomas calls for someone to turn them back on, that there are still people rehearsing. The lights come back on, but a clearly disappointed Thomas sends the other dancers home and steps in to dance as Nina’s partner. As they dance together, he slowly moves his hands under her thighs and begins touching her. After a deep kiss, he lets go of her and walks away, calling over his shoulder that he just seduced her and that it should be her doing the seducing with her dancing. Nina calls after, pleading, but he does not turn back.

Nina, feeling defeated in her attempt to be perfect, sits alone and cries in the studio. Lily arrives, sees Nina crying, and lights a cigarette as she walks up. Lily chats casually, implying that Thomas has a tendency of sleeping with the troupe and Nina tries to defend him. Lily realizes that Nina has a crush on Thomas and jokes about it. Infuriated by such a thought, Nina gets upset and leaves.

The next day, Thomas angrily asks Nina if she needs time off after a comment from Lily that he should take it easy on her. He says she has no business whining and she fervently defends herself saying she didn’t. Angered, Nina tracks Lily down in the troupe dressing room where she is greeted with banter from the other dancers who say that “the queen” is gracing them with her presence on their turf. Lily tells them to shut up and gets up to talk to Nina. Nina berates Lily for telling Thomas that she’d been crying. Lily looks abashed and says she was just trying to help. Nina tells her she doesn’t need the help and Lily walks away irritated.

That night, Nina and her mother are working on Nina’s toe shoes. Erica (Nina’s mother) is making small talk that sounds condescending to Nina so she starts answering with slight hostility without looking up at Erica. Her mother asks Nina if she’s been scratching and Nina unintentionally pauses just long enough for Erica to not believe Nina when she says “no”. Erica tells her to take off her shirt and Nina refuses so Erica stands over Nina and demands it but Nina says no in a biting tone. Before Erica can get her confirmation there is a knock at the door. She answers the door and talks quickly to someone before closing it again. Nina asks who it was but Erica says it was no one, so Nina demands to know again and when Erica still won’t tell her she runs to the door and opens it. She sees Lily waiting for the elevator. Nina walks out into the hallway and asks Lily how she knew where she lived and Lily responds with sarcasm. But Nina looks angry so Lily laughingly says she asked Thomas’ secretary. Erica opens the door and says Nina needs to come in and rest. Nina tells her to shut the door, which Erica slams. Lily invites her out and Nina says she can’t, but after Erica opens the door and tells her once more and tells Nina to come back inside and also asks Lily to leave, Nina pushes the door open to grab her stuff and leaves with Lily, despite her mother’s protests shouted down the hall that it’s the night before a long day of work and she should stay home.

Nina and Lily go out to a local bar for drinks and some food, but Nina is so uptight that Lily offers her a pill to relax, saying it would only last a few hours. Nina turns it down. She goes to the bathroom and returns to see Lily slip the content of the pill into a drink, as she flirts with two guys she is calling Tom (Toby Hemingway) and “Jerry” though he tells her his real name is Andrew. Nina is reassured by Lily that the pills will only last a few hours and downs her glass. The two have a crazy, drugged night of clubbing with two guys. When Nina is next lucid, she finds herself hooking up with a man in a bathroom. She quickly leaves to find a cab and Lily runs to catch up with her. They take the taxi back to Nina’s apartment and Lily comes onto Nina and begins gently rubbing Nina’s crotch until Nina stops her and just holds Lily’s hand.

When they get back to the apartment, Nina’s mother is waiting for them and asks Nina what she was doing out late. Nina is drunk and somewhat belligerent but finally says, “I was with two guys named Tom and Jerry and I fucked them both,” and laughs. Nina’s mother is horrified and slaps her across the face. Nina grabs Lily and runs into her room, barricading the door with a wood cleat, yelling at her mother to leave her alone. She turns around and looks at Lily, then walks to her and starts passionately kissing her. They move to the bed where Lily and Nina undress each other to their underwear where Lily then rips Nina’s panties off. Lily begins to orally pleasure Nina and she briefly sees Lily morph into herself and then back to Lily, which scares her. Lily doesn’t stop and the two continue to have sex, with Lily performing cunnilingus on Nina who eventually climaxes. Lily says, “Sweet girl” before morphing back into dark Nina, who raises a pillow to smother her.

Nina wakes up the next morning with a hangover-like headache to find Lily gone and realizes she is late for rehearsal. As her mother sits quietly in the living room, Nina yells at her and asks why she didn’t wake her up. Erica says this role is destroying her and as Nina rushes out the door, she tells Erica that she is moving out.

When Nina arrives at the ballet studio, she finds Lily in her costume, practicing her routine with the rest of the troupe. When Lily walks up to Nina, she says she was only filling in because Thomas had asked her to. Nina then questions Lily about why she left her house the night before, and Lily claims she went home to her place with Tom where they spent the night, and that last time she saw Nina was at the club. When Nina brings up what happened in her bedroom, Lily is flattered that Nina had a lesbian wet dream about her. She playfully asks Nina if she was any good but Nina gets embarrassed and leaves, looking uncomfortable and frustrated, wondering if her lovemaking with Lily had really happened or not.

A little later, Nina is being fitted for her Swan costume. When she’s done, Lily walks in and says Thomas made Lily Nina’s alternate. Enraged and afraid, Nina finds Thomas and begs him not to make Lily her alternate, convinced that Lily is trying to steal the role from her. As Nina begins to cry, Thomas soothes her before telling her she is being paranoid. He tells her that the only person trying to sabotage Nina is “Nina”.

That night, Nina is practising when the piano player suddenly stops playing and gets up to leave, telling Nina he has a life. He tells her not to practice too long and leaves her alone in the studio. As she begins dancing again the lights shut off just as they had when shed been practising with Thomas. She calls out for someone to turn the lights back on, and sees a cloaked figure darting around in the shadows (the Sorcerer from the dream). She hears laughter and follows the noise to find Thomas having sex with Lily (which morphs into Nina) on a work table behind a curtain. Lily smiles at Thomas and laughs. This brings tears to Nina’s eyes and she runs back to her dressing room where she grabs the items she took from Beth when the room was still hers.

In a fit of hysteria, Nina goes to the hospital to find Beth sitting motionless in a wheelchair, now a mere shadow of the woman she used to be. Nina quietly places a note and the items she stole on the table next to Beth, when Beth suddenly stirs and grabs Nina’s arm. Beth is angry and asks what Nina is doing, then she looks down and sees the items on the table. She asks Nina in an amused but irritated voice why she stole from her. Nina says she just wanted to be perfect like Beth. As Beth looks at the items, she says she’s nothing and then notices the nail file. She continues to say she’s nothing as she suddenly stabs herself in the face with the file repeatedly. Nina finally grabs the nail file from Beth’s hand and runs fearfully from the room to the elevator. As she gets in the elevator, she drops the bloody nail file.

Nina returns home, dashing hysterically into the kitchen to wash her hands which are covered in Beth’s blood. When she turns the kitchen light off, she hears someone whisper “sweet girl”, at which she turns the light back on to see Beth standing there with her face covered in blood. She runs to the bathroom and vomits into the toilet. She then calls down the hall for her mother, walking toward her mother’s art studio, hearing voices coming from the studio. As she peers in, she imagines her mother’s paintings moving and talking to her. She runs in and starts tearing everything down, and imagines Beth coming towards her with a bloody face, until her mother walks in and, astonished, asks Nina what she’s doing. Nina runs past her mother to her bedroom, with Erica close behind. As she tries to reach Nina, Nina slams the door on her hand, breaking it. Nina barricades herself inside with the pipe again. As Nina stands there, her skin begins to shift and take on a bird like texture, her eyes start to turn red, and her knee joints violently invert to the same shape as a bird. The hallucination disorients Nina and she falls and hits her head on a bed post which knocks her out.

Nina wakes up the next day as in a normal day, but with socks rubber-banded on her hands and a headache. She looks to her mother, who is sitting next to the bed with a bandage on her hand. Nina asks her mother why her hands are covered and Erica says it is to prevent scratching, that she’d been doing it all night. Nina suddenly realizes it must be late and says she needs to get to the ballet company because its opening day. Her mother says she called and let them know Nina wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be able to perform that night. Nina is furious and gets out of bed. She goes for the door but her mother has locked the door and removed the door knob. Nina turns around and yells at her mother to let her out. Erica tells her she isn’t well and the role has taken her over. Nina grabs her mother’s broken hand and pulls her out of the chair. As her mother cries and holds her injured hand, Nina takes the door knob out from under the cushion and walks toward the door. Her mother reaches out for her and asks what happened to her sweet girl, and Nina says in a harsh, evil tone, “she’s gone”, and walks out of the room.

Nina arrives at the ballet and ignores whispers from the troupe as she passes them (with the camera following her from behind). She finds Lily in costume talking to Thomas in the hall, prepared to take the stage as the lead. Nina confidently tells Thomas that she is ready to perform and goes to sit down in her dressing room, with Lily asking what’s going on behind her. Thomas follows her into the room and says that he’s already told Lily she’ll be performing. Nina says if she doesn’t take the stage then the company will be marred with controversy, after Beth’s incident. Thomas looks slightly amused and impressed at her audacity and tells her to get ready.

Nina goes on and is just as timid and rigid in her performance as she was during rehearsals. While in the wings she sees Lily flirting with one of the male dancers and also becomes distracted by Lily while they’re dancing on stage; subsequently, during a lift, she loses concentration which causes the lead male to drop her. She recovers herself but during an interval, Thomas is enraged and asks what the hell that was all about. Nina blames it on her dance partner but Thomas walks away from her. When she enters her dressing room, Lily is sitting at her dressing table putting on make-up. Nina yells at her to get out of her room. Lily taunts Nina, saying perhaps she should dance the Black Swan’s dance as Nina is not fit to dance it, and they begin to fight. Lily morphs into Nina off and on as Nina struggles against her. Nina pushes Lily into the same full-length mirror Beth destroyed and it shatters. As the fight escalates further, Nina grabs a piece of the mirror and stabs Lily in the stomach. Unsure of what to do, Nina hides the bleeding body in her bathroom and then puts on the Black Swan’s make-up. She takes the stage and begins to dance with passionate abandon. As she dances with everything Thomas has been asking for, she begins to physically transform into a large Black Swan on stage, growing feathers and wings. She dances the part better than ever and the crowd gives her a standing ovation as the piece ends.

Nina runs off stage toward Thomas and, in front of everyone, kisses him passionately after finally seducing him with her movements. He smiles and tells her to go back out for a second bow. After leaving the stage again, Nina goes into her dressing room to change for the next act and realizes the blood is starting to pour out from under the bathroom door. Nina places a towel over the growing pool of blood and then hears a knock at the door. When she opens the door… Lily is standing there. She apologizes for how things turned out between them and congratulates Nina on her amazing performance as the Black Swan. Nina is shocked and bewildered as Lily smiles and walks away. Nina turns around and removes the towel to find there is no blood. She turns to look at the broken mirror pieces from the smashed mirror still on the floor then suddenly moves her hand to her abdomen. She’s bleeding, and she reaches into the wound and pulls out a broken shard of glass. (In her unhinged and delusional mind, Nina had stabbed herself before the Black Swan dance, imagining it was Lily). Despite her wound, she dresses for her final act as the White Swan. Nina dances the second act beautifully, which entrances the audience so that they don’t see the small stain of blood growing in the mid-section of her white costume.

In voiceover, Irish-American mobster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) explains that he doesn’t want to be the product of his environment, he wants his environment to be a product of him. Grainy historical film depicts violent riots in Boston during earlier generations. Costello, proudly Irish, unapologetically racist, explains that what annoys him about African Americans is their refusal to realize that they won’t be given anything. Costello’s belief is you have to do whatever possible to take what you want.

Costello is in a small convenience store and collects protection money from the shop owner, a man visibly unnerved by Costello. Costello warns him to have more money next time. Costello asks the shop owner’s young teenage daughter behind the counter if she’s got her period yet. His attitude is nonchalant and all the more threatening for it. The daughter is both affronted and compelled by the powerful Costello and answers his rhetorical question. The shop owner doesn’t show any emotion.

A small boy, a young Colin Sullivan (Conor Donovan), witnesses Costello’s interaction with the shop owner. Costello notices him and asks him if he’s the son of a man Costello knows. He tells the store owner to give the boy two full bags of groceries and then presses some coins into the boy’s hand. He tells the boy to remember he can get more money from Costello when he gets older.

As Sullivan comes up in age, Costello grooms him and steers him into a job as a police officer, where he can keep Costello informed. Sullivan graduates from the police academy and is immediately transferred to the Massachusetts State Police force. He is accepted into the Special Investigations Unit led by Ellerby (Alec Baldwin) which focuses on organized crime. The primary target of the unit is Costello. Sullivan (Matt Damon) is warmly welcomed onto the State Police force by Captain Queenan (Sheen) and Staff Sergeant Dignam (Wahlberg).

Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), whose extended family has considerable ties to organized crime, also attends the police academy. Before he graduates, he is summoned to a meeting with Queenan and Dignam who intimidate, bully, and verbally harass him. They pressure him to disqualify himself as an officer because he’s too smart to be a cop and because of his family’s ties to crime. When Costigan stands up to their hazing, they change tactics: they offer him a job as a police officer on one condition: that he quit the academy, serve serious time in jail on a trumped-up assault charge, and infiltrate Costello’s organization. Only Queenan and Dignam will know that Costigan is working undercover. They promise him a bonus when he completes the assignment.

When Costigan gets out of prison, he contacts his cousin and tries to finance a drug deal. Costigan and his cousin meet Mr. French (Ray Winstone) at a local bar, where Costigan orders a cranberry juice. The guy on the bar stool next to him asks Costigan if he is having his period. Costigan smashes a beer mug over the man’s head and is halted Mr. French. Mr. French warns Costigan that he is not allowed to beat up certain men, and he’s lucky the guy at the bar is not one of them.

Eating at the counter of a store like that in which Sullivan originally met Costello, Costigan confronts two Italian mobsters from Providence extorting protection money from the store owner. He beats the two men up badly, breaking his hand when he hits one of them. Costello learns of Costigan’s actions and summons him to a meeting. He offers to protect Costigan from the Mafia, who, he promises, will return with reinforcements to kill Costigan. He invites Costigan into a back room where he instructs Mr. French, a senior member of Costello’s crew, to check Costigan for weapons or a wire. Mr. French breaks Costigan’s cast open and Costello beats Costigan’s broken hand with a shoe, trying to get him to confess being a cop. Costigan withstands their beating and is accepted as a legitimate crook by Costello.

Both Sullivan and Costigan gain credibility within their respective organizations. Sullivan visits a crime scene where the two Mafia men from Providence are found. Sullivan contacts Costello, who directs him to influence the investigators away from Costello.

Sullivan begins dating psychiatrist Madolyn Madden (Vera Farmiga). Costigan also sees her but as a client, required under the terms of his probation. He also develops an attraction to her. During a deal to sell stolen missile guidance microchips to Chinese government agents, Sullivan warns Costello of the police operation and everyone avoids police detection by boarding boats waiting at the back of the warehouse.

It becomes evident to both Sullivan and Costigan that there is a mole in each other’s organization, though their identities cannot be determined. Costigan talks to Dignam and threatens to leave but Dignam tells him to come up with evidence so they can find the mole. Extremely agitated, Costigan relents. He has coffee with Madden who plans to move in with Sullivan.

Costello tells Sullivan to find the “rat” among his crew. Sullivan asks for his crew members’ social security numbers and other forms of ID so he can track them down. Costigan searches for the informant and learns from a member of Costello’s crew that Costello himself is an FBI informant, explaining why federal prosecutors repeatedly fail to indict and arrest Costello. Costigan visits Queenan at home late at night and tells him that Costello is an FBI informant.

Mr. French collects everyone’s social security numbers and other ID. Costigan corrects Fitzgibbons’s (David O’Hara) misspelling of ‘citizens’ on the envelope containing their information and then leaves. He visits Madden at her apartment, where she is finishing moving out. She tells him she is moving in with Sullivan. They talk and then have sex.

Ellerby puts Sullivan in charge of the investigation to find the mole in the Special Investigations Unit, citing his “immaculate record.” Costigan follows Costello to a porn theater, where he sees Costello meet with and give a dark figure – unknown to him, Sullivan – the envelope containing Costello’s crew members’ personal information. Costigan chases Sullivan out the emergency exit of the theater and through Chinatown but neither man learns the other’s identity.

Sullivan tells Costello to trail Queenan to a meeting with Costigan. Costigan gets away before Costello’s men throw Queenan off the roof, landing at Costigan’s feet. As Costello’s crew leaves, Costigan joins them, pretending he’s just arrived to join them in the assassination. Delahunt (Mark Rolston) is mortally wounded. Back at their bar, Delahunt fingers Costigan as the mole but dies before he can tell anyone else.

A news report reveals that Delahunt, a crew member, was an undercover cop. Consequently, Dignam is forced to step down from the police force.

Using Queenan’s phone, Sullivan reaches Costigan, and fails to persuade him to quit his work as a mole. Sullivan learns from Queenan’s diary that Costello was an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He worries that his identity as a mole for Costello may be revealed. With Costigan’s help, Costello is traced by the police to a cocaine pick-up, where a gunfight erupts between his crew and police, during which most of Costello’s crew are killed. Sullivan confronts the wounded Costello, who admits he is an occasional FBI informant. Sullivan shoots him multiple times. Sullivan is applauded the next day for having killed Costello by everyone on the force.

In good faith, Costigan comes to see him, seeking to get his civilian identity restored and to collect his back pay. He tells Sullivan he intends to resume his civilian life. Sullivan leaves to look up Costigan’s employee record when Costigan notices the envelope from Costello on Sullivan’s desk. Costigan finally realizes Sullivan is Costello’s mole. Returning to his desk, Sullivan realizes that Costigan has figured out his true identity, so he erases Costigan’s employee records from the police computer system.

Madolyn tells Sullivan she’s pregnant, but doesn’t reveal who the father is. A few days later she receives a package in the mail from Costigan addressed to Sullivan. She opens it to find it contains a CD of Costello’s recorded conversations with Sullivan. Sullivan walks in as she is listening and tries unsuccessfully to assuage her suspicions. He contacts Costigan, who reveals that Costello recorded every conversation he had with Sullivan. Costello left the recordings with his attorney, who has given them to Costigan. Costigan says he wants his civilian identity back or he will implicate Sullivan. They agree to meet on the roof of the same building where Queenan was killed.

When they meet, Costigan catches Sullivan off-guard and handcuffs him. As Costigan had secretly arranged, Officer Brown (Anderson) appears on the roof as well. Shocked to see Sullivan in handcuffs and held at gunpoint by Costigan, Brown draws his gun on Costigan. Costigan explains his actions by revealing that Sullivan is the mole. Costigan asks Brown why Dignam did not accompany him, but Brown doesn’t answer. Costigan leads Sullivan to the elevator and Brown takes the stairs to follow them.

When the elevator reaches the ground floor and the doors open, Officer Barrigan (Dale) shoots Costigan in the head. When Brown arrives, Barrigan kills him too. Barrigan reveals to Sullivan that Costello had more than one mole in the police and that Costello was going to give both of them up to the FBI. When Barrigan momentarily turns, Sullivan shoots him in the head. At police headquarters, Sullivan concocts a story to protect himself, identifying Barrigan as the mole and recommends Costigan for the Medal of Merit.

Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a seemingly ordinary man; he has two children with his wife Becca (Connie Nielson), has an unremarkable job as an office worker in his father-in-law Eddie’s (Michael Ironside) metal fabrication company, and generally keeps to himself. The tedium of his life is slowly grinding on him, he and his wife have not been intimate in years, and his son Blake (Gage Munroe) has no respect for him. Only his young daughter, Sammy, shows him any affection.

One night, a man and woman break into his house and hold him at gunpoint, demanding money. Hutch gives them his watch, but when they try to leave, Blake tackles one of them. Hutch is about to attack them with a golf club, but stops himself and lets them get away, resulting in Blake getting a black eye. The incident causes Blake to drift even further away from his father, and everyone in Hutch’s life, from his neighbor to his brother-in-law at work, asks him why he did not try to stop the burglars. Hutch contacts his supposedly deceased half-brother Harry (RZA) on a hidden radio in his office and explains that he held back as the burglars were desperate, scared, and using an unloaded gun.

Later that day, Sammy asks her father for help finding her bracelet, which Hutch believes the thieves took. Without saying a word, he goes to see his elderly father David (Christopher Lloyd), and borrows his old FBI badge and gun to track down the burglars. He finds their apartment and threatens them, but when he realizes they robbed him to get money to pay for their sick baby’s medical treatment, he leaves in shame. The bus he takes home is stopped by a gang of Russian thugs who try to mug the people on board, and Hutch takes out his frustration by savagely beating all of them. When one of them is having trouble breathing after getting hit in the neck, he saves his life by a makeshift tracheotomy using a drinking straw.

Harry then sends him to see a man referred to only as “The Barber” (Colin Salmon), who provides Hutch with information about one of his victims: he is the younger brother of Yulian Kuznetsov (Alexey Serebryakov), a notorious Russian mob enforcer. Although Yulian despises his brother, he feels an obligation to avenge him and sends a crew led by his right-hand man Pavel to attack Hutch at home. Hutch hides his family in the basement and kills most of the attackers before Pavel subdues him with a taser and puts him in the trunk of a car to take him to Yulian. Finding a fire extinguisher in the trunk, Hutch uses it to blind his abductors, causing the car to crash, killing Pavel. He returns home, sends Becca and the children away to a safe location, and, after rounding up what’s left of Yulian’s crew, he discovers Sammy’s kitty cat bracelet where it was all along: at the base of his stereo & FM radio equipment.

He then sets his house on fire to destroy any evidence.

It is then explained that Hutch is a former “auditor”, an assassin employed by intelligence agencies to kill people who were considered untouchable or too difficult to arrest. He did his work diligently until he let a target he was supposed to kill for embezzling U.S. government funds go free. Returning a year later, Hutch found the man had built a new life and family for himself; wanting a life akin to his, Hutch decided to retire against the wishes of his superiors, and since then has done everything possible to suppress any memory of his old life.

After giving Eddie a stash of gold bars to buy his company from him, Hutch burns Yulian’s art collection and the Obshak money he was protecting for the mob, telling him that he can either choose to come after him or he can take what he has left and flee. Yulian angrily calls up every man on his payroll and pursues Hutch to the factory, where David and Harry show up to help Hutch eliminate the gangsters using a variety of weapons and deadly traps Hutch had set up. They kill all of the gunmen with the exception of Yulian, who shoots and wounds Harry; Hutch charges him with a Claymore mine attached to a bulletproof shield and detonates it, killing Yulian. He lets his father and brother escape, and is arrested by the police, only to be quickly released with no charges filed.

Three months later, while buying a new house with Becca, Hutch receives a phone call suggesting that his services are still required.

Shouting “Roma victor!” as his forces attack, General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) leads his Roman legions to victory against Germanic barbarians in the year 180 A.D., ending a prolonged war and earning the esteem of elderly Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The emperor’s son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and daughter Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) have been summoned to join the campaign because Marcus Aurelius is about to name his successor. Commodus, confident he’ll be chosen, is friendly to Maximus, calling him “brother.” Lucilla and Maximus apparently had a romantic involvement at some time in the past; Commodus is concerned that it will trouble her to see him again. (Lucilla has since married, had a son, and been widowed.) Marcus tells Lucilla he asked her to come because her brother, who’s very fond of her, will soon need her more than ever.

Marcus appoints the morally-upstanding Maximus as his successor, with the understanding that Maximus will eventually restore the Roman Republic by returning power to the senate. Maximus, longing to go home to his wife and son, tries to decline the honor, but Marcus Aurelius insists that not wanting the job makes Maximus the best man for it. At the end of a wrenching interview in which Commodus accuses his father of not recognizing his virtues and never loving him, Commodus confesses that all he ever wanted was his father’s love and approval – and then he smothers him.

Declaring himself emperor, Commodus asks Maximus for his loyalty, which Maximus, realizing Commodus’ involvement in Marcus Aurelius’s death, refuses. Commodus orders Maximus arrested and executed and dispatches Praetorian guards to murder Maximus’s wife (Giannina Facio) and young son (Giorgio Cantarini). Maximus narrowly escapes his execution and races home only to discover his family’s charred and crucified bodies in the smoldering ruins of his villa. After burying his wife and son, a grieving Maximus succumbs to exhaustion and collapses on their graves.

Slave traders find Maximus and take him to Zucchabar, a rugged province in North Africa, where he is purchased by Proximo (Oliver Reed), the head of a gladiator school. Distraught and nihilistic over the death of his family and betrayal by his empire, Maximus initially refuses to fight, but as he defends himself in the arena his formidable combat skills lead to a rise in popularity with the audience. As he trains and fights further, Maximus befriends Hagen (Ralf Moeller), a Germanic barbarian, and Juba (Djimon Hounsou), a Numidian hunter. Juba becomes a close friend and confidant of the grieving Maximus, and the two speak frequently of the afterlife and Maximus’ eventual reunification with his family.

In Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games to commemorate his father’s death, declaring 150 days of celebration in a bid to win the affections of the Roman populace. Proximo’s company of gladiators is hired to participate. Proximo tells Maximus that his abilities as a fighter won’t be enough in Rome; he needs to win the affections of the audience. Maximus at first doesn’t like the idea of playing to the crowd, but Proximo explains that it might save his life, revealing that he himself used to be a gladiator, and after gaining popularity was freed by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius – he shows Maximus the wooden sword he received at the time. Maximus is incredulous at first (“You knew Marcus Aurelius?”), but then realizes this strategy might get him close enough to Commodus to get his revenge.

In a recreation of the Battle of Zama (incorrectly named the Battle of Carthage) at the Colosseum, Maximus leads Proximo’s gladiators to decisive victory against a more powerful force, much to the amazement of the crowd. Commodus descends into the arena to meet the victors and is stunned to discover that the leader of Proximo’s gladiators is Maximus. The emperor, unable to kill Maximus because of the crowd’s roaring approval for him, gives the thumbs-up sign allowing Maximus to live and sulks out of the arena.

As the games continue, Commodus pits Maximus against Tigris of Gaul (Sven-Ole Thorsen), Rome’s only undefeated gladiator, in an arena surrounded by chained tigers with handlers instructed to target Maximus. Following an intense battle, Maximus narrowly defeats Tigris and awaits Commodus’s decision to kill or spare Tigris. Though Commodus votes for death (thumb down), Maximus spares Tigris, deliberately insulting the emperor and garnering the audience’s approval. With his bitter enemy now known as “Maximus the Merciful,” Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus or stop his ascending popularity while Commodus’s own popularity shrinks.

Following the fight, Maximus meets his former servant Cicero (Tommy Flanagan), who reveals that Maximus’s army remains loyal to him. They are camped at the port of Ostia. Lucilla, increasingly fearful of her brother’s instability and incestuous desires, forms a plot with Maximus and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to reunite Maximus with his army and overthrow Commodus. Commodus, however, learns of his sister’s betrayal from her young son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) and forces her to reveal the plot by threatening the boy. Praetorian guards immediately storm Proximo’s gladiator barracks, battling the gladiators while Maximus escapes. Hagen and Proximo are killed in the siege while Juba and the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes to the city walls only to be ambushed by a cohort of Praetorian guards who use Cicero as bait, killing him as soon as Maximus comes out in the open.

Concluding that legends born in the Colosseum must die there, Commodus personally challenges Maximus to a duel in front of a roaring audience. Acknowledging that Maximus’s skill exceeds his own, Commodus deliberately stabs Maximus with a stiletto, puncturing his lung, and has the wound concealed beneath the gladiator’s armor. In the arena, the two exchange blows before Maximus rips the sword from Commodus’ hands. Commodus requests a sword from his guards, but they refuse to lend him their weapons. Maximus drops his own sword, but Commodus pulls a hidden stiletto and renews his attack. Maximus then beats Commodus into submission and kills him with his own stiletto.

The films opens with Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller) playing the drums at Shaffer Conservatory of Music, the music school in USA and he’s just an alternate drummer in some school band. Andrew abruptly stops playing drums when the band conductor, Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) appears at the door in front of him and asking Andrew some personal information of him. When Fletcher asks Andrew why he stopped playing, he resumes playing drums. After he finishes playing, Terence says he did not mean to resume playing then he asks Andrew to show his rudiments by playing the drums again. While Andrew plays drums, Fletcher slams the door but he comes back to retrieve his forgotten jacket.

The next day, Andrew enters one class aside from Fletcher and there, he meets the drummer named Ryan Connelly (Austin Stowell). Shortly, the professor arrives and the class performs “Billy’s An”. Andrew sees the man (presumably Fletcher) in silhouette looking at the door. After the class, Andrew peeks into one of the classrooms where the class is handled by Fletcher, and he is being looked at by Fletcher.

Later, back at the Studio Band, Andrew is playing drums as core drummer. Suddenly, Fletcher breaks inside and Andrew becomes horrified of him. Fletcher conducts every saxophonist and bassist one by one and finally the drums. After that, Fletcher tells Andrew to come and he is told to come at his room tomorrow at 6 in the morning.

Andrew meets Nicole (Melissa Benoist), the girl working at the cinema and invites her to go out with him. The next day, Andrew realizes that he is late for class. Andrew struggles and rushes quickly to the school, only he goes inside the empty classroom. Andrew knows that the class actually starts at 9 AM. Andrew waits three hours before the class. At exactly 9:00:00am, Fletcher arrives and begins conducting the song called “Whiplash.” During the band practice, Fletcher confronts then suddenly yells at a saxophonist named Metz (C.J. Vana) playing out-of-tune and angrily tells him to get out of the Studio Band. This escalates Fletcher’s abusiveness and wrath. Fletcher has the class take a break. Fletcher and Andrew have a conversation about his life and family.

After the break, the class resumes. But when Fletcher loses the patience of Andrew’s drum tempo, Fletcher throws a chair at Andrew (but he dodges it). Fletcher slaps Andrew every four in 12 counts he makes and he will not stop questioning until Andrew answers whether he is “dragging” or “rushing”. Andrew answers “rushing” then Fletcher forces Andrew to tell the whole band that he is really upset, louder! Fletcher then mocks Andrew about his parents being separated. Once again, Fletcher tells Andrew that he is upset, louder. Thus, Andrew is being embarrassed and insulted.

At his home, Andrew keeps practicing drums, making his hand bleed in the process. After the band performs at the competition, Tanner (Nate Lang), core drummer, gives his music sheets to Andrew. Andrew neglects the music sheets to buy a can of coke at the automated vending machine. As Tanner is looking for his music sheets, they mysteriously disappear. Tanner can’t play without the sheets. Andrew steps in, stating he knows the song, Whiplash, by heart. Andrew plays well and earns Tanner’s spot. Thus, Andrew is the new core drummer. Andrew’s family is having dinner at his home and talks about his experience in Shaffer.

At the Studio Band, the band is practicing the new song called “Caravan” which needs an extreme time stamp measure of 330 bpm. Fletcher dismisses the band except Andrew when Fletcher discusses him about that note. Shortly, Ryan Connelly, whom Andrew met from the other class, arrives. Andrew plays the drums to test the ability of the tempo but his tempo fails while Ryan plays well. Therefore, Fletcher takes Ryan as the new core drummer, but Andrew does not agree to this. Jealous, Andrew will be the core drummer if he earns the part.

Andrew breaks up with Nicole, saying his ambition will only hinder their relationship. At his home, we see Andrew practicing drums harder with a pitcher of water with ice beside him in case he bleeds. As he fails to reach the required tempo, Andrew punches the drum in frustration and his hand is bleeding, dripping it in the pitcher of ice.

At the Studio Band, Fletcher tearfully reveals in class that a talented former student of his, Sean Casey, has died in a car accident. The band rehearses “Caravan”, but Carl Tanner struggles with the tempo; Fletcher auditions Andrew, Ryan and Tanner for hours while the class waits outside but the three fail to reach the required tempo. When it is now Andrew’s turn, Fletcher kicks the chair then throws the drum away in wrath and even tells Andrew to increase the tempo. In this process, Andrew’s left hand is bleeding and the blood drips onto the drum set. After a one minute of playing, Fletcher finally tells Andrew that he earned the part.

On the way to a jazz competition, the bus that Andrew rode breaks down. So Andrew rents a car but he arrives late for rehearsal without his drumsticks. He drives back to the car rental office and retrieves the drumsticks, but as he speeds back, his car is hit by a truck. He crawls from the wreckage and despite his injury and bloodied face, he struggles to make into the jazz competition. With his left hand injured, he is unable to play and drops the drumstick to the floor. After that, Fletcher says Andrew that he is done. Andrew attacks Fletcher in front of the audience.

Andrew is expelled from Shaffer and contacted by a lawyer representing the parents of Sean Casey. The lawyer explains that Sean actually hanged himself, having suffered anxiety and depression after joining Fletcher’s class. Sean’s parents want to prevent Fletcher from teaching; Andrew agrees to testify and Fletcher is fired.

Andrew goes to the club where he sees Fletcher and the jazz performers. As the song ends, Andrews walks out of the club but Fletcher calls him and having a chat with Fletcher. Fletcher explains that he pushes his students beyond the expected so they might achieve greatness. He invites Andrew to perform at JVC festival concert with his band. Andrew agrees and invites Nicole, learning that she has a new relationship.

In Spring 1917, three years into the First World War, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer enlists in the Imperial German Army alongside his school friends, Albert Kropp, Franz Müller, and Ludwig Behm. They listen to a patriotic speech by a school official and unknowingly receive uniforms from soldiers killed in a previous battle. After they are deployed in Northern France near La Malmaison, they are befriended by Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky, an older soldier. Their romantic view of the war is shattered by the realities of trench warfare on the Western Front, and Ludwig is killed by artillery on the first night.

On November 7, 1918, German official Matthias Erzberger, weary of mounting losses, meets with German High Command to persuade them to begin armistice talks with the Allied powers. Meanwhile, Paul and Kat steal a goose from a farm to share with Albert, Franz, and another veteran, Tjaden Stackfleet, with whom they have grown close behind the front in Champagne. Kat, who is illiterate, gets Paul to read him a letter from his wife and worries that he cannot reintegrate into peacetime society. Franz spends the night with a French woman and brings back her scarf as a souvenir.

On the morning of November 9, General Friedrichs drives Erzberger and the German delegation to a train bound for the Forest of Compiègne to negotiate a ceasefire. Paul and his friends go on a mission to find 60 missing recruits sent to reinforce their unit and discover that they were killed by gas after taking off their masks too soon. Friedrichs, who opposes the talks, orders an attack before French reinforcements arrive. That night, Erzberger’s delegation reaches the Forest of Compiègne, and Paul’s regiment is sent to the front to prepare to attack the French lines.

On the morning of November 10, Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Allied Commander, gives 72 hours for the Germans to accept the Allied terms, with no room for negotiation. Meanwhile, the German attack takes the French front line after hand-to-hand fighting but is routed by a combined arms counterattack with Saint-Chamond tanks, airplanes, and flamethrowers. Franz is separated from the group, and Albert is killed trying to surrender. Trapped in a crater in no man’s land with a French soldier, Paul stabs him and watches him die slowly, becoming remorseful and asking forgiveness to his dead body. Erzberger learns of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s abdication and receives instructions in the evening from field marshal Paul von Hindenburg to accept the Allied terms. Paul returns to his unit and sees them celebrating the imminent end of the war. He finds a wounded Tjaden, who gives him Franz’s scarf. Paul and Kat bring him food but Tjaden, distraught at being crippled, kills himself.

Elderly Dottie Hinson (Anne Cartwright) is a former player on the nation’s first women’s baseball league in the 1940s. As catcher for the Rockford Peaches, she helped break gender barriers and earn nationwide respect for herself and the teams. Recently widowed, she nervously prepares to attend a reunion with her former teammates, including her younger sister Kit, also a league player, who Dottie rarely sees. She arrives in New York, and ss she stands at the gate of Doubleday Field the memories flood back.

In spring of 1943, the United States is at the height of its involvement in World War II. The draft has claimed the best talent from Major League Baseball, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Bob Feller. Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall), a candy bar mogul and MLB team owner, holds an owners’ meeting to determine what they should do if the American and National Leagues deem it necessary to shut down. He enlists one of his marketing gurus, Ira Lowenstein (David Strathairn), to come up with a solution.

Some time later, one of Harvey’s talent scouts, the sarcastic and often rude Ernie Capadino (John Lovitz), comes to Willamette, Oregon, to a farm-based co-ed fastpitch softball league. This particular game has the home team, Lukash Dairy, down by one, with two men on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. A young lady, Kit Keller (Lori Petty), is on deck. Before she goes to the plate, her sister, the aforementioned Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis), points out a gap in the infield that she can hit through, to tie or possibly win the game. She also warns Kit to lay off high fastballs, a pitch Kit claims to like but Dottie knows she can’t hit yet. Sure enough, Kit swings at two fastballs, then takes a changeup right down the middle to strike out, drawing sneers from the crowd.

When Dottie steps up to bat, she takes a ball inside, then swings at and hits a ball right in her wheelhouse, sending it to the outfield wall. As she stops at first, the two players on base score, and they win the game. Ernie takes note of her patience at the plate, and decides Dottie would be perfect for the league due to both her talent and her “dolly” good looks. Dottie is also married, with her husband Bob fighting overseas in the Pacific.

Kit clearly has a rivalry with Dottie, believing that their parents (and the rest of the town) see her as inferior to her older sister. Dottie denies it, but she also has a competitive streak that urges her to outdo Kit. As they are milking the cows at their parents’ farm, Ernie Capadino finds them and offers Dottie a tryout for the upcoming league. Dottie initially declines, but Kit desperately wants a chance to prove her talent. Ernie rebuffs Kit as he had seen her poor batting at the game, but Dottie explains that Kit is a great pitcher and it wasn’t her turn to pitch that game. Ernie pats her on the arm, explaining that he doesn’t need her but changes his mind when he sees that Kit has strong muscle tone in the upper part of her pitching arm. Ernie strikes a deal, offering Kit a tryout if Dottie attends too. Dottie eventually gives in.

The next morning the sisters get a late start and must sprint after the moving train and jump aboard, meeting up with Ernie. En route to Chicago, the trio stops in Fort Collins, Colorado, to watch another girl, Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh), who is coached by her father, Dave (Eddie Jones). The tryout is in a gymnasium, where she hits several hard fastballs, breaking several windows, and also shows patience at the plate. She’s even a switch hitter. Her father mentions that if she were a boy, he’d be talking to the Yankees. When she’s done, and Ernie finally gets a look at her, he rejects her, because she is rather homely. The rejection angers both Dottie and Kit, who refuse to leave with Capadino. Marla’s father manages to convince Ernie to take her, claiming it’s his fault she isn’t “pretty” since her mother died when she was young, and he raised her alone as a tomboy.

All four make it to Harvey Field for the tryout. Ernie leaves the girls to go try out, as he has more scouting work to do. The three come upon a group of girls, including Mae Mordabito (Madonna) and Doris Murphy (Rosie O’Donnell). Mae and Doris look down on the new girls, and make an offhand claim that Dottie, Kit and Marla will be rejected. Kit takes offense to that, prompting Doris to throw a ball hard at her head. Kit ducks, but before the ball gets to her, Dottie catches it barehanded, to Mae and Doris’ astonishment.

As the tryout is given, a radio program is played with a debutante deriding the idea of women’s baseball, calling it the “masculinization of women”. Kit tries out as a pitcher, while Dottie plays her usual position of catcher, and shows incredible talent with playcalling and catching girls stealing.

Eventually girls are chosen, split into four teams of sixteen girls each. Dottie and Kit both end up on the same team, the Rockford Peaches, to play in Rockford, Illinois. Marla, Mae and Doris are also on the Peaches. Before the introductions, one girl is lingering at the board, looking helplessly at the team lists. One of the girls assigned to the Peaches, Helen Haley (Anne Ramsay), approaches the girl and gets her name, Shirley Baker (Ann Cusack). As it turns out, Shirley cannot read. Finding her name on the lists, not only has Shirley made it, she’s also on the Peaches. Charlie Collins (Don S. Davis), who will manage the Racine Belles, welcomes them to the All-American Girls Baseball League. During the introduction, the girls find out that many stereotypes of women will be involved. The “uniforms” feature short skirts that will make sliding very tricky, and all the girls will have classes at charm and beauty schools, in addition to their daily lives being monitored by chaperones. Lowenstein interjects to their protests, and insists that the rules be followed.

One of these beauty school classes for the Peaches is shown, especially Marla’s difficulties going through it. During a grading of their style, several girls are given stern suggestions to change their look. Dottie and Kit do not need such suggestions. The recommendation for Marla: “a lot of night games”.

Meanwhile, Walter Harvey is back at his mansion, doing business with former MLB player Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). He asks the former player if he is still an alcoholic, but he implies he is when he can afford it. Harvey complains, since Dugan’s playing career ended because of an alcohol-induced incident that left him with a blown-out knee (he’d jumped out of a hotel window after setting the room on fire). Harvey offers Dugan a manager position in the new girls baseball league, to give the league a name to cheer for while the girls play.

In the clubhouse for their first game, the Peaches are getting ready, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of their famous manager. One of the girls, Betty Horn (Tracy Reiner), has her husband’s baseball card of Dugan, hoping to get it autographed. Dugan arrives severely hungover, walks through the clubhouse to the bathroom, and proceeds to urinate right in front of the ladies. He takes so long, Mae actually starts timing him. When he’s done, he leaves the clubhouse, ripping up Betty’s baseball card along the way, leaving her in tears. The other girls are worried about not having a lineup. When Dottie stands and suggests making a lineup shouldn’t be so hard, Mae and Doris challenge her to make the lineup herself. Dottie immediately names Mae the leadoff hitter, playing centerfield, to Mae’s satisfaction.

When they come out for the game’s introductions, the guys in the stands catcall them mercilessly. The Peaches determine to suck it up and prove their mettle on the field in their first game, against the South Bend Blue Sox. During the introductions, a guy jumps up on top of one of the dugouts and makes fun of the players. The shortstop, Ellen Sue Gotlander (Freddie Simpson), throws the ball at his head, knocking him silly. The game goes on, and in the bottom of the ninth inning, Dottie hits a 3-0 pitch for a three-run home run to win the game for the Peaches. After the game, Lowenstein chastizes the indifferent Jimmy for napping during the entire game.

A second newsreel plays, exhibiting the new women’s baseball league, and profiling several of the players for the Peaches. The end fades back to color as another game ends with Marla, Ellen Sue and Helen turning a 4-6-3 double play to lock up another win for the Peaches. After the game, another of the players, Evelyn Gardner (Bitty Schram), asks Jimmy if she can take her son, Stilwell, on the team’s road trips.

On the bus the spoiled-rotten Stilwell (Justin Scheller) runs up and down the aisle of their bus and distracts the bus driver, running him off the road. He stops the bus, quits, and storms off. The team chaperone, Miss Cuthbert (Pauline Brailsford), chases him, trying to convince him to stay, but to no avail. As she’s away, some of the girls reveal a scheme to Dottie to sneak off to a roadhouse during their road trip. Mae plans to give Miss Cuthbert food poisoning to get away with it. Miss Cuthbert returns, and wakes up Jimmy (who was napping) to drive the bus. In a drunken haze, he blindly grabs and kisses Miss Cuthbert, but screams when he realizes who he’s kissing. He orders everyone back on the bus and they drive off.

Sure enough, that night, Miss Cuthbert is ill, and as a doctor makes a house call, Mae, Doris, Kit, Marla and most of the team sneak to the road house, dancing all night. Eventually Dottie makes her way to the roadhouse to warn them that Lowenstein is on his way to find them. Marla lags behind–she had gotten drunk, and ended up falling in love with a patron named Nelson (Alan Wilder). It’s clear the attraction is mutual, and Nelson offers to take Marla home himself.

The next morning, the girls go to church. Mae went to confession and told the preacher “everything”, leaving the man of the cloth stunned – the team hears him drop his Bible a few times. That night, Jimmy takes batting practice alone with a pitching machine, drunkenly complaining to himself about his job.

The next game is against the Racine Belles. Jimmy is reading a paper instead of watching the game, so Dottie is taking it upon herself to manage the team. Mae gets a hit to left-center, and stretches it into a triple. Jimmy sees Dottie giving signals to Marla, who is next to bat. Dottie is suggesting a squeeze play. Jimmy would prefer that Marla, their best hitter, swing away at the ball, and sends Marla his own signals. After a brief war of signals, Jimmy tells Dottie to stop, that he’s the manager. Dottie retorts he should start acting like one. Jimmy takes over, and with his play, Marla gets a run-scoring hit. Jimmy is impressed, but still doesn’t think the girls are “real” ballplayers.

In another bus ride, their superstitious left fielder, Alice Gaspers (Renee Coleman), tells everyone to cross their fingers as they pass a cemetery. Mae is shown teaching Shirley how to read, using a pornographic novel. Shirley is surprised when she realizes what she is reading. Evelyn is writing a song about the league. Doris tells Betty about her on-and-off boyfriend, Charlie, who puts her down because she plays baseball. But now that she sees how many girls can play, she no longer sees a problem with it. After that, she tears up and throw away the photograph of Charlie she was carrying.

In the next game, against South Bend, the Blue Sox finish the top of the sixth inning having tied the game. Jimmy cuts down Evelyn for throwing home instead of hitting a cut-off man on what should have been a single, allowing a runner on second and eventually letting two runs score. His yelling leaves her crying, and he ends up yelling at her a second time, telling her how “there’s no crying in baseball”. He relates a story about how he was once verbally abused by famous manager Rogers Hornsby, and didn’t cry himself. The umpire comes over and suggests he treat his players more gently. Jimmy insults the umpire, getting himself ejected from the game, as the team applauds.

The next game is at Racine, and barely anyone shows up. Lowenstein arrives and tells the Peaches that Life Magazine is there to do an article about the league, and Dottie is going to be their profile feature. He also reveals that the owners have threatened to shut the league down due to dismal attendance. The girls do not want to go back to their old lives. Dottie decides to do something: on a routine foul pop-up, she does a split to make the catch, impressing the crowd and getting the photographers for Life a cover picture for the issue.

A montage of scenes through the middle of the season then plays out, with various plays and several fan promotions. The players quickly amp up their game, making flashy plays, increasing the excitement. Gradually the games bring in more and more fans. During the montage, it is shown that Marla has married Nelson, and leaves the team for the rest of the year.

During another bus ride, Dottie and Jimmy talk about their personal lives, particularly her husband Bob, who is fighting in Europe but has been out of contact for a while. A key game is played, and Kit is getting tired on the mound in the final inning. During the game, Walter Harvey has a meeting with Ira Lowenstein, revealing he intends to close the league at the end of the season. Ira challenges Walter to give him the reigns of the league and let him continue the league himself. Before facing the final batter, Jimmy and Dottie visit the mound, and Dottie decides that Kit is finished. Jimmy sends an angry Kit to the dugout and calls Ellen Sue in to finish the game.

After the game, Doris jokes to Kit that she’s getting “too big” to finish her own games. This gets Kit mad, and she throws her glove at Doris, then tackles her. Jimmy has to break them up, and tosses Kit in the showers. Afterward in the clubhouse, Kit yells at Dottie, feeling like she’s being held back. Kit feels like she’s at home, like she’s always second-best behind Dottie. That night, Lowenstein finds Dottie lingering in the clubhouse. Dottie says she is finished with baseball, not wanting to deal with Kit’s jealousy. Lowenstein offers Dottie a trade instead.

That night, an irate Kit reveals she’s been traded to the Racine Belles. Dottie wanted herself to be traded, but Kit figured Lowenstein would never do that, because Dottie was the star of the Peaches. The argument continues in Kit’s room. Dottie remarks that the only reason she joined was to get Kit in the league in the first place. Kit asks why she’s still there, then. Dottie leaves, allowing Kit to pack.

A few days later, the team is getting ready for another game, singing the song Evelyn wrote. Jimmy enters the clubhouse, revealing that he gets a bonus if they win the game and make it to the World Series. After some ribbing from Doris, a Western Union delivery man arrives with a telegram from the War Department, silencing the clubhouse. He reads the telegram stating that one of the team members’ husbands has been killed in action. However, he turns to leave because the telegram isn’t on his delivery list. Jimmy has to rip the telegram from the delivery boy’s hands, not wanting the spectre of not knowing who lost their husband to distract them from the game. He reads the telegram, and gives it to Betty, who has to be helped out in tears. Dottie is somewhat shaken by the scene and that night, cries in her room alone because she does not know the fate of Bob. Suddenly, a knock on the door, and it opens to reveal her husband (Bill Pullman), walking with a cane. He was shot by a sniper, which was why he was out of contact. They have a tearful reunion. The next morning, as the rest of the team prepares to head to Racine to begin the World Series, Dottie decides to retire. Before she leaves with Bob, Jimmy warns her that she would regret the decision to leave so hastily, countering Dottie’s argument that playing had become “too hard” for her. Jimmy says that few people have ever reached Dottie’s level of skill and dedication and that the game being hard is what makes it great.

The Belles and the Peaches split the first six games, leading up to a Game 7 in Racine. Jimmy, concerned about his team’s chances and getting constantly heckled by Stilwell, leads a rare (and somewhat irreverent) locker room prayer vigil with the team. During warmups, Jimmy tells the replacement catcher to let him know of the first sign of tiring by Ellen Sue, who has taken over full-time as pitcher. The catcher reveals herself to be Dottie. Half-way to Oregon, she realized she had to finish the season out, and returned just in time for the decisive game. Bob was in the stands for the game, cheering her on. Although Alice had been playing in her place at catcher, he allows Dottie into the game to play. Her attitude gives Jimmy a renewed confidence that they just might win the game, and the series.

The game plays out scoreless until the bottom of the eighth, when Evelyn again fails to throw a cut-off on a grounder to the outfield, allowing the Belles to score a run. Although they are now behind, 1-0, Jimmy manages to keep his cool to Evelyn, pointing out strainingly that she needs to work on her fielding before next season.

The Peaches attempt to mount a comeback in the top of the ninth, leaving it up to Kit to pitch the Belles to victory. Mae starts it off with an infield single. Doris follows that with a flyball single to center, moving Mae to second. Evelyn hits a sacrifice bunt to advance Mae and Doris, getting out one. Helen gets squeezed, and grounds out to first base for out two. Dottie comes to the plate, and hits a line drive right at Kit’s head, forcing her to duck. Mae and Doris score, giving the Peaches a 2-1 lead. After getting Ellen Sue to fly out to end the inning, Kit returns to the dugout crying, but she has to compose herself, because she will need to hit if the Belles want to win now.

In the bottom of the ninth, one of the Belles’ players gets a hit, giving Kit a shot to win the game for the Belles. Dottie reminds Ellen Sue to feed Kit high fastballs. Sure enough, Kit swings at the first two. But she gets a lucky shot on the third one, connecting and driving it into the rightfield gap. The Belles runner makes it home to tie thegame, but Kit decides to win the game herself, trying for an inside-the-park home run. Evelyn hits the cut-off this time, and Dottie gets the ball in time. Kit runs into Dottie, knocking the ball loose and touching home plate, winning the game for the Belles, 3-2. At the end of the game, Harvey comes up to Lowenstein, and agrees to keep the league running.

After the game, Kit is signing some autographs, reveling in her growing fame. She encounters Dottie, and apologizes for running into her. Dottie assures her it’s just part of the game. Dottie is about to return to Oregon with Bob, but Kit wants to stay in Racine and get an offseason job while waiting to play next year. Dottie confirms that she is indeed retiring. Kit insists Dottie will miss being in the league, and laments that Dottie is leaving right when she wants her to stay.

When everyone prepares to leave, Jimmy finds his way to Dottie, who finally introduces him to Bob. Jimmy reveals that Harvey offered him a job managing a Triple A minor-league team in Wichita. He turned it down, deciding to remain the manager of the Peaches. Before Kit gets on her bus to leave for home, she and Dottie have one more playful shouting match, with Dottie insisting that Kit lay off the high fastballs.

The scene fades back to the present day, with Dottie again at Doubleday Field. Doris (Vera Johnson) and Mae (Eunice Anderson) are the first to recognize her, and confirm it by throwing a baseball at her, which she again catches with her bare hands, even though she’s now in her seventies. She reunites warmly with her teammates. Among them, Helen (Barbara Pilavin) became a doctor, and Ellen Sue (Eugenia McLin) married a plastic surgeon. Among others, she also met with Shirley (Barbara Erwin), Betty (Betty Miller) and Alice (Shirley Burkovich). Marla (Patricia Wilson) reveals herself; Nelson had recently handed his business to their son. It’s here that Dottie reveals that Bob had died the previous winter. During their reunion, another former player (real-life women’s baseball player Dolores “Pickles” Lee-Dries) points Dottie out to a reporter, saying that though “she only played one year”, she was still the best player the league had ever seen.

Afterward, a ceremony is held in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Prior to the ceremony for their exhibit, Dottie meets with Stilwell (Mark Holton), who notes that his mother, Evelyn, died two years before. She also finds a placard for Jimmy Dugan (who had also passed). The Women in Baseball exhibit is opened by Ira Lowenstein (Marvin Einhorn) himself, since he was the one that kept the league going as long as it did. During the opening, Dottie looks through the exhibit, and eventually finding herself before a picture of herself and Kit. It is here that she is found by Kit (Kathleen Butler), who enters with her husband, children and grandchildren. Kit quickly finds and reunites happily with Dottie.

Chapter One: “Once Upon a Time….. in Nazi-Occupied France”

The film opens in 1941 with Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), a detective of the Waffen-SS, proudly known as the “Jew Hunter,” visiting French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite (Denis Ménochet). After making casual conversation in French and taking a glass of LaPadite’s delicious milk, Landa claims to have exhausted his French and asks to switch to English.

In English, Landa then notes that his papers state that all of the Jewish families around LaPadite’s region have been accounted for, except the Dreyfuses, who have vanished completely in the past year. Landa believes that someone is hiding them very well. After rambling on a bit about the logic he uses to hunt Jews, he admits that he is required to conduct a thorough search of LaPadite’s house.

By dropping a subtle hint about whether or not to leave LaPadite’s family alone in the future, Landa manages to coerce LaPadite and get him to confess that he is hiding the Dreyfuses under the floorboards. LaPadite points out the approximate location of the hidden Dreyfuses. Landa understands that the Dreyfuses don’t speak English, and tells LaPadite that he will be switching back to French. In French, he thanks LaPadite for the milk and hospitality, then opens the door, seemingly calling out to LaPadite’s family, but in actuality to booted Wehrmacht soldiers, who come inside and take up positions. On Landa’s orders, the soldiers fire their guns into the floorboards, killing the Dreyfuses. However, Landa hears a noise, and sees the teenage Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) running away into the hills. Landa considers shooting her with his pistol but decides against it, yelling after her, “Au revoir, Shosanna!”

Chapter Two: “Inglourious Basterds”

The second chapter takes place three years later in 1944, just prior to the Allied invasion of France. We see redneck Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) addressing in formation his newly formed eight-man Jewish-American commando unit. He proceeds to explain to them, in drill sergeant style, that they will be dropped behind enemy lines to cause havoc to all Nazi soldiers they come across with the goal of bringing fear into the heart of the enemy. He further explains to them that the normal standards of military conduct will not apply because the Nazis themselves have no humanity and are not deserving of any humanity in return. He mentions that he has Apache blood running through his veins and that each and every one of the men in his command owes him a debt of 100 Nazi scalps.

We next cut to a scene showing us the terrible-tempered Adolf Hitler (Martin Wuttke), angrily ridiculing two of his military command for not being able to deal with the Basterds, as their activities are demoralizing to his fighting men. Hitler then interviews Private Butz (Sönke Möhring), whose entire patrol was recently ambushed and killed by the Basterds, and he was the only survivor. When Hitler asks Butz if they marked him like they did the other survivors, Butz shows him the swastika carved into his forehead.

Butz’s story is told in flashback: all of the soldiers have already been killed except for three: Butz, Sgt. Werner Rachtman (Richard Sammel), and a third soldier. Raine has Rachtman come forward, and threatens to have him killed if he does not disclose the whereabouts and information on a nearby Nazi patrol. Rachtman is adamant that he will not provide information that could possibly harm other German soldiers and Raine calls for Sgt. Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth), known to German soldiers as the “Bear Jew” to beat Rachtman to death with a baseball bat, which he proceeds to do, which very much delights all of the Basterds. The second survivor is also shot dead in a moment of excitement.

Raine then interrogates the non-English speaking Private Butz. Cpl. Willem Wicki (Gedeon Burkhard) acts as their interpreter. Utterly demoralized by the beating to death of his sergeant, Private Butz quickly provides the Basterds with all they need to know after which Lt. Raine lets Private Butz go - but not before carving a swastika into Butz’s forehead with his own customized Bowie knife - as a branding (swastika carving is Lt. Raine’s trademark). The scene ends with Donowitz commenting to Raine that he is becoming quite good at carving swastikas. Lt. Raine responds: “You know how you get to Carnegie Hall don’t ya? Practice.”

Chapter Three: “German Night in Paris”

June 1, 1944: Shosanna has assumed the identity of “Emmanuelle Mimieux.” How she manages to do so is not revealed. She has also become the proprietress of a cinema in downtown Paris, which is chosen by Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), a spotlight-hungry sniper-turned-actor whose exploits are being celebrated in the Nazi propaganda film Stolz der Nation (Nation’s Pride), as the setting for the film premiere. He is infatuated with Shosanna and convinces Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) to hold the premiere in her cinema. Shosanna, however, does not reciprocate Zoller’s feelings.

Shosanna realizes that the presence of so many high ranking Nazi officials and officers provides an excellent opportunity for revenge. She resolves to burn down the cinema using the massive quantities of flammable nitrate film she holds in storage during the premiere (because nitrate film burns three times faster than paper, and is cheaper than buying lots of explosives; the English narrator (Samuel L. Jackson) tells us that the flammability of nitrate film was such so that you couldn’t even take a reel on a bus), and she and her lover/assistant Marcel re-edit the fourth reel of “Stolz der Nation.”

Chapter Four: “Operation Kino”

In the meantime, the British have also learned of the Nazi leadership’s plan to attend the premiere and dispatch a British officer, Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), to Paris to lead Operation Kino, an attack on the cinema with the aid of the Basterds and a German double agent, an actress by the name of Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). Hicox meets with General Ed Fenech (Mike Myers) and Winston Churchill (Rod Taylor) and is chosen for the mission based on his expertise of German filmmakers.

Bridget Von Hammersmark arranges to meet Hicox and two of the Basterds, Wicki and the psychotic Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) (who defected from the Germans after killing thirteen Gestapo in violent ways {some of which can be viewed in Chapter 2}) in the basement of a French tavern to arrange their plans. The only problem is that the night of the rendezvous is also the occasion of a German staff sergeant named Wilhelm (Alexander Fehling) celebrating the birth of his son with his soldier comrades. One of the German soldiers present strikes up a conversation with Hicox and notices that his accent is “odd.” An SS Major, Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl) (whom we met earlier during Chapter 3), who is in the tavern as well also notices the odd accent (although Hicox is fluent in German, he is using his British accent). Hellstrom joins Hicox and von Hammersmark and plays one round of a guessing game with them (with Hellstrom’s card, King Kong). He offers to buy the table a round of drinks. Unfortunately, Hicox betrays himself when he gives the wrong three-fingered order for whiskey (holding up his ring, middle, and pointer fingers instead of his thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger), and the SS officer recognizes their deception.

Hicox, Wicki, Stiglitz, and all of the Germans, as well as the French tavern owner, subsequently kill each other in the resulting 15 second shootout: Stiglitz starts things off by telling Hellstrom to say “auf Wiedersehen” to his Nazi balls, then shoots him in his groin. Hellstrom then shoots Hicox in turn and hits Bridget in her right leg, who falls backward in her chair, while Hicox falls backward and returns fire at Hellstrom. Stiglitz then stands up and repeatedly stabs Hellstrom in the back of the head, pinning his head to the table. Wicki stands up and shoots Winnetou in the back at least twice. Beethoven shoots Stiglitz in the back. Mata Hari shoots Wicki in the stomach. Stiglitz turns and shoots Beethoven four times in the torso and then also shoots Edgar Wallace in the heart, killing them both. Wicki shoots Mata Hari in the heart. Then, Eric shoots Stiglitz with a double-barreled shotgun, killing him. Wicki shoots Eric in the head. Wilhelm blindly guns down Wicki and Mathilda with his MP40 submachine gun. Just then, Raine and several of the Basterds arrive (having waited outside the tavern and now alerted by the shooting), and a standoff ensures between them and Wilhelm. After Wilhelm agrees to surrender to the Basterds, Bridget retrieves Hicox’s pistol and fires four shots at Wilhelm, killing him, because Wilhelm had learned that Bridget was working for the enemy. The wounded Bridget allows herself to be captured by Raine and the Basterds.

A little later, Raine angrily interrogates Bridget at a local animal clinic where he takes her for medical treatment for her bullet wound. He pokes a finger into the wound to make her explain the debacle in the tavern, and then tell him about Operation Kino. Raine decides to continue the operation against the cinema. Raine picks two of his best men, Donowitz and Omar Ulmer (Omar Doom), to make use of suicide bombs and the three of them will pose as Italian filmmakers escorting Bridget to the event. To explain the cast on her leg, Bridget will claim to have broken it in a mountain-climbing accident.

Colonel Landa, who is now an SD officer, investigates the carnage at the French pub and finds one of Bridget von Hammersmark’s shoes left behind and also an autographed napkin which Bridget had signed for Wilhelm’s son, realizing that she was there and may have been wounded. He also identifies the bodies of the two German-born Basterds, noting their reputation to disguise themselves as German soldiers to ambush squads.

Chapter Five: “Revenge of the Giant Face”

The following evening, Landa approaches Bridget and Raine in the cinema lobby and is able to easily see through their disguises, as Raine, Donowitz, and Ulmer cannot speak fluent Italian or German (Raine is most obvious since he is speaking it with a thick Southern accent). He questions Bridget alone and makes her try on the shoe he had retrieved from the tavern. It is a perfect fit. He strangles and kills her as a traitor, and orders the arrest of Raine. As Raine is driven off in a truck, he discovers one of his men, Private Utivich (B.J. Novak), has also been captured and is in the truck with him.

Landa reveals himself to be a turncoat. While speaking with Raine and Utivich in the privacy of a closed restaurant, he tells them that four major Nazi leaders must all be killed to end the terrible war immediately. They are all attending Nation’s Pride, and he is prepared to let the assassination continue… for a price. He has no intention of helping end the war only to be tried by a Jewish tribunal for war crimes and end up facing execution. In order to help end the war, he wants to make a deal; one Raine cannot authorize, but his commanding officer (voice of Harvey Keitel) can. Landa has his radio operator help Raine reach his general, where Landa states the terms of his deal: he wants full military pension and benefits under his current rank, the Congressional Medal of Honor for everyone involved in the operation, American citizenship and a home on Nantucket Island. He also reveals that he had planted Raine’s explosives in Hitler’s box at the cinema (which is shown in flashback), indicating that there are now three attempts against Hitler’s life (Donowitz and Omar in the main theater, the explosives in Hitler’s box, and Shoshanna’s plot). Raine is placed on the radio and his general tells him that Landa and his radio operator will drive him and Utivich in a truck to American lines, then surrender to them, whereupon Raine will drive the truck the rest of the way to base and bring Landa and the operator to him for debriefing.

Meanwhile, during the showing of Nation’s Pride, Shosanna and her assistant (and lover) Marcel (Jacky Ido) are manning the projection booth when he tells her it is time. It is revealed in a flashback to a few days ago which shows Marcel filming a close-up of Shosanna’s face making a speech in English. They then force a local camera shop owner to develop the film by threatening to kill him and his family if he doesn’t, and Shosanna edits the complete film on the fourth and final film reel of the movie and leaves them in the projection booth for them to run when the time is right.

Flashing back to the present, Marcel tells Shosanna that he needs to lock the auditorium and go behind the screen. As Marcel makes his way toward the auditorium, the two Basterds that have been left behind, Donowitz and Omar Ulmer, leave their seats and exit the auditorium heading upstairs to the balcony level… determined to kill Hitler by themselves (neither of them are aware of Raine’s capture or of Shosanna’s plan to burn down the cinema with all of them inside). Donowitz carefully spies on the two guards watching the entrance to Hitler’s opera box from the nearest restroom.

Shosanna loads the doctored fourth reel of Nation’s Pride onto the projector camera as Marcel locks the auditorium doors, sliding the safety locks at the tops and bottoms of the doors into place, and then slides a heavy iron crowbar through the door handles, further barring them. He steps behind the screen where Shosanna had placed her entire stack of flammable nitrate film. Shosanna pulls a lever to switch the projector to the doctored reel on a cue symbol in the film. Watching from behind the screen, Marcel lights up a cigarette and waits.

Meanwhile, Zoller, who is uncomfortable with the way he is portrayed killing Americans in the film, leaves the cinema auditorium and makes his way to the projectionist’s room to flirt with Shosanna. She is deeply concerned at his intrusion and tells him to leave. However, the spurned Zoller pushes his way into the room and angrily confronts Shosanna about her treatment of him, warning her that she’s no longer in a position to disrespect him. Needing to get Zoller out of the way, she asks him to lock the door, dropping a subtle hint: “we don’t have much time.” Soon as Zoller’s back is turned to her, she pulls out a small gun from her purse and shoots him in the back, mortally wounding him. Quickly she glances into the auditorium to make sure she wasn’t heard. Suddenly, she hears Zoller groan and realizes he’s still alive. In an apparent moment of pity, she turns him over, and he shoots her to death before he succumbs to his wounds.

At the same time, Donowitz and Ulmer are preparing their ambush to take out the opera box guards. Donowitz disguises himself as a waiter delivering a glass of champagne. The ambush goes off without a hitch and they kill both guards and then steal their machine guns.

Meanwhile, we see Hitler greatly enjoying the battle scene in the movie, where Zoller is taking out numerous American soldiers by himself. But his joy comes to a quick end when Zoller’s challenge in the movie (“Who wants to send a message to Germany?”) is answered with the changes Shosanna made to the fourth reel. The large image of Shosanna’s face appears on the screen and she tells the audience (speaking in heavily accented English for the first and only time in the movie) that they’re all going to die, and she is a Jew ready to take revenge. On her cue, Marcel flicks his cigarette into the pile of nitrate film behind the screen, igniting it. The fire bursts through the screen, causing pandemonium in the auditorium. Just then, Donowitz and Ulmer burst into Hitler’s box and gun down Hitler, Goebbels, Goebbels’s secretary and French translator Francesca Mondino (Julie Dreyfus) and the other Nazi leaders. As the cinema is engulfed in flames, Donowitz and Ulmer fire randomly into the crowd below them, who are attempting to flee, but escape is impossible, as the auditorium doors are now locked and barred. Finally, the dynamite that Landa had planted in Hitler’s box, as well as the dynamite strapped to the Basterds’ legs, now goes off. The cinema is destroyed in the subsequent inferno, killing everybody inside.

Note: the characters in this film are unnamed and are referred to by descriptors.

The film opens with a woman standing in the midst of crackling flames. Her flesh burns to a crisp as screams are heard in the background.

We then see a man, “Him” (Javier Bardem), place a crystal object in his bedroom. The house then changes from burnt and rundown to completely refurbished. A young woman, “Mother” (Jennifer Lawrence), materializes in his bed and seeing his absence she calls out for Him, “Baby?” He doesn’t answer. Mother walks through the house which seems completely empty and as she steps out onto the porch to look him outside, he comes up from behind and startles her, hugging her.

Him is a noted poet suffering from writer’s block following the loss of his first wife. Mother is trying to paint one of the rooms in the house using different colors. She walks toward the wall and sees a vision of a beating heart within the walls.

Someone knocks on the couple’s front door. Him welcomes the stranger, “Man” (Ed Harris), into his house. Him is polite toward Man, but Mother is not quite comfortable with his presence. Man was directed to the house under the impression that it was some kind of bed-and-breakfast. Him shows Man his office with his written works, and Man admits to being a fan of Him’s work. Him spends most of the time chatting with Man, telling Mother it’s nice to have someone to talk to who enjoys his work, despite Mother saying she loves his work too.. Still, she allows Man to stay. However, Man has violent coughing fits that Him tends to. Mother later sees Man puking in the toilet with Him standing over Man. Mother notices a chunk of flesh missing from Man’s ribs, but Him covers it with his hand.

The next day, Mother asks Him how Man is doing. Man walks downstairs and says he feels wonderful. Moments later, another knock is heard at the door. Mother answers it to find Man’s wife, “Woman” (Michelle Pfeiffer), at the front. Him welcomes her into the house as well. Him and Man go for a hike while Mother is left alone with Woman. She bothers Mother with questions about whether or not she and Him want children, as well as Woman’s curiosity in going up to Him’s office, but Mother says nobody can go in without his permission. Upon their return, Man has another coughing fit. Him explains to Mother that Man is dying, and he and his wife are big fans of Him, so they wanted to meet him before it was too late.

Man and Woman enter Him’s office and accidentally shatter the crystal object. Him is devastated, ordering them out of the office. He holds the broken pieces in his hands, gripping them until he bleeds. Mother orders Man and Woman to leave, but they instead go into another room to get intimate. After a while, Man and Woman still have not left until Him and Mother both agree that they must leave.

As Man and Woman are getting ready to head out, their sons (Domhnall and Brian Gleeson) arrive, bickering over the state of their father’s will. Oldest Son is angry at getting less than his brother. The confrontation turns violent as Oldest Son attacks his brother before Him separates them. They run into the bedroom where Oldest Son bludgeons his brother over the head, causing his skull to crack open and bleed. Him picks up Younger Brother and carries him to the hospital with Man and Woman following.

Mother cleans up the blood on the floor, but one stain in the floor won’t come out. She presses against it and it starts leaking blood to the basement. Mother goes downstairs and sees blood leaking into a light bulb until it shatters. The sprayed blood forms around the wall. Mother breaks through and sees a furnace oil tank. Oldest Son appears from behind her, having been hiding. He simply takes something of his and leaves the house without a word.

When the others return, Him tells Mother that Younger Brother is dead. A wake is held for him in the house, with other strangers arriving to pay their respects. Mother becomes increasingly agitated with the behavior of the guests. She argues with Him over their stay until they begin to have passionate sex.

In the morning, Mother tells Him that she feels she is pregnant. Elated, Him is inspired to start writing again. He completes his work and sends it out, getting the attention of The Herald (Kristen Wiig).

Some time later, Mother is nearing the end of her pregnancy. As she cooks dinner to celebrate Him’s written works, fans of Him start showing up at the house. One woman enters with her child who wet his pants. Mother goes to the bathroom and sees a man peeing in the sink. Soon, a horde of fans start walking up to the house, including The Herald, who wants to speak to Mother. Their growing presence starts to take a toll on Mother, who experiences a pain that causes the house to shake.

Despite Mother trying to hide from the crowd, the fans start to break things and steal stuff from the house. As she moves to different rooms, people begin to act violently toward one another. Some people are tied up and have bags over their heads. The Herald walks around casually shooting them in the head before calmly talking to Mother. A massive blast goes through the room, killing The Herald. A SWAT team has entered the house, fighting against the increasingly manic crowd of fans. It quickly becomes apparent that the fans are part of a pagan cult.

Mother starts to go into labor. Him brings her into his office where she gives birth to a baby boy. Him wants to hold his son, but Mother refuses to let him go. She demands that Him send the fans away. Mother sits in the office for a whole day holding her son until she falls asleep. When she wakes up, her baby is gone. Him brings their son to show to the crowd. They start passing the baby around, even as he pees on them. The crowd then breaks the baby’s neck. Mother hears it and frantically tries running to the front of the room. When she gets there, she sees her baby has been horribly mutilated, and the fans are eating him. Mother screams in fury, causing the house’s foundation to crack. She grabs a piece of glass and starts stabbing and slashing the fans, until their leader grabs her and whacks her over the head with a candlestick. The fans start brutally beating Mother and tearing her clothes off, calling her a whore and a bitch. Him runs in to stop them, holding his wife tearfully. Mother screams at Him that they killed their baby.

Mother runs to the basement where she comes upon the oil tank. She breaks it open and lets the oil flow out before taking out a lighter. Him pleads with Mother to not do anything, but she defies him and drops the lighter. The entire house goes up in flames, burning everyone in the house to ashes before everything around the house explodes. Him and Mother survive, but Mother is terribly burnt while Him is unscathed. Him carries Mother’s body out of the basement. She asks Him who he is. He says “I am I and you are home.” She asks where he is taking her and he says “to the beginning.” When she asks what he wants, he says he wants her love. She tells Him he can have it. He digs his hands into her chest and pulls out her heart, causing her body to crumble to the burnt ash we’d expect to see from standing a the source of the fire.

The relocation of Polish Jews from surrounding areas to Krakow begins in late 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, when the German Army defeats the Polish Army in three weeks. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a successful businessman, arrives from Czechoslovakia in hopes of using the abundant cheap labour force of Jews to manufacture enamelware for the German military. Schindler, an opportunistic member of the Nazi party, lavishes bribes upon the army and SS officials in charge of procurement. Sponsored by the military, Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits and cooking paraphernalia. Not knowing much about how to properly run such an enterprise, he gains a contact in Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), a functionary in the local Judenrat (Jewish Council) who has contacts with the now-underground Jewish business community in the ghetto. They loan him the money for the factory in return for a small share of products produced (for trade on the black market). Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys his new-found wealth and status as “Herr Direktor,” while Stern handles all administration. Stern suggests Schindler hire Jews instead of Poles because they cost less (the Jews themselves get nothing; the wages are paid to the Reich). Workers in Schindler’s factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and Stern falsifies documents to ensure that as many people as possible are deemed “essential” by the Nazi bureaucracy, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps, or even being killed.

Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of a labor camp nearby, Paszów. The SS soon liquidates the Krakow ghetto, sending in hundreds of troops to empty the cramped rooms and shoot anyone who protests, is uncooperative, elderly, or infirmed, or for no reason at all. Schindler watches the massacre from the hills overlooking the area, and is profoundly affected. He nevertheless is careful to befriend Göth and, through Stern’s attention to bribery, he continues to enjoy the SS’s support and protection. The camp is built outside the city at Paszów. During this time, Schindler bribes Göth into allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, with the motive of keeping them safe from the depredations of the guards. Eventually, an order arrives from Berlin commanding Göth to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the Krakow ghetto, dismantle Paszów, and to ship the remaining Jews to Auschwitz. Schindler prevails upon Göth to let him keep “his” workers so that he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, in Moravia – away from the “final solution” now fully under way in occupied Poland. Göth acquiesces, charging a certain amount for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble a list of workers that should keep them off the trains to Auschwitz.

“Schindler’s List” comprises these “skilled” inmates, and for many of those in Paszów, being included means the difference between life and death. Schindler also plays a game of high card draw for one worker in particular, Helen Hirsch, who’d been serving as Göth’s housekeeper and had been a victim of his continual abuse. Göth is reluctant, hoping to run away with her but knowing that such an action would result in his death as well as hers. He also floats the idea of simply executing her but finally decides to play Schindler for Helen’s life. Helen is among those who board the train to Brinnlitz.

All of the men on Schindler’s list arrive safely at the new site, with the exception to the train carrying the women and the children, which is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz. There, the women are directed to what they believe is a gas chamber; after a harrowing experience where their hair is crudely cut off and they are forced to strip, they see only water falling from the showers. The day after, the women are shown waiting in line for work. In the meantime, Schindler had rushed immediately to Auschwitz to solve the problem and to get the women out of Auschwitz; to this end he bribes the camp commander, Rudolf Höss (Hans-Michael Rehberg), with a cache of diamonds so that he is able to spare all the women and the children. However, a last problem arises just when all the women are boarding the train because several SS officers attempt to hold some children back and prevent them from leaving. Schindler, there to personally oversee the boarding, steps in and is successful in obtaining from the officers the release of the children. Once the Schindler women arrive in Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned to the factory; summary executions are forbidden, abuse of the workers is as well and the Nazi guards are not allowed on the factory floor. Schindler also permits the Jews to observe the Sabbath, and spends much of his fortune acquired in Poland bribing Nazi officials. In his home town, he surprises his wife while she’s in church during mass, and tells her that she is the only woman in his life (despite having been shown previously to be a womanizer). She goes with him to the factory to assist him. He runs out of money just as the German army surrenders, ending the war in Europe.

As a German Nazi and self-described “profiteer of slave labor,” Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Red Army. After dismissing the Nazi guards to return to their families, he packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together with a ring engraved with the Talmudic quotation, “He who saves the life of one man, saves the world entire.” Schindler is touched but deeply distraught, feeling he could’ve done more to save many more lives. He leaves with his wife during the night, dressed in Polish prisoner clothes, posing as refugees. The Schindler Jews, having slept outside the factory gates through the night, are awakened by sunlight the next morning. A Soviet dragoon arrives and announces to the Jews that they have been liberated by the Red Army. The Jews walk to a nearby town in search of food. A title card informs us that Schindler was declared a “righteous person” by the Yad Vashem of Jerusalem, and himself planted a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous in Israel, which still grows to this day. The fate of Göth is also shown; he was captured near the German town of Bad Tolz and taken back to Paszów where, defiant to the end and announcing his allegiance to Hitler, is hanged for crimes against humanity.

In the opening scene in a hotel room, Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) wakes up before it’s time to take off on a new flight, after an evening of drinking, drugs and sex with one of his plane’s flight attendants, Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez) who crawls out of his bed to get dressed. Still trying to rouse himself from his hangover, his phone rings, and he answers a call from his ex-wife Deana (Garcelle Beauvais). Deana wants to discuss putting their son through a private school, but Whip doesn’t want to discuss it at the moment, claiming he’ll talk to her about it when he gets back to Atlanta.

While Katerina quickly heads off to the airport to prepare, Whip is unable to collect himself until he snorts a line of cocaine. This wakes him up, and he is next headed to the airport, where rain pounds the building and the airplanes. Whip does a quick inspection of the airplane and then boards it speaking with a flight attendant named Margaret (Tamara Tunie), and meeting his co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty).

Ken seems a little apprehensive of Whip (who is wearing sunglasses and takes a hit from his oxygen mask), but goes along with his story that he’s alright to fly. The plane takes off through rain, and Whip pushes it higher and faster, attempting to find a break in the clouds. As they zip through the weather system, Whip has Ken report to flight control that they’re diverting from their intended path slightly to avoid weather. However, once Whip finds a break in the storm, the plane stabilizes, and the passengers applaud.

Shortly after takeoff, Whip addresses the passengers personally, apologizing for the rough ride, while covertly pouring three mini-vodka bottles into a bottle of orange juice. After disposing of the bottles, Whip returns to the cockpit, and naps after turning control of the plane over to Ken.

On the ground, in a small town in Georgia, a prostitute, Nicole (Kelly Reilly), leaves a hotel after a night with a client and calls her drug connection from her cell phone. She shows up at the guy’s place where a porno film is being shot and buys a small quantity of heroin from him; he warns her not to shoot too much because it hasn’t been cut properly. He also asks her to play a part in the movie but she refuses and leaves. At home she finds her sleazy complex manager in her apartment. The two argue over her unpaid rent and he propositions her sexually. She coaxes him out the door and slams it in his face. Spotting a hypodermic needle in her things, she takes a hit of the drugs she bought from her connection and passes out from an overdose.

Meanwhile, on the flight, Whip is asleep in his chair while Ken monitors the flight. Margaret marvels at Whip’s ability to sleep like he does and then tells Ken he’ll have to wake him up in preparation for their landing. Ken is about to when sudden jolt hits the plane and it suddenly pitches into an uncontrolled dive. Steering mechanisms don’t respond, and the hydraulics that control the plane won’t respond. Staying relatively calm, Whip has the plane’s fuel ditched and tries several different emergency maneuvers to bring the plane back under control. He has Margaret join himself and Ken in the cockpit to help and also has her tell her son she loves him for the flight recorder. All of Whip’s attempts to right the plane fail before he tries a crazy maneuver: roll the airplane so they’re flying inverted, which will buy them some time to find a safer landing spot. One of the stewardesses, Camila, leaves her seat to aid some of the passengers and is knocked unconscious when the plane lurches violently. She is pitched onto the ceiling of the cabin when the plane rolls. A young boy falls out of his seat when the plane rolls over and Katerina unbuckles herself, lifts the boy back into his seat and buckles him in.

With Ken and Margaret’s help, Whip inverts the plane again, leveling it out, before rolling it to crash-land on its belly in a field near a small church – the plane’s wing collides with the church’s tower, shearing it off. The ground impact slams Whip’s head against the steering yoke, knocking him out. Whip regains consciousness long enough to see himself being dragged out of the plane by the local parishioners and long enough to see Ken is slumped over in his seat, unconscious and bleeding severely from his head. Margaret is also bleeding and screaming. Katerina’s body also lies near Margaret, her head under a steel plate and presumably dead. Just before the plane crash lands, it flies inverted directly over Nicole’s apartment complex where we see her being taken out on a stretcher.

Whip wakes up in a hospital where he finds his friend Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) waiting in his room. Though Charlie claims Whip saved a lot of lives with his maneuver, he tells Whip (off-the-record) that there were six deaths, including Katerina and Camila as well as four passengers.

Shortly afterward, Whip is visited by an acquaintance of his, Harling Mays (John Goodman). Harling brings Whip some cigarettes and some extra things, and fields Whip’s request for some clothing and items from his house. Harling is jovial about the treatment Whip is receiving, saying Whip should demand better medications. Harling also tells Whip that his heroics during the crash have called the media out to his home and the hospital.

Looking for a place to smoke one evening, Whip goes into a stairwell, where he encounters Nicole. They are soon joined by a cancer patient named Mark (James Badge Dale). The cancer patient soon realizes who Whip is, and steers the conversation towards God and if disasters can be prevented or not. In Mark’s mind, there’s no way to stop things from happening. To him, he was meant to get cancer, just as much as the three were meant to meet in the stairwell, and Whip was meant to land that plane. After Mark leaves, Whip tells Nicole that he would like to see her after they are released from the hospital, and she gives him her address.

Eventually, Whip is released, and Harling sneaks him out a back way to avoid the press at the front of the hospital. Knowing the media have swarmed his home, Whip has Harling take him to his father’s old farmhouse out in the country, where a small Cessna resides in a nearby garage. Going through the house, Whip finds all the alcohol stored around the place, and empties it all out. He also disposes of a small supply of marijuana.

Whip refuses to respond to any of the messages on his phone, but is surprised when Charlie calls him at the farmhouse, leaving a message to meet him after a medical check-up in a few days. Whip gives into the request, and sits down with Charlie, and Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle), a lawyer from Chicago who has been sent by the pilots union. Hugh explains that at the crash site, blood was drawn from Whip, indicating he had an elevated blood alcohol level, and cocaine in his system. The two indicate to Whip that Hugh is going to fight the findings, but that Whip could face charges of manslaughter, jail time and the loss of his pilot’s license.

Whip does not handle the news well, and heads off to a liquor store afterwards. He then attempts to find Nicole’s address, and finds her being kicked out of her apartment by the landlord. Whip manages to help her pay her rent, and seeing as she has nowhere to go (and her car won’t start), offers to let her stay with him.

Over the next few days, Whip continues to avoid the press, but soon realizes that his reputation could be plagued by the others who were around him. At Katerina’s funeral, he meets Margaret, who claims she could tell that Whip was drunk when she encountered him that morning. Whip then starts to get personal, claiming that if not for him, she could have ended up dead as well.

Whip visits Ken at the hospital. Ken explains he hasn’t told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who have been investigating the crash, about his suspicions on Whip’s condition at the time. Ken knows what Margaret does; Whip was hung over in the cockpit and that he may have been drunk when the accident occurred. Even though he may never walk again, Ken and his wife believe that his surviving was a miracle. The couple is strictly religious and insist that Whip pray with them, which he does reluctantly.

Meanwhile, Nicole has been turning her life around, getting a job, and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. She suggests Whip come along with her, but he is unable to stomach much of the meeting. Shortly afterward, Nicole finds Whip working on the Cessna in his father’s garage. Whip claims that they can fly away and start over, but Nicole refuses his advancements, and Whip (who has been drinking) angrily yells after her as she leaves.

Eventually, Nicole leaves Whip and he grows even more out-of-control with his drinking. When the press finally find the farmhouse, he drives off and ends up in the neighborhood of his ex-wife and son. Both demand that he leave, but Whip refuses to listen, prompting them to call the police on him.

Charlie and Hugh are incensed at Whip’s behavior, claiming that this does not bode well for their upcoming case with the NTSB. Even though Hugh has managed to have Whip’s alcohol test thrown out on a technicality, they still need to have Whip present his side of the story to Ellen Block (Melissa Leo), the investigator for the NTSB. They know that Block is a fair investigator but will also be tough on the subject of Whip’s condition right before the crash.

Whip gives in to their requests to clean up his act, and the evening before the hearing, he is escorted to a hotel room. A security guard is stationed at the door, and all traces of alcohol have been cleaned out of the mini-fridge in the room. Whip attempts to relax, but finds himself unable to sleep or even go over the documents that Hugh has prepared for him.

Later on, he hears a thumping sound. He soon finds it leads to the room adjoining his, where the door has been left unlocked. In the room he finds a fully-stocked mini-fridge with alcohol. Whip looks over the contents of the fridge for a short time and even uncaps a bottle of vodka. He hesitates before downing the bottle, places it on the counter and leaves. A few moments later, he returns and snatches the bottle.

The next day, Charlie and Hugh show up, but when Whip doesn’t answer the door, they find him passed out in the bathroom with a cut on his head, and empty mini-bottles littering the room. With the hearing nearly on them, they hatch a bold plan: they call in Harling Mays, who provides Whip with the cocaine he needs to get himself going. After paying off Harling, Whip, Charlie, and Hugh head to the hearing.

During the hearing (with Ellen Block presiding) it is determined that the cause of the accident was a damaged jackscrew in the tail-section that had not been repaired a few years prior. The jackscrew forced the tail stabilizer into down position which caused the dive. The revelation seems to exonerate Whip, but Ellen then brings up the findings of two empty mini-liquor bottles in one of the trash cans near the pilot’s cabin. Given the blood-test findings (of which Whip’s has been thrown out due to outdated equipment and procedure in drawing his blood), only one other member of the flight crew could have potentially stolen the vodka: Katerina, who has a documented history of alcohol and drug abuse. When asked if he knew about Katerina’s history, Whip says he didn’t know about it.

When Ellen asks Whip if it’s possible that Katerina drank the vodka, he hesitates before confessing that he drank the vodka. Charlie and Hugh attempt to quell Whip’s words, but he confesses to his alcohol problems, claiming that he is drunk at the moment, and has taken cocaine.

After the hearing, we segue into a small group in a prison, with Whip among the prisoners. Whip explains to the others about his confession, and that how it seemed that that moment at the NTSB hearing was his breaking point: he couldn’t tell another lie.

Epilogue. 13 months later.

The movie opens with a group of people running through a field of wheat, frantically searching for something or someone. We then hear an unfriendly voice saying “You love your sister? You make any noise, know what happens?”

The movie then proceeds with an old man in a retirement center named Paul Edgecomb (Dabbs Greer), waking up from an unpleasant dream. He takes two pieces of dry toast from an orderly, who mentions Paul’s habit of taking long walks outside the ground. The orderly is worried about Paul, but allows him to continue with his daily routine.

Paul and several other residents are watching TV when an old movie with Fred Astaire dancing to the song “Heaven” is on. Paul sees it and is suddenly overcome by emotion, so he walks away, followed by his friend Elaine (Eve Brent). Elaine realizes that the movie has awakened some powerful memories in Paul, and asks about it. Paul tells Elaine his story: he was a prison guard during the Depression, in charge of Death Row, informally called “The Green Mile,” because of its green tile floor. Paul’s most powerful memory of this time took place in 1935….

The story then flashes back to the 1930’s at the Louisiana State Prison, where a young Paul Edgecomb (now played by Tom Hanks) suffers from a urinary infection. Some of the other guards- Brutus “Brutal” Howell (David Morse), Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) - bring in a new inmate. Percy makes quite a spectacle out of the arrival, repeatedly yelling “Dead man walking!” through the complex, to the annoyance of the other guards. The convict’s name is John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) “like the drink, only not spelled the same.” He is a gigantic muscular negroid man, but when Paul talks to John, they find that he has the mindset of a small child- very meek and apparently scared of the dark. After John has been placed inside his cell, he mysteriously states that he “tried to take it back, but it was too late.”

Paul confronts Percy with his constantly rousing behavior, but when Percy shows nothing but disrespect for authority, Paul sends him off the Mile to attend work elsewhere. Percy is not happy about this, and in frustration, he lashes out at another inmate named Eduard ‘Del’ Delacroix (Michael Jeter), breaking Del’s fingers. Paul is given a copy of John Coffey’s records, and finds that he was sent to Death Row after being convicted for the murder (and implied rape) of two small girls. After the two girls went missing, a posse went looking for them, finding John sitting in an open field, crying uncontrollably while holding the dead girls in his arms. As he was arrested, John stated that he “tried to take it back, but it was too late.”

Later on, Paul is outside when he is met by warden Hal Moores (James Cromwell). Hal gives Paul the execution papers for an inmate named Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene), and has a conversation with him about Percy. It’s revealed that Percy is the nephew of the governor’s wife, and his powerful political connections are what got him hired- and keep him in the job, because Percy is apparently “stupid and mean” according to the other guards. Paul finds out that they have already received a complaint about Percy being removed from the Green Mile, even though he broke an inmate’s fingers. However, Hal has also learned that Percy has applied for an administrator job at a mental hospital, which would mean better pay and better hours, and with a little luck, no more Percy on the Mile. Paul theorizes that Percy wants to witness an execution up close before moving on to a new job. Warden Moores also mentions that his wife, Melinda, is not well. She suffers from bad headaches and is scheduled for an X-ray in order to find the source of the problem. That night, Paul talks about John Coffey and his concerns for Melinda with his wife Jan (Bonnie Hunt). He also regrets that they cannot make love as long as he has his infection, but waves away her advice to see a doctor for it.

Next day, Brutus spots a mouse in the cell block. They watch it run into a small room in the corner, which turns out to be a padded room for dangerous inmates but is currently used for storage. The guards check everything in the room but do not find the mouse. A few hours later, Percy arrives, spots the mouse and goes into a fury trying to kill it. The mouse goes back into the padded room, and Percy intends to go in. The other guards purposely don’t tell him that they already tried that, and watch in amusement as Percy unpacks the entire room again, to no avail. Afterwards, Paul berates Percy for scaring the inmates in his pursuit of the mouse. Percy doesn’t care, thinking the inmates are contemptible. Paul feels differently, believing that the inmates are under enough stress since they are waiting to die; if put under more strain, they could “snap” and cause serious problems. After more of Percy’s insolence, Brutus grabs him, but Percy threatens to use his connections as nephew to the governor’s wife to get the others fired if they hurt him. Paul retorts that if he ever makes such a threat again, they will “have a go” at him, even at the cost of their jobs.

While Bitterbuck is granted one final meeting with his family, Paul and the others prepare the auditorium with the electric chair for his upcoming execution. They do a rehearsal with the prison’s elderly janitor, Toot-Toot (Harry Dean Stanton) helping them. Paul instructs Percy to watch and learn while the others prep the electric chair. One of the guards explains to Percy the necessity of putting a wet sponge on the convict’s head before the cap with the electrodes is attached; this will cause the electric current to go straight through the head, and allow the execution to go more smoothly. That night, Bitterbuck is prepared for the execution. In his final talk with Paul, he recalls his most pleasant memory, and asks Paul if he believes that if a man repents for his crimes, that he will go back to the time that he was most happy. Paul says he believes that exact thing. Brutus leads Bitterbuck’s execution, which is carried out with little problems (although Bitterbuck needs two jolts of electricity before his heart stops). Afterward, Paul confronts Percy with his new job opportunity, stimulating him to take it now that he has witnessed an execution. However, Percy reveals that he wants to be “out front” (placed in charge of an inmate’s execution) before he leaves.

Next day, the inmate named Del has found the mouse again, named it “Mr. Jingles” and is trying to tame it. The mouse is able to fetch a spool of thread as a trick. The other guards allow Del to keep Mr. Jingles as a pet. Even Percy is uncharacteristically supportive of this, suggesting they get the mouse a cigar box to sleep in.

Paul meets with Warden Hal again, getting word of a new inmate coming in, a man named William ‘Wild Bill’ Wharton, who killed three people in a holdup. Hal is almost in tears; the doctors have told him that his wife Melinda has a tumor the size of a lemon in her brain, virtually inoperable and eventually fatal.

That night, Paul suffers from his urinary infection even more; he is almost in constant pain. He intends to see the doctor the next day after the new inmate has been brought in. Percy and Harry go to retrieve Wharton from the mental hospital, where he is in an apparent trance, presumably from medication. As soon as Wharton enters the Mile, he springs to life, clearly having faked his drug-induced stupor. He surprise-attacks the guards and incapacitates Paul by kneeing him in the groin. Dean is nearly strangled, and Percy is nailed to the floor in shock, unable to intervene despite Paul’s cries for help. Finally, Brutus comes in and takes Wharton out. Paul urges the others to go and report what has happened, and stop by the medical facility, while he will hold the Mile. As soon as the others have left, he collapses in pain. John Coffey then asks to speak with Paul. With great effort, Paul approaches John’s cell, but John grabs Paul and puts his hand over Paul’s groin. John holds on for several seconds, until the lights flare brightly. John then lets go, coughing and gasping until he releases a cloud of gnat-like spores from his mouth that disappear in the air. Paul asks what happened, but John can only say “I helped”. He becomes tired and goes to sleep. Later, when Paul visits the washroom, he feels no pain at all: John Coffey’s act has healed his infection. Paul comes home and feels completely reborn, making love to his wife almost all night.

The next morning, Paul calls in sick for work, but goes into town to see John Coffey’s public defender, Burt Hammersmith (Gary Sinise) who preceded over John’s trial. Paul voices his doubt about Coffey, no longer believing that such a kind and gentle man could be responsible for such a horrible crime. Hammersmith, however, is absolutely convinced of Coffey’s guilt, and compares John to the dog that attacked his own son one day for no reason.

The next day, Paul presents John with a loaf of cornbread baked by his wife, as a thanks for Coffey’s “help”. Coffey shares the cornbread with Del and Mr. Jingles, but does not give any to Wharton, who is blatantly racist. This enrages Wharton, who takes his fury out on the guards over the next few days. He urinates on Harry’s shoes and spits the chocolate filling from a Moon Pie all over Brutus, so the guards use a fire hose to catch Wharton off guard, then wrap him up in a straitjacket and send him to the padded room. Despite Wharton’s promise to behave every time he gets out, the padded room becomes his frequent residence for a while.

Del’s execution is coming nearer, and the guards are having a talk with him about it. Del’s main concern is what will happen to Mr. Jingles. Brutus suggest sending him off to a magical place called ‘Mouseville’ in Florida, but first, they feel that Del should do a show with Mr. Jingles for the prison staff.

The rehearsal for Eduard Delecroix’s execution takes place the next day, as Del performs his show with Mr. Jingles. Paul has decided to put Percy in charge, in the hope that he will finally leave the prison immediately afterward. Del’s show is a big success and Percy’s rehearsal went well too, so both men seem to be on good terms for a change. However, in a momentary lapse of concentration, Percy walks too close to the cells and is grabbed through the bars by Wharton. Wharton menaces Percy for a while before letting him go, and Percy wets himself in terror. Ashamed, he threatens the guards to never mention this to anyone. Paul states that “what happens on the Mile, stays on the Mile.” They will not say anything about what happened. Del, however, delights in Percy being humiliated, much to Percy’s anger.

Later on, Mr. Jingles runs across the room between cells. Percy walks up and stomps on the mouse, coldly uncaring about what he has done, leaving Del screaming in agony. John Coffey asks for the mouse, so Paul picks it up and hands it to John. The other guards watch in shock, awe, and possibly horror as light shines from John’s hands. John coughs, releases another cloud of spores, and Mr. Jingles runs across the room – as good as new. Percy, seeing that the mouse is uninjured, is furious - thinking the guards have set out to make a fool out of him. Paul confronts Percy and gives him an ultimatum- Percy will transfer out immediately after Delacroix’s execution, or the others will go public about Percy’s record of mistreatment of the prisoners and his inadequate behavior on the Mile. Percy agrees.

The night of Del’s execution has arrived. Just before he “walks the Mile” to the electric chair, Del gives Mr. Jingles to Paul, knowing that he will be taken care of. When Paul points out that he cannot have a mouse sitting on his shoulder during an execution, John Coffey volunteers to take care of Mr. Jingles.

Del is placed on the chair in front of the audience as Percy starts the ceremony. As his last lines, an emotional Del asks for forgiveness for his crimes, and asks Paul not to forget about Mouseville. Percy deviously responds by saying that Mouseville isn’t real; the men only mentioned it to keep him quiet, which upsets both Del and the guards. Percy proceeds by hooking Del up to the electrodes, with one small exception- he purposely does not soak the sponge he places on Del’s head, wanting to punish Del one more time. Paul notices that the sponge is dry, but just too late: the electricity has already been activated. As a result, the execution is excruciating for Del: he convulses and screams in pain, much to the increasing horror of the audience. At the same time, John Coffey is hysterically crying as he seems to telepathically feel Del’s struggle. Wild Bill, however, is ecstatically jeering and shouting in joy over Del’s ordeal. Paul and the other guards watch apprehensively, but don’t dare turn off the electricity, thinking that it will not take much longer. However, they are sadly mistaken - Del’s agony is prolonged to the point where he even catches fire. The horrified audience starts to panic and flees the scene, despite Hal Moore’s assurance that everything is okay. Paul notices that Percy is averting his eyes, but forces him to watch until Del finally dies. Brutus orders him to put out the fire with an extinguisher.

Afterwards, Percy claims he didn’t know that the sponge needed to be wet, upon which Brutus violently punches him. Paul restrains Brutus, saying what’s done is done, and Percy isn’t worth fighting over. Hal comes in and angrily demands to know what went wrong. Paul blames Percy’s inexperience for the disastrous execution, but adds that Percy was about to accept his new job at the mental institution anyway, cleverly forcing him to honor their agreement. Upon returning to the Mile, Paul finds that Wharton has ripped up his mattress and is cheerfully singing in celebration, but stops when he is threatened with solitary confinement for the rest of his time. Paul talks to a grief-stricken John. Mr. Jingles, who was in John’s hands when it happened, must also have felt Del’s pain, and has fled; John does not expect him to return.

Paul and his wife go to visit Hal and Melinda the next day. Melinda seems pretty well, but Hal reveals that she is rapidly falling apart. She is losing her memory and experiencing severe behavioral changes, including uncontrollable cursing. Paul decides to invite the other guards (minus Percy) to dinner later and discusses John Coffey’s acts of healing both him and Mr. Jingles. Paul states that he can no longer watch what is happening to Melinda, so he wants to sneak John Coffey out to try and heal her. The others are very skeptical, pointing out that Coffey is a convicted murderer, and it would be disastrous if they would be discovered, or if he escapes. Paul puts forth his belief that Coffey is innocent; he “does not see God putting a gift like that in the hands of a man who would kill a child.” The other guards agree to help, thinking it is worth the risk. Most of the men have grown-up children, but since Dean’s children are still young, he will stay behind on the Mile so that he has plausible deniability in case something goes wrong.

The next day, they carry out the plan. Paul brings some drinks, and offers one that is drugged to Wharton , which puts him to sleep. The others then gag Percy, put him in the straitjacket and place him in the padded room for a few hours, supposedly as “retribution” for what he did to Eduard Delacroix, but in reality so that he will not see them leaving. Dean has memorized a cover story in case that someone comes over: John Coffey went crazy and attacked the guards, so they put him in the padded room (which would explain any sounds coming from it) while the rest is at the medical facility. They open up John Coffey’s cell, and he is excited at the prospect of going for a ride outside and help Melinda. However, on their way out, Wharton, not entirely out cold yet, grabs Coffey’s arm. John is apparently horrified by what he sees when touching Wharton, who finally falls asleep.

They arrive at Hal’s home, and Hal threatens them with a shotgun, thinking there is a prison riot or escape attempt going on. Paul carefully talks him down, while Coffey goes upstairs to meet Melinda. John gets very close to Melinda’s face, and something comes out of her mouth and into his, making the light in the room shine intensely, even causing a small earthquake. John breaks the connection with her, falling down coughing. Melinda sits up, looking much healthier and having no memory of anything that happened before her X-ray. Hal collapses, weeping at his wife’s restoration. John continues to cough, unable to release the “spores” like before. Melinda gives Coffey a pendant with the mark of St. Christopher the healer as a present.

The men return to the prison, and John is still very ill from the encounter. Dean mentions that Wharton has almost regained consciousness, so they quickly put John back in his cell. Percy is released from solitary, looking aggravated. Paul tells him to take it like a man, and Percy responds that he is going to give it some serious thought. The others fear that he will talk about this one day, but that is a worry for another time. As Percy leaves, John grabs him through the bars, holds his face close to his, releases the spores directly into Percy’s mouth, and lets go of him. Percy, in a daze, walks over to Wharton’s cell. Wharton, just coming to, taunts him some more. Percy, a tear running across his face, empties his revolver into Wharton’s chest. The others seize Percy, who leans back and coughs up the remaining black spores.

Paul asks John why he did this. John states that Wharton and Percy were “bad men”, and he punished them for it. He tells Paul that he needs to see for himself, and sticks out his hand. Over the protests of the other guards, Paul takes John’s hand, and immediately starts seeing the memories of Wharton that John is carrying. Wharton was a worker on the farm where the two little girls lived. One night, he snuck into their room and abducted them. He threatened them that if one would scream, he would kill the other. While the electricity around them goes haywire again, Paul sees that Wharton was responsible for the double murder that John Coffey was convicted for. After finally letting go, John tells a devastated Paul that Wharton killed the girls with their love for each other. He is constantly plagued by horrible images like this, and the whole ordeal has exhausted him now.

Hal and the police arrive at the Mile, where Percy, upon examination, appears to be catatonic. Hal tells Paul that he will cover for him and his men as much as he can, even at the cost of his job, but he needs to know if any of this is connected to what happened at his house. Paul thinks for a while, but denies it. Percy is taken away and sent to a mental hospital, ironically the same place where he was supposed to be an administrator. He is put in the same room where he once picked up Wharton, presumably to stay there for the rest of his life.

Now that he knows Coffey is innocent, Paul is unsure how to proceed. He talks to his wife that night and she suggests talking to John to see what he wants. The next day, Paul and the others have a talk with Coffey, even asking him if they should just “let him go.” Coffey does not want to escape, as he doesn’t want to get them in trouble. With regards to the upcoming execution, Paul asks John how he could ever justify killing an innocent man before God. John tells him not to worry; he reveals that in addition to healing, he can also feel the pain of all others around him. He does not wish to continue with such pain and darkness in the world, so the execution would be an act of kindness, even for a crime he did not commit. Paul offers John a last request; Coffey states that he has always wanted to see a “flicker show” (a motion picture). They bring in a movie projector with the film “Top Hat,” the same movie that the elderly Paul was watching at the beginning of the movie, which is what triggered Paul’s memories, particularly when Fred Astaire is dancing to “Heaven”. John watches in awe, saying “they like angels!”

The day of John’s execution finally arrives. Paul has to take John’s pendant, but promises to return it to him after his death. The guards take John to the auditorium, where John senses immense hostility from the audience, which prominently features the dead girls’ parents who loudly jeer at him. Brutus tells John to focus on the feelings of the guards, who have nothing but sympathy for him. John is strapped to the chair as the guards watch on in tears. As per John’s tearful request, Paul does not put a hood over his face, as he is still scared in the dark. Paul makes extra sure that the sponge is wet before placing the cap. Before giving the order to activate the electricity, Paul steps up and shakes John’s hand. Again, he hears John’s voice saying “he killed them with their love”. As the chair is activated, the execution goes smoothly, and John dies. Afterwards, Paul puts the pendant back on his neck. The elderly Paul’s voice cuts in and states that he and Brutus left The Green Mile soon after, unable to carry on after seeing John Coffey die. They transferred to a youth corrections’ facility.

Elaine admits that Paul’s tale is “quite a story,” but she does not completely believe it. She points out that something does not add up: Paul mentioned his son being grown up in 1935, which means he should be much older than he appears.

Paul takes Elaine on a walk, and they come to a cabin in the woods. There is a mouse sleeping in a small box; Elaine is shocked to meet Mr. Jingles. We see a flashback to Paul returning to the Mile shortly after John Coffey’s execution: he finds the mouse again, and has kept him ever since. The cabin is not exactly Mouseville, but it is a good place for him. Old Paul states that he is now 108 years old, and that he believes John Coffey “infected him (and Mr. Jingles) with life.” He thinks that Mr. Jingles was probably an accident: when John held him during Del’s execution, he inadvertently gave the mouse the gift of longevity; Paul received it when he took John’s hand after Wharton’s death. Paul feels that this is his punishment for killing a genuine miracle of God - he must stay alive and watch everyone he cares about, including friends like Elaine, grow old and die before his own death. He has already survived his friends from the Mile, Hal and Melinda, his wife Jan, and even his son.

The film begins in medias res, with the silhouette of a man holding onto a rope-like object – a neck-tie, by which one man is dangling another off the edge of a building. The man holding the neck-tie is Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), who commands the other man to hear his story.

The movie then cuts backward to the year 1988. Dae-su is a Korean businessman with a wife and daughter. On his daughter’s fourth birthday, he is picked up by police for being drunk and disorderly. He harrasses several other people at the police station, showing them the angel’s wings he bought for his daughter. Finally, he has to be bailed out by his old friend, Joo-Hwan. While Joo-Hwan is in a phone booth talking with Dae-su’s daughter, Yeun-Hee, and his wife, Kim Ja-Hyun, Dae-su is kidnapped by unidentified people.

Dae-su next appears in a private prison resembling a shabby hotel room. He has been kept there for two months with no word of who is holding him there or why. He receives food through a small hatch at the bottom of the door, and is gassed into unconsciousness whenever he becomes suicidal, or when his holders need access to the room (e.g. to maintain it; cut his hair). His only contact with the outside world is through the television, from which he learns one day that his wife has been murdered, his daughter has been sent to foster parents and that he is himself the prime suspect; his captors took blood and other items from him, and have presumably left enough evidence at the crime scene to implicate him as the perpetrator. This, together with his continued captivity, causes Dae-su to slide into near-madness and violent hallucinations.

Attempting to get a grip on his sanity and determine his captor, Dae-su fills several notebooks with an autobiography-prison diary, listing everybody whom he could have possibly wronged in the past, but is unable to figure out who would hate him so profoundly as to imprison him like this. From year 5 on, he starts to tattoo lines in his arm for every year he is imprisoned, and forces himself to train by shadowboxing, punching at the walls of his prison until thick calluses form on his knuckles. When one of his deliveries of fried dumplings turns out to have an extra metal chopstick, he conceals it and uses it to slowly dig a hole into one of the walls. Over the next ten years, he works out, follows current events on TV, and loosens enough bricks to glimpse the outside world. He calculates that he will need another month to make the hole large enough to escape.

That night, he is gassed again and a lady hypnotizes him. He wakes up to unfamiliar surroundings. Just as abruptly as he was captured, Dae-su is set free on the rooftop of a building that has been constructed over the place where he went missing. He has a new suit of clothes and his prison diaries. Adjusting to the bright afternoon light, he sees another man sitting on the edge of the building with his small dog. The first human being he has interacted with in fifteen years, Oh Dae-su is taken aback, unable to have a proper conversation with him. We learn that the man is suicidal and says to Dae-su, “Even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?”. He then attempts to jump off the edge, but Oh Dae-su grabs his neck tie, saving him from death. Dae-su tells the man to delay his death, because he wants to tell him his story, to which he utters “What?”. The scene ends at the point in which the movie began.

After relating his story, Oh Dae-su walks off and out of the building, ignoring the despondent man’s plea to listen to his story in turn. As he is leaving the front entrance, the suicidal man lands on a car behind Dae-su, killing himself and his pet. Dae-su pauses, followed by a wide smile. “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone”, he thinks to himself; a direct quotation from the first line of Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s famous poem, Solitude. Throughout the movie, Oh Dae-su uses this quote as a mantra for himself whenever he faces horrible situations.

Wandering the streets of the city, Dae-su does not know what to do with his new-found freedom due to his enemies framing him as the murderer of his wife. When a gang of thugs attack him, he finds that his ten out of fifteen years of solitary training have paid off; he fends them off with only his fists. Next, Dae-su stands on the street looking at fish swimming in an aquarium, when a homeless man walks up and gives him a wallet full of cash and a cellphone. He then meets Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeong), a girl who works in a sushi bar; he recognizes her from a cooking show he often watched while imprisoned, and she says he looks familiar too. An unknown man contacts Dae-su via his cellphone, and claims to be the one who imprisoned him. He mentions it was an experiment, and taunts Dae-su to come and find him and learn the reason for the imprisonment. He gives a mysterious clue: “a grain of sand and a rock both sink in water with the same speed”. Dae-su asks Mi-do for something alive to eat, and gulps down an entire living squid, much to Mi-do’s shock. Dae-su collapses with a high fever; Mi-do takes pity on him and takes him in.

At her apartment, Dae-su experiences a moment of weakness and tries to sexually assault Mi-do. She fends him off, but understands he did it out of desperation. She tells him that she will make love to him soon, and she will indicate when she is ready for it. Over the next few days, Mi-do does some inquiries and finds out that Dae-su’s daughter has been adopted by a couple in Sweden. Dae-su decides not to contact her yet and goes home with Mi-do, only to find out that she has been chatting on her computer for some time with a person, who subsequently reveals to be Dae-su’s captor. Dae-su feels he cannot trust Mi-do and leaves.

Based on the taste of the dumplings that he ate for 15 years while imprisoned, and having seen the name “Blue Dragon” on a receipt fragment once, Dae-su goes to various Chinese restaurants with “Blue Dragon” in the name in order to determine exactly which restaurant it was. When he finally finds the right one, called “Magic Blue Dragon”, he follows the delivery boy on one of his calls, and finds the prison. Once there, he finds and ties up the prison’s manager, Mr Park, and tortures him by pulling out the man’s teeth with a claw hammer (15, one for each year he was imprisoned). Mr Park points him to tape recordings, one bearing his name. From the recording, Dae-su learns that the facility is a private prison for people who want someone locked away. His captor had him booked for 15 years and even suggested what drugs to give him if he’d go insane. The only reason the captor would give is: “Oh Dae-su talks too much.” Upon leaving, the prison guards gang up on Dae-su, but he fights them all off with nothing more than his clawhammer and his bare fists (although he does get stabbed in the back). Gravely injured, Dae-su is put into a taxi by a man passing by. The man sends the taxi off to Mi-do’s exact address, revealing he is Dae-su’s captor, but Dae-su is unable to do anything about it in his weakened state.

Back at home, Mi-do nurses him back to health. Dae-su goes to see his old friend Joo-Hwan in his internet shop, and plays the tape recording for him. Joo-Hwan doesn’t recognize the voice, but succeeds in identifying Mi-do’s on-line chat friend, a person calling himself “Evergreen”. They initiate a chat and Evergreen congratulates Dae-su because his wife’s murder case has been dismissed, and taunts him some more. Dae-su returns home and tries to violently force more information from Mi-do, still thinking she is working with Evergreen. Suddenly, Joo-Hwan calls, saying that he has tracked down Evergreen’s user ID and found the owner’s details. The owner’s name is ‘Su Dae-oh’ and there is also an address. Dae-su realizes it is an apartment in the building accross the street from Mi-do’s appartment. He rushes off, investigates the apartment and finally meets his captor, a man called Woo-jin (Yu Ji-tae), and his bodyguard, Mr Han, in one of the rooms. Dae-su tries to attack, but is incapacitated by Han. Woo-jin tells Dae-su he cannot kill him, because if he does, he will never learn why he was imprisoned, and if he tries to use torture, Woo-jin will remote-deactivate the pacemaker he had surgically placed in his own chest. But Woo-jin offers to play a game with Dae-su: he must find out why all this happened to him in the next five days. If he fails, Mi-do will die on July 5. If he succeeds, Woo-jin promises to kill himself. While leaving, Woo-jin casually remarks that Dae-su left his front door open.

Dae-su races home and finds that Mr Park and his gang of thugs have captured and sexually abused Mi-do. Dae-su is roughed up, and Mr Park is about to use the same teeth-pulling torture trick on Dae-su, when Mr Han shows up at the door and offers Mr Park a suitcase full of money, if he leaves. Park takes it and while leaving, Dae-su threatens to cut off Park’s hand.

Dae-su and Mi-do leave the apartment. On the road, they grow closer together, and Mi-do indicates she is ready to make love. After the love-making, they are gassed and Woo-jin leaves a package in their room. It contains Mr Park’s severed hand. Dae-su realizes that Woo-jin can hear every word he says, so he must have bugged him. They go to a shop and have a wire removed from his shoe. The next day, with Mi-do’s help, Dae-su finds out that ‘Evergreen’ refers to his old high school, where he discovers Woo-jin was once a fellow student. He calls his friend Joo-Hwan, who confirms the finding, and mentions that Woo-jin’s sister, who attended the school at the same time and had a promiscuous reputation, killed herself later. However, due to the not being able to spy on Dae-su anymore, Woo-jin has gone to Joo-Hwan’s internet shop, and enraged over the comments made about his sister, he beats Joo-Hwan to death while having Dae-su listen over the phone.

Strongly suspecting that the reason for his imprisonment has something to do with the sister’s death, Dae-su tracks down Mr Park. Due to losing a hand to Woo-jin, he is cooperative now and agrees to hold Mi-do in Dae-su’s old prison facility to keep her safe from Woo-jin. He also confirms that Dae-su was drugged and hypnotized several times while imprisoned. Dae-su finds another classmate and discusses Woo-jin and his sister with her. Apparently, there were growing rumors about the sister’s sex life and her possibly being pregnant at the time. The rumors were spread by Joo-Hwan, but it seems Dae-su himself was the source. Then he has a sudden recollection of memory. One day at school, as it turned out, Dae-su had unintentionally witnessed Woo-jin and his sister Soo-ah while engaging in a sexual encounter. Not knowing at the time that the two were related and the scene he was witnessing was an instance of incest, Dae-su casually mentioned what he had seen to one of his own friends, just before transferring to a school in Seoul. Eventually, the rumor started a life of its own and Soo-ah threw herself over a dam on July 5, killing herself. Dae-su finally realizes the solution to the first clue: “a grain of sand and a rock both sink in water with the same speed”, means that a casual remark and an outright accusation may both have the same devastating consequences to a person, so Woo-jin holds Dae-su responsible for his sister’s death.

Dae-su finally finds out where Woo-jin lives, and confronts him with all of this information. He accuses Woo-jin of creating a search for a memory that was erased using hypnosis; but Woo-jin claims not to have messed with Dae-su’s memory, Dae-su had simply forgotten it himself because he thought it was insignificant. However, his litlle slip of the tongue grew out of proportion, to the point where it was rumored that Soo-ah had become pregnant. It was never clear whether this had in fact occurred, but believing it and fearing public humiliation, she killed herself. Dae-su, however, implies that Woo-jin killed his own sister, afraid of fathering her child, and tried to shift the blame to Dae-su to cope with the guilt. Woo-jin does indeed possess a photo of Soo-ah on the dam, dated the day of her death, July 5. He took the picture, so he was present at her suicide. But Woo-jin then side-steps these allegations with an even more devastating revelation. He gives Dae-su a photo album, the first picture of which is a family portrait of himself, his wife, and his daughter. The remaining photos in the album are of his daughter growing older, until in horror Dae-su discovers that his daughter is none other than Mi-do (at the same time, Mi-do finds angel’s wings in a bag, the same Dae-su had bought for her 4th birthday). By carefully manipulating both of their lives - secretly taking care of Mi-do from the age of 3 (probably the reason for 15 years, 3+15=18) - Dae-su’s since his incarceration and Mi-do’s since her father vanished - and hypnotizing each of them independently, Woo-jin was able to cause Dae-su and Mi-do to commit incest as well. Dae-su goes into a rage and fights with Mr Han. Despite being mortally wounded, Mr Han keeps him subdued, until Woo-jin shoots and kills him.

Dae-su then learns that Mr Park is still working for Woo-jin, having been granted the ownership of the prison in exchange for severing his hand. Mr Park is with Mi-do, and is ordered to give a similar album to her at Woo-jin’s command. Dae-su is horrified, and begs Woo-jin not to let this happen. He then gets on his hands and knees and starts to bark like a dog, eventually going so far as to cut off his own tongue so that he will never talk too much again. During this scene Woo-jin holds a handkerchief to his mouth, and it looks as if he is crying, but then it shows clearly he is laughing with smugness and struggling to hide it so he can continue to watch Dae-su torture himself. With his thirst for vengeance that was his sole reason for living finally spent, Woo-jin spares Mi-do from knowing and readies to kill himself and Dae-Su with the same bullet. He changes his mind, however, and gives Dae-su the remote switch to his own pacemaker. Dae-su immediately grabs it and uses it, only to find that it doesn’t kill Woo-jin, but activates a tape recorder. Woo-jin exits the penthouse in an elevator, leaving Dae-Su alone to be tormented by a tape recording of his incestuous love-making with his own daughter.

As Woo-jin leaves, we are taken back into his guilt-ridden memory of his sister’s death. He is holding Soo-ah over the dam, trying to save her from killing herself, and she says that she has always known that Woo-jin was afraid, that she regrets nothing and asks him to let go of her. She seems at peace, and eventually he releases his grip. Back in the elevator, Woo-jin realizes that even after getting his revenge against Dae-Su, nothing will take his pain away. The camera is focused on his open hand, which slowly closes as if around a gun, cocks an imaginary hammer – and fires the real gun into his head in the elevator.

In an epilogue set in a wintry landscape, Dae-su goes to a hypnotist (the same one whom Woo-jin hired to hypnotize both Dae-su and Mi-do) and asks for her help to forget the secret. He writes her a letter, since he can no longer talk. The hypnotist said that she originally did not want to help him, but she was touched by his last sentence: “Even though I’m no more than a beast, don’t I, too, have the right to live?”. It is the same sentence Oh Dae-su heard from the suicidal man who appeared at the beginning of the movie.

The hypnotist tells Oh Dae-su to imagine himself back at Woo-jin’s penthouse. She uses hypnosis to split Dae-su into two personalities: the “Beast”, who remembers the secret, and the “ignorant” Dae-su, who doesn’t know.

When the hypnotist asks Dae-su to split into the two people, a reflection of himself appears in the window. The hypnotist tells him that the monster will walk away and for every step he takes, he will age a year and die when he reaches 70. The reflection is the “Beast” - he holds a grim expression and remains unmoved, unwilling to leave his place in Dae-su’s mind. The “ignorant” Dae-su, reflected in the glass, mourns the loss of a major part of his life. The camera cuts to the cassette player which then finishes playing the music that has set the scene. Oh Dae-su is wished the best of luck, and the screen turns black.

In early 1990s Somalia, famine and civil war have gripped the country, resulting in over 300,000 civilian deaths and a huge United Nations peacekeeping operation being sent in. With the bulk of the peacekeepers withdrawn by 1993, the Somali militia have declared war on the remaining UN personnel. In response, United States Army Rangers, Delta Force, and 160th SOAR are deployed to Somalia to capture Mohammed Farrah Aidid, self-proclaimed president of the country. Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force operatives capture Osman Ali Atto, a warlord selling arms to the militia of Aidid. Shortly thereafter, a mission is planned to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid’s top advisers. The US forces include experienced men as well as new recruits, including PFC Todd Blackburn and a desk clerk going on his first mission. When his Lieutenant is removed from duty as the result of a seizure, Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann is placed in command of Ranger Chalk Four, his first command.

The operation is launched and Delta Force successfully captures Aidid’s advisers inside the target building, but the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground-extraction convoy take heavy fire, while SSG Eversmann’s Chalk Four is dropped a block away by mistake. When Blackburn is severely injured after falling from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, three HMMWVs led by SGT Jeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the UN-held Mogadishu Airport. SGT Dominick Pilla is shot and killed just as Struecker’s column gets underway, and shortly thereafter a black hawk, call sign Super-Six One, piloted by CW3 Clifton “Elvis” Wolcott, is shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and crashes deep within the city. Wolcott and his co-pilot are killed, the two crew chiefs are wounded, and one mortally wounded Delta sniper on board escapes in another helicopter that makes it back to base. The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site, but the Somali militia throw up roadblocks, forcing LTC Danny McKnight’s Humvee column off it’s planned route, while sustaining heavy casualties.

Meanwhile, two Ranger Chalks, including Eversmann’s unit, reach Super-Six One’s crash site, setting up a defensive perimeter to await evacuation with the two wounded men and the fallen pilots. In the interim, call sign Super-Six Four, piloted by CW3 Michael Durant is also shot down by an RPG, crashing several blocks away.

With CPT Mike Steele’s Rangers pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties, no ground forces can reach Super Six Four’s crash site, nor reinforce the Rangers defending Super Six One. Two Delta snipers, SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon are inserted by helicopter to Super Six Four’s crash site, where they find Durant still alive. Despite a valiant effort to defend the downed Black Hawk, the crash site is eventually overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured and taken to Aidid. McKnight’s column gives up the attempt to reach Six-One’s crash site, and returns to base with their prisoners and the casualties. The men prepare to go back to extract the pinned down Rangers and the fallen pilots and MG Garrison orders the 10th Mountain Division, including Malaysian and Pakistani forces, to mobilize as a relief column.

As night falls the Somali militia launch a sustained assault on the trapped Americans at Super Six One’s crash site. The militia is held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships of the Nightstalkers, until the 10th Mountain Division’s relief column is able to reach the site. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, however extracting the bodies of Cliff Wolcott and his co-pilot from the downed Black Hawk turns out to be more involved and the column is forced to stay for nearly four more hours. After everyone and any dead soldiers are secured in the vehicles, the convoy leaves. When space inside the vehicles runs short, a handful of remaining Army Rangers and Delta operatives are forced to run from the crash site back to the stadium, in the UN Safe Zone, a journey dubbed the “Mogadishu Mile” by those who ran.

In this remake of the 1960 film of the same name, the small town of Rose Creek is being terrorized by land baron Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) and his men. The townsfolk meet in the church to discuss what they ought to to protect their land and families from Bogue. The man himself enters the church with some of his armed men and he steps up before everyone else. Bogue argues that there is little profit in the land that makes up Rose Creek, so he intends to return within three weeks to see that the town has turned up more profit. The men then fire their guns and burn the church down. As the people evacuate, Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) calls Bogue out and asks what kind of man he is to harm innocent people. Bogue responds by shooting Matthew dead in front of his wife Emma (Haley Bennett), leading to a number of other citizens being killed by Bogue’s men in front of their families. Before leaving, Bogue orders his men to leave the bodies where they lay so that the townspeople can get a good look at them for the next few days.

In another town, warrant officer Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) rides his horse into town, earning many unwelcome looks from the people. Chisolm enters a saloon and asks the bartender (Chad Randall) about an outlaw that goes by the name of “Powder Dan”. The other men in the saloon draw their weapons on Chisolm, but he is quick with his gun and gets all of the men without skipping a beat. He then shoots the bartender dead, knowing that this is Powder Dan. Chisolm orders the people to fetch the sheriff, and all of them run out of the place terrified, except for one man, a gambler named Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt).

After Chisolm proves he caught Powder Dan, Faraday is caught up by two brothers that feel he cheated them in a card game. The brothers bring Faraday outside of town to kill him. Faraday distracts them with a card trick, which ends with him shooting one of the brothers dead and shooting the other one in the ear.

As Chisolm rides away, he is approached by Emma and her associate Teddy Q (Luke Grimes). She explains the town’s situation with Bogue and their desperation in finding someone who can help. Emma and Teddy give Chisolm all the money they have, and when she mentions Bogue’s name, Chisolm agrees to help.

Chisolm, Emma, and Teddy ride by Faraday as he tries to pick up his horse from a stablemaster. Chisolm offers to pay for Faraday’s horse in exchange for Faraday joining their cause. He agrees. Chisolm then instructs Faraday to travel to Volcano Springs to find a man by the name of Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke).

Faraday and Teddy arrive at Volcano Springs to witness a gunfight between two men. The first man believes that the second, Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), didn’t fairly win, so he demands a legit gunfight. As they are set to fire, Billy instead grabs his hairpin and throws it into the other man’s chest, killing him. Robicheaux goes around collecting every man’s bet. One man refuses until he learns Robicheaux’s name, and then pays double out of fear. Robicheaux has a reputation for being a notorious sharpshooter. Faraday and Teddy approach the two men as Robicheaux gets a shave to discuss them joining the team. The two agree after learning it’s a paid job.

Chisolm and Emma come across a house with a dead man inside. They find Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a Mexican outlaw who’s been squatting in the house. Chisolm is aware of the bounty on Vasquez, but he offers the outlaw a chance to avoid being captured by Chisolm in exchange for joining the team. Vasquez complies.

After both parties reunite, they search for a tracker named Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio). They speak to two outlaw brothers on Horne’s whereabouts. One brother is struck in the chest with a hatchet, and the other is shot dead. Horne shows up and takes the hatchet. Chisolm asks him to join their team, but Horne walks away without a response.

On the road back to town, the group encounters a Comanche named Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). Chisolm, knowing a little Comanche, speaks to him and asks for his help. Red drops his kill on the ground and cuts out one of its organs to offer it to Chisolm. He reluctantly bites into the organ to prove his loyalty, so Red agrees to join. Horne then joins after tracking the group down.

The group returns to Rose Creek and confronts some of Bogue’s men in the middle of town. One of the men, McCann (Cam Gigandet), calls upon one of the shooters standing on the roof of a building. Red already got to him, and he drops the man’s body off the roof. The team (except Robicheaux) then start fighting against Bogue’s men. Red fires his arrows, Horne chucks his hatchets, Billy stabs several men, and the rest fire their guns at the villains. Robicheaux is more hesitant in shooting, allowing McCann to get away on his horse. When the dust settles, Chisolm orders the Sheriff to run back to Bogue in Sacramento and tell him that Chisolm is waiting for him.

Since the ride between Rose Creek and Sacramento takes three days, Chisolm figures they have about a week until Bogue returns with his army. The seven round up the townsfolk with Emma’s help to inspire them to fight for their town and their families.

The men begin to train the townsfolk in using weapons. Billy instructs them on using knives, while Faraday and Robicheaux teach them to shoot. The inexperienced citizens don’t get it immediately, but they pick up and do better. Emma manages to be a better shot after having learned from her father as a child.

Bogue receives the message from the Sheriff, then Bogue kills the messenger, literally. He begins to concoct his plan of attack.

The seven bond together in town at night through a meal, drinks, and some laughter. This brings them closer to the townsfolk as well, giving them more of a personal reason to fight. However, The seven and the townsfolk prepare for the arrival of Bogue and his army. Traps are laid out and people are at their stations.

Robicheaux becomes distressed over the thought of more killing, as he is haunted by the lives he’s taken over the years. He tells Chisolm he wants no part of this and he decides to ride away into the night before the battle. Emma offers to take Robicheaux’s place.

As Bogue’s hired men charge in on their horses, Bogue and a handful of his men watch from a distance. The men ride by a line of pinwheels set up by Horne, who then detonates some explosives that throw the men off their horses. The people begin shooting at Bogue’s men, while the men fire back. Vasquez shoots McCann dead right into a coffin. Bogue retaliates by having his men fire a Gatling gun into town, mowing down countless people. The women and children are evacuated to a safer area. Robicheaux returns to town and joins the fight with Billy atop a church steeple.

Bogue’s own Comanche, Denali (Jonathan Joss), rides into town. Horne tries to fight him, but Denali takes him out with four arrows. Denali follows Emma into the saloon and tries to kill her when she shoots at him but has no bullets. Red shows up and fights Denali, ending with Red stabbing him and pushing him over a balcony.

Faraday, wounded in the gut, tells Chisolm the have to take out the Gatling Gun, and says Chisholm owes him cover, the two rush out, Faraday grabs a horse and begins a long sweeping charge toward The machine gun. Robicheaux and Billy provide covering fire from the Steeple. The gun crew is bemused as the lone attacker gets closer, they shoot at him.

The Gatling gun is fired a second time. Billy and Robicheaux are shot dead in the steeple. Faraday sustains multiple gunshot wounds before falling on his knees before a group of Bogue’s men. He pulls out a cigar and puts it in his mouth. One of the men lights it for him before aiming the gun at Faraday. He slumps over, but then rises and shows a burning stick of dynamite. Faraday throws it at the men and it blows up in a huge explosion. Only Bogue and two henchmen are left.

Chisolm quickly takes out the two hired guns confronts Bogue right in front of the burnt-down church. They have a duel, with Chisolm shooting Bogue’s gun out of his hand. He shoots Bogue in the leg as he tries running into the church. Chisolm offers Bogue a chance to pray. Chisolm starts strangling Bogue with his own ascot as he reminds Bogue that he and his men came into Chisolm’s Kansas town, raping and murdering Chisolm’s mother and sisters in the process. Chisholm has a neck scar, he had barely survived a lynching. Bogue reaches into his ankle holster to get a gun and shoot Chisolm, but he is shot dead by Emma.

Despite the massive destruction and untold lives lost, the surviving citizens are thankful to Chisolm, Vasquez, and Red. The people thank them all as they ride out of town.

Promising FBI Academy student Clarice Starling is pulled from her training at the FBI Training Facility at Quantico, Virginia by Jack Crawford of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, who tasks her with presenting a VICAP questionnaire to the notorious Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist and incarcerated cannibalistic serial murderer. After learning the assignment relates to the pursuit of vicious serial killer Buffalo Bill, Starling travels to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and is led by Dr. Frederick Chilton to Hannibal Lecter, a sophisticated, cultured man restrained behind thick glass panels and windowless stone walls. Although initially pleasant and courteous, Lecter grows impatient with Starling’s attempts at “dissecting” him and viciously rebuffs her. As Starling departs, another patient flings fresh semen onto her face, enraging Lecter who calls Starling back and offers a riddle containing information about a former patient. The solved riddle leads to a rent-a-storage lot where the severed head of Benjamin Raspail is found. Starling returns to Lecter, who links Raspail to Buffalo Bill and who offers to help profile Buffalo Bill if he is transferred to a facility far from the venomous, careerist Dr. Chilton.

Hours and miles away, Buffalo Bill abducts Catherine Martin, the daughter of United States Senator Ruth Martin. Starling is pulled from Quantico and accompanies Crawford to West Virginia, where the body of Bill’s most recently-discovered victim resides. In the plane taking them to the town, Crawford asks Starling what she sees in the file on Buffalo Bill. She says that Bill is a male, definitely white and that he’s getting better at his work since he’s “developed a taste for it”. At the coroner’s office, Starling helps perform the autopsy and extracts the chrysalis of a Death’s-head Hawkmoth from the victim’s throat. When the victim is turned over for further examination, they find that two large, diamond-shaped strips of flesh have been flayed from her body. Having already spoken to Lecter about how Bill flays his victims, this detail is recorded by Starling.

At Quantico, as news of Catherine Martin’s abduction sweeps the country, Crawford authorizes Starling to offer Hannibal Lecter a fake deal promising a prison transfer if he provides information that helps profile Buffalo Bill and rescue Catherine Martin. Instead, Lecter begins a game of “quid pro quo” with Starling, offering comprehensive clues and insights about Buffalo Bill in exchange for events from Starling’s traumatic childhood. Unaware to both Starling and Lecter, Dr. Frederick Chilton tapes the conversation and after revealing Starling’s deal as a sham, offers to transfer Lecter in exchange for a deal of his own making, one that will make Chilton out as a hero for identifying and tracking down Buffalo Bill. Lecter agrees and following a flight to Tennessee reveals Buffalo Bill’s real name, physical description and past address to Senator Martin and her entourage of FBI agents and Justice Department officials. He also insults Martin openly, asking about her breastfeeding of her daughter. Martin orders Lecter back to Baltimore when he spills Buffalo Bill’s identity information.

As the manhunt begins, Starling travels to Lecter’s special cell in a local Tennessee courthouse, where she confronts him about the false information he gave the Senator. Lecter refuses Starling’s pleas and demands she finish her story surrounding her worst childhood memory. After recounting her arrival at a relative’s farm, the horror of discovering their lamb slaughterhouse and her fruitless attempts at rescuing the lambs – they screamed as they were being slaughtered, a memory that has haunted Starling her whole life – Lecter rebuffs her, leaving her with her case file before she is escorted out of the building by security guards. As she reaches for the file, he touches one of her fingers.

Later that evening, Lecter escapes from his cell, his two minders distracted by having to move his sketches and tricking them into approaching him too closely. The local police storm the floor, discovering one guard barely alive and the other disemboweled and strung up on the bars of Lecter’s cage like an angel. Paramedics transport the survivor to an ambulance and speed off while a SWAT team searches the building for Lecter. As the team discover a body on top of the elevator car, the survivor in the ambulance peels off his own face, revealing Lecter in disguise, who kills the paramedics and escapes to the airport.

After being notified of Lecter’s escape, Starling pores over her case file, analyzing Lecter’s annotations before realizing that the first victim, Frederica Bimmel, knew Bill in real life before he killed her. Starling travels to Bimmel’s hometown and discovers that Bimmel was a tailor and has dresses with templates identical to the patches of skin removed from Buffalo Bill’s victims. Realizing that Buffalo Bill is a tailor fashioning a “woman suit” of real skin, she telephones Crawford, who is already on the way to make an arrest, having cross-referenced Lecter’s notes with Johns Hopkins Hospital and finding a man named Jame Gumb. Crawford instructs Starling to continue interviewing Bimmel’s friends while he leads a SWAT team to Gumb’s business address in Calumet City, Illinois. Starling’s interviews lead to the house of “Jack Gordon,” whom Starling soon realizes is actually Gumb, and draws her weapon just as Gumb disappears into his basement. Starling pursues him in the basement, which consists of several rooms, discovering a screaming Catherine Martin in the dry well. The lights in the basement suddenly go out, leaving her in complete darkness. Gumb stalks Starling in the dark with night vision goggles and prepares to shoot her when Starling, hearing the clicks of his drawing back the hammer on his revolver, swivels around and shoots Gumb dead.

The story takes place in Gotham City, 1981.

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a clown-for-hire for a company called Ha-Ha’s. He struggles with severe depression personally but finds some form of optimism in performing for others and trying to make people laugh. He is tasked with advertising a store by dancing and waving a sign around. On one such occasion, the sign gets snatched by a group of punk teens, forcing Arthur to chase them into an alley. They smash the sign against his face and proceed to mercilessly kick him while he’s down.

In this era, Gotham is struggling with crime, unemployment, and poverty. Arthur visits a social worker for his medication, as well as his ongoing mental health issues. On the bus ride home, a small child looks at Arthur. He makes silly faces that amuse the boy, but his mother tells Arthur to leave him alone. Arthur begins to laugh hysterically and uncontrollably. When the mother questions him, he hands her a card that explains that he has a mental condition that causes him to laugh the way that he does.

Arthur returns home to a high-rise apartment project, where he lives with his ailing mother, Penny (Frances Conroy). After dinner, they sit and watch a TV talk show with host Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro). Arthur imagines himself being on the show and getting Murray’s attention. In his fantasy, Arthur charms the audience and Murray by telling them that he takes care of his mother. Murray relates to Arthur and invites him up on stage in front of everyone, where they share a familial embrace. It is revealed that Penny used to work for Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) and is obsessed with the millionaire and has been currently writing to him to try and better their living situation.

At Ha-Ha’s, Arthur is given a gun for protection by his co-worker Randall (Glenn Fleschler) after he hears about the mugging incident. Arthur is both reluctant and relieved to receive such a gift as firearms are outlawed at work but soon finds his confidence growing after receiving the weapon. However, soon after this, he is confronted by his cold and unfeeling boss, who reprimands him for losing the sign and takes the cost of it out of his pay. Arthur responds only by smiling bitterly.

Arthur meets and becomes infatuated with one of his neighbors, a single mother named Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz). She speaks to him politely about relating issues that he can relate to. However, while trying to make an impression with her, he appears awkward and weird around her. At one point, he spends his day following her. Later, she comes by his apartment and asks if he was following her, and he admits that he was, but she doesn’t seem put off by it. He invites her to a stand-up comedy show that he is performing at. She is hesitant but is won over by his charm and sense of humor. Arthur watches comedians perform to help him gain some insight into the craft, but feels more awkward and out of place as his over-the-top laughter is not genuine.

Arthur goes to the comedy club for his performance. His nervousness consumes him and, as a coping mechanism, unintentionally finds himself laughing so hard that he can barely speak. He then begins going off into his routine, which isn’t very funny. Sophie appears to be in the audience… the only person who is laughing at Arthur’s jokes. This gives him the comfort he needs to continue to joke despite his inner torment and turmoil.

Arthur later goes to a children’s hospital to entertain them as a clown. He brought his gun with him, and it falls out on the floor. Arthur’s boss later chews him out for this. Arthur pleads for a second chance, but his boss refuses and fires him on the spot. To top things off, Randall throws Arthur under the bus by claiming that Arthur got the gun himself. On the subway train ride home from Ha-Ha’s in full clown getup, Arthur spots three drunk young Wall Street types working for Wayne Enterprises harassing a woman. Arthur starts laughing unintentionally and draws the attention of the men, while the woman wisely flees from that car. The men approach Arthur and mock him and his laughter before they start to beat him. Arthur fights back in self-defense, but they team up, and relentlessly beat him to the floor. Having had enough, Arthur then pulls out his gun and shoots two of them dead in self-defense before following the last guy out of the train and murdering him on the stairs.

In shock over what he just did, Arthur retreats into a nearby public men’s room. After a moment of frantic contemplation, he finds a force rising within him, and he begins to dance by himself. At this moment, he sees himself in the dirty mirror as a battered and smeared and yet powerful clown and begins to embrace it. He hides the gun and then returns to the apartment building where he meets and kisses Sophie for the first time.

The news of the three murders spreads, with some seeing it as an attack on the wealthy, while others support the act. Thomas Wayne speaks out and condemns it, labeling the lower class as “clowns,” which becomes a symbol they readily embrace. The next day, Arthur cleans out his locker at Ha Ha’s but not before confronting Randall about betraying him and breaking the time punching machine. He then leaves, feeling high-spirited and free. News reports show clown rioters protesting through the city and wreaking trouble, condemning the higher privileged. Arthur sees that he has inadvertently caused this and begins to see his true potential, which makes him genuinely delighted.

Arthur later finds one of Penny’s letters to Thomas, which indicates that Arthur is Thomas’ son. Arthur goes to Wayne Manor, where he meets young Bruce Wayne (Dante Pereira-Olson). After performing a magic trick for Bruce, he sticks his hands through the gate and forces Bruce to smile, realizing deep within that they may or may not be brothers. However, Alfred (Douglas Hodge) comes to intervene and tell Arthur to leave. Arthur mentions his mother and her involvement with Thomas. Alfred says he remembers Penny, but that she was lying to him. Arthur attacks and nearly strangles Alfred through the bars but then notices that Bruce is watching. Arthur then gets hold of himself and flees the Wayne premises.

That evening, Arthur finds Thomas at a public art theater event. Arthur infiltrates the theater by impersonating an usher. He follows Thomas Wayne into a men’s room and tries to confront him with the potential of him being his father. Arthur mentions Penny, whom Thomas also remembers. While Thomas also acknowledges that Penny used to work for him as part of his housekeeping staff, he says that she was delusional and that there’s no way Arthur could be his son. Thomas also explains that Penny never told Arthur that he was adopted, which Arthur strongly rejects before uncontrollably laughing in Thomas’s face. Thomas, unaware of Arthur’s condition, becomes defensive and punches Arthur in the face before having him thrown out of the building. Arthur returns home, where he tortures himself by slamming his head on the refrigerator in a fit of depression and longing.

The next day, two police detectives, Burke (Shea Wigham) and Garrity (Bill Camp), go to Arthur’s apartment to question him on the subway murders due to the word that the suspect was wearing clown make-up, and they know Arthur lost his job earlier that day. Arthur denies any involvement and gets the detectives to leave. Not long after, Penny falls ill and is hospitalized. Sophie sits by Arthur as he tends to his mother. In the hospital, Arthur sees that Murray’s TV show is playing a clip from his stand-up routine, but he is hurt to see that Murray only played it to mock Arthur.

Arthur later receives a phone call from a rep for Murray’s show. He is invited to appear as a guest, which Arthur reluctantly accepts. After studying other interviews on the comedy show, Arthur decides to commit suicide in front of the live audience, thinking it will make them laugh.

Seeking hard proof, Arthur goes to Arkham Asylum and speaks to a clerk, named Carl (Brian Tyree Henry), who has a file on Penny. When Carl says he can’t give Arthur the info he wants, Arthur snatches the file and runs away to read it. Once away and hidden in a stairwell, Arthur opens the documents and reads them, finding that Thomas was telling the truth… according to the documents. The reality is that Penny adopted Arthur after he was found abandoned as a baby, and she abused him, tying him to a radiator and beating him alongside her abusive boyfriend. One part of the file mentions Arthur having a head injury, which is most likely what caused his laughing condition. Arthur returns to the hospital and tells Penny that he thought his life was a tragedy, but he sees it’s a “fucking comedy.” With that, he smothers Penny to death.

Arthur goes back home and breaks into Sophie’s apartment. She sees him and is terrified, asking him to leave for the sake of her daughter. Arthur asks her if she has ever had “a really bad day,” to which she replies that she doesn’t even know him. Through this, it is revealed that every other moment featuring Sophie was just in Arthur’s head. A broken and frustrated Arthur apologizes for his intrusion and leaves Sophie alone, storming out of her apartment.

Arthur starts to get ready for his appearance on Murray’s show and paints his face white. He is visited in his apartment by Randall and another former co-worker, a dwarf named Gary (Leigh Gill). They offer condolences after they hear about Penny’s death, but then Randall begins mentioning Burke and Garrity going to their apartments to question them about the subway murders. Arthur realizes that Randall is only seeking a way to use Arthur in order to cover his own butt and then snaps, brutally stabbing Randall twice in the face before smashing his head against the wall. A terrified Gary questions Arthur’s deeds and begs to be let go. Arthur agrees to before playfully scaring him as a prank. Gary tries to undo the lock on Arthur’s door but is unable to due to his height. He asks Arthur to open the door for him to which Arthur immediately agrees, pausing once to thank Gary for being the only person in his life who was nice to him. Arthur kisses Gary on the forehead and lets him go.

Arthur then dyes his hair green, puts on full clown make-up, and dons a burgundy suit. He then dances down the stairways, fully embracing his insanity and carefree life. Burke and Garrity find Arthur dancing in the street and move in to arrest him. Arthur runs, and they chase him into the subway train where dozens of other Gotham citizens are dressed like clowns after being inspired by the murders. Arthur hides his face with a clown mask, which he steals from a protester and inadvertently starts a brawl in the train cars. As the detectives pursue Arthur, one clown gets in the way, and Burke accidentally shoots him dead when they struggle with his gun. The clowns pull the detectives out of the subway and start beating them relentlessly, allowing Arthur to get away, moving smoothly through the police forces which swarm the area.

At the TV station, Arthur meets Murray and his agent Gene (Marc Maron). Before he goes on, Arthur asks Murray to introduce him as “Joker,” since Murray referred to him as such when playing his clip. Murray asks Arthur if his clown make-up has political agendas behind it to which Arthur replies, “I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe in anything.” While waiting to be introduced, Arthur sees Murray broadcasting a clip of a struggling Arthur trying to tell a joke. This causes Arthur’s mind and plans to change, and then he dances out into the spotlight.

Arthur goes out as the show begins. He awkwardly tells Murray a joke, which he finds funny for its dark humor though nobody else does. After being confronted with this, Arthur continues by admitting to the subway murders. Murray and the audience slowly realize that Arthur is serious. Arthur argues that the audience only cares for the victims because Thomas Wayne spoke for them, but anyone else like Arthur would be ignored and walked over. Murray and the audience grow angrier with Arthur, but so does he. Murray scolds Arthur, which escalates into Arthur snapping and telling another joke, grinning giddily. “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?!” he asks, only for Murray to try shutting him off before calling for the police. An enraged Arthur then screams, “You get what you fucking’ deserve!” before blowing Murray’s brains out in front of everyone. The audience runs away in terror, and the news of the murder immediately hits the airwaves. Arthur then laughs genuinely for the first time in his life.

Gotham is now overrun by rioting citizens dressed as clowns after hearing about what Arthur did. The Waynes leave a movie theater to find the chaos in the streets. Thomas takes his wife Martha (Carrie Louise Putrello) and Bruce into an alley, but one clown follows them and tells Thomas he is getting what he deserves using the punchline that Arthur used on the Murray Franklin show. With that, he shoots Thomas and Martha dead in front of Bruce.

Meanwhile, Arthur has been arrested and is being taken by the police. Arthur looks out the window and laughs gleefully as he sees the destruction and chaos he has caused. Just then, the clowns in an ambulance run into the car, killing the cops and freeing Arthur, who is injured and unconscious. When he awakes, Arthur finds himself surrounded by a mob of cheering mobsters in clown masks. The rioters then cheer Arthur on as he stands on a car and embraces their admiration, now that he has gotten the recognition he has long desired. He dances to their cheering and then pauses, finding that his nose is bleeding profusely. He then spreads the blood across his upper lip and grins before standing before them, elevated like a god.

Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) and Tyrone Love (Marlon Wayans) are two friends who live in Brooklyn, New York. They regularly do various drugs paid for by such petty thefts as Harry pawning his mother’s TV set. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), Harry’s mother, is a widow living alone in Brighton Beach who must regularly buy back her TV set from the pawn shop owner, Abe Rabinowitz (Mark Margolis). Abe tries to get Sara to turn Harry in, but she doesn’t have the heart for it, as Harry is all she has left after the death of her husband, Seymour, twenty years prior.

Harry and Tyrone eventually come up with a plan to make money by reselling heroin on the street so that they can get away from their dead-end lives. Over the summer, they make a fair amount of money. They talk regularly about buying a pound of extremely pure heroin as their ‘big score’ that will give them comfortable lives when they invest that money in a legal business.

Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), who is Harry’s girlfriend, has a distant relationship with her parents (who are never seen on camera), but sometimes goes out with Arnold (Sean Gullette), her psychiatrist, in order to appease them. She, along with Harry and Tyrone, snort and shoot heroin and cocaine, drop speed, and talk a lot about their dreams for a better future. As Harry starts earning money, he and Marion talk about opening a clothing store where Marion can earn a living as a clothing designer.

Meanwhile, Sara is a TV junkie, obsessed with an infomercial hosted by self-help guru Tappy Tibbons (Christopher McDonald), based on the acronym JUICE (Join Us In Creating Excitement). One day she receives a mysterious call from someone who claims that she has been selected to appear on a TV show. Thinking she’s being invited to appear on the Tappy Tibbons infomercial, Sara is suddenly obsessed with the idea of flaunting Harry on the show before a national audience. She wants to wear a particular red dress that she wore at Harry’s high school graduation; a dress that Seymour loved to see her in. However, she is now too overweight to fit into it. One of Sara’s friends, with whom she sometimes sits outside her apartment, gives her a diet book; but of course the “grapefruit and coffee” diet leaves her constantly hungry. She then hears about a way to lose a lot of weight by taking certain medications from a doctor, so she decides to try it.

Tyrone and Harry have made a lot of money by dealing drugs, gradually filling up a shoe box Tyrone hides in a wall in his apartment. Gazing at the money in the shoe box, he reminisces about running home and into his mother’s arms before making love to his girlfriend.

As summer progresses to fall, so do the debilitating effects of the drugs that Harry, Tyrone, Marion, and Sara use. The money that Harry and Tyrone had saved starts to dwindle. First, Harry buys Sara a large, new TV/entertainment set. Tyrone gets caught in the middle of a drug gang assassination, lands in jail and needs to be bailed out. While visiting Sara to tell her about the new TV set he’s gotten her, Harry finds out that the diet pills that Sara is taking are methamphetamine ‘uppers,’ or ‘speed,’ and warns her of the dangers involved. However, Sara delivers a passionate monologue about how her upcoming television appearance is giving her a new lease on life. Harry leaves in a taxi, shattered emotionally by his mother’s situation, but he won’t do anything to prevent her addiction growing.

Eventually, Tyrone, Harry and Marion all run out of both drugs and money. Without money they cannot buy more drugs. Harry pleads with Marion to ask Arnold for $2,000 so that Harry and Tyrone can make a purchase from a notorious mob figure. As Marion fears, Arnold wants her to sleep with him in return, and she reluctantly complies with Harry’s acceptance. At the site of the drug deal, a scuffle breaks out among buyers trying to push ahead in the line, and the supplier opens fire before driving away, leaving several people – Harry included – without any drugs.

Sara loses weight gradually, the zipper on her dress coming tantalizingly closer to zipping up completely. But she also develops a tolerance for the pills that lead her to continually increase her dosage without consulting her doctor, and she slips into drug-induced psychosis that causes her to experience hallucinations involving her refrigerator, which get more and more intense. Sara begins to regularly hallucinate that she is the guest of honor on Tappy Tibbons’ infomercial and gets to speak with the man himself.

Harry’s relationship with Marion starts to crumble when the need for drugs starts to overcome their sensibilities and the love they have for each other. Marion blames Harry for the failed purchase from the mob figure. After one major fight, Harry gives her a phone number for a major dealer named Big Tim (Keith David), who he heard about from Tyrone. Harry and Tyrone couldn’t buy from Tim because he was more interested in ‘pussy’ than money. Harry also discovers a black spot on his arm where he injects the heroin.

Fall fades into winter. As a result of increasing drug gang violence and police crackdowns, Harry and Tyrone cannot find any heroin in the city, so they decide to drive to Florida to make a purchase. Marion goes through severe deprivation withdrawal and she tearfully begs Tyrone and Harry’s regular contact, Angel, for help, but he rebuffs her because she is broke. In desperation, she calls Big Tim and goes to his house. Although she is hesitant for a moment, she gives him a blow job in return for a fix. Pleased with her performance, Big Tim invites her to a big orgy event at his house later in the week.

The invitation for Sara to appear on TV has not arrived, and her hallucinations with the refrigerator reach a climax as she takes more and more pills, thinking they will make the refrigerator stop. But instead, she finally hallucinates that the refrigerator lurches through the kitchen straight towards her and opens a wide toothy mouth. Sara runs from her apartment in fear, wearing no winter coat even though shoveled snow lines both sides of the streets. She wanders in a stupor, gets on the subway and finds her way to a Manhattan television station, begging to know when she will be on television. The receptionist and TV executives stall for time so they can contact paramedics who take her to a mental hospital.

As Harry and Tyrone are headed to Florida, the black spot on Harry’s arm grows to an alarming size and he begins complaining about the pain. Tyrone drives Harry to a hospital. One look at Harry’s arm and the triage doctor knows that Harry is a drug addict. He discreetly excuses himself taking all drugs with him and calls the county sheriff’s department, taking the medicine and drugs which were previously lying around with him, just in case. Tyrone and Harry are arrested and sent to jail, where Tyrone is subjected to racist guards and punishing work detail. Harry uses his phone call to contact Marion. She begs him to come home right away, and he promises her he will, but she knows he is lying. As they speak on the phone, Marion is getting dressed up to attend Big Tim’s party.

At the mental hospital, Sara refuses treatment and refuses to eat, and her psychosis only deepens. Still delusional, she unwittingly and unknowingly signs an authorization for doctors to put her through electro-shock therapy.

While clearing prisoners for work detail, a prison doctor finds Harry’s arm has become almost completely black and gives off a foul odor, and the pain is too much for Harry to bear. He is sent to the prison infirmary, where the doctors quickly determine they must immediately cut off Harry’s arm at the shoulder to save his life.

At Big Tim’s party, Marion engages in a variety of sex acts including an ‘ass to ass’ with another woman.

Harry has a dream of running toward a smiling Marion as she waits for him on a Coney Island pier, and then awakens in a hospital ward with a beautiful, kind nurse (Lianna Pai) watching over him. Hearing him speak Marion’s name, the nurse promises to contact her and arrange to have her come see him. But Harry knows she will not come; he knows he’s lost her.

Marion arrives home from Big Tim’s party, clutching a large plastic bag to her breast; she’s been paid very well and Big Tim likes her enough to be her supplier as long as she pleases him. She lies down on her couch and smiles blissfully.

Tyrone and several other prisoners are ushered into a common cell after work detail and Tyrone lies down on a cot, exhausted, with only a pillow and no blanket.

Two of Sara’s friends visit her at the mental hospital, and are so horrified and shocked at the sight of her as a hollow shell of her former self that they sob uncontrollably in each others’ arms while waiting for their bus back home.

All four main characters are shown curling up in a fetal position: Harry in the hospital bed with his arm amputated, Marion on her couch after gaining a regular drug supplier in return for her favors, Tyrone on a cot in prison as he dreams of his childhood and his mother, and Sara in a bed at the mental hospital.

Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) goes to a New York City taxi depot where he applies for a job as a driver to the tough-talking personnel officer (Joe Spinell). Travis claims that he is an honorably discharged Marine (it is implied that he is a Vietnam Veteran). After making an impression on the personnel officer, Travis gets the job for the night shift due to his chronic insomnia.

Via his narrative journal, Travis is soon revealed to be a lonely and depressed young man of 26 years. His origins and hometown are unknown. He sends his parents letters as well as birthday and Christmas cards, lying about his life and saying he works with the Secret Service. Travis spends his restless days alone in his rundown apartment somewhere in Manhattan, or in seedy porn theaters on and off 42nd Street. At one porn theater he tries to make an advance on the concession lady to no avail. He works 12 or 14 hour shifts during the evening and night time hours carrying passengers among all five boroughs of New York City. Sometimes during his breaks, he goes to a local all-night diner to have something to eat or just a few cups of coffee where fellow taxi drivers also hang out during their late-night lunch breaks. One of whom is a self-appointed philosophical type named Wizard (Peter Boyle). Wizard talks about the degradation of the night time in the city. Travis barely interacts with the other taxi drivers, mainly speaking awkwardly and shyly when he’s spoken to.

During taxi driving, Travis spies and becomes infatuated with a woman named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a campaign volunteer for New York Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for the presidential nomination and is promising dramatic social change. Travis spies Betsy joking with a co-worker named Tom (Albert Brooks). Travis works up the nerve to ask her out and Betsy is initially intrigued by Travis. She agrees to a date with him after he flirts with her over coffee and sympathizes with her own apparent loneliness. She compares him to a character in the Kris Kristofferson song “The Pilgrim, Chapter 33.”

Travis is further revolted by what he considers the moral decay around him. One night while on shift, Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old child prostitute, gets in his cab, attempting to escape her pimp. Shocked by the occurrence Travis fails to drive off quickly enough and her pimp, “Sport” (Harvey Keitel), reaches the cab. Sport forcibly grabs Iris away with him and gives Travis a crumpled twenty dollar bill as a bribe not to say anything, which haunts Travis with the memory of his failure to help the girl.

During one of his shifts, Travis picks up Senator Palantine himself (Leonard Harris) and an aide. He tells the senator he plans to vote for him and the senator, acting like a real politician, tells Travis he learns more from cab drivers than limo drivers. The senator asks Travis “What’s the one thing that bugs you the most?” and Travis responds that he would like the next president to “clean the scum off New York City.”

On their date, however due to his lack of social skills, Travis takes Betsy to a porno theater to view a hardcore Swedish “sex education” film (titled: Language of Love). Offended, she leaves him and takes a taxi home alone. The next day he tries to reconcile with Betsy, phoning her and sending her flowers, but all of his attempts are in vain and she refuses to speak with him. Going back into the campaign office, Travis confronts Betsy and shouts that she will “burn in hell like the rest of them.”

Rejected and depressed, Travis later picks up a man (director Martin Scorsese) who appears to be as mentally unbalanced as he is. The man tells Travis to park outside an apartment building while letting the meter run. He tells Travis to look at the woman in the window and tells him that’s his wife in her boyfriend’s apartment. He tells Travis he plans to kill them both with a .44 Magnum.

One evening at the diner, Travis approaches and tries to express his despair to Wizard, but when Wizard makes a half-hearted response to Travis’ problems with the teen prostitute and others, Travis angrily responds with: “that’s just about the stupidest thing I ever heard.”

Travis’s thoughts turn more violent. Disgusted by the petty street crime (especially prostitution) that he witnesses while driving through the city, he now finds a focus for his frustration and buys a number of pistols from an illegal drug/weapons dealer (Steven Prince).

Travis develops an ominously intense interest in Senator Palantine’s public appearances and it seems that he somehow blames the presidential hopeful for his own failure at wooing Betsy and maybe hopes to include her boss in his growing list of targets. Back at his apartment with his newly purchased guns, he begins a program of intense physical training and practices a menacing speech in the mirror, while pulling out a pistol that he attached to a home-made sliding action holster on his right arm (“You talkin’ to me?”). Later, he hangs around a Palantine rally and asks a suspicious Secret Service man about joining the service before disappearing into the crowd.

In an accidental warm-up, Travis randomly walks into a robbery in a run-down grocery store and shoots the would-be thief (Nat Grant) in the face; adding to the bizarre violence, the sympathetic grocery owner (Victor Argo) encourages Travis (who has no permit for his guns) to flee the scene and then proceeds to club the near-dead stickup man to death with a steel pole.

Later, seeing Iris on the street, he follows her. Another day later, Travis asks to pay for her time, and is sent to Sport. A tense conversation ensues but Sport sends Travis up to Iris’s room. Once in her room, Travis does not have sex with her and instead tries to convince her to leave this way of life behind.

The next day, Travis and Iris meet for breakfast at a local coffee shop and Travis becomes obsessed with saving this naive child-woman who thinks hanging out with hookers, pimps and drug dealers is more “hip” than dating young boys and going to school. Iris considers Travis’s offer but then Sport seduces and convinces her to stay, while (seemingly) Travis spies into the window from his cab. Travis writes a note to Iris including all his money and stating that he doesn’t intend to survive.

Any lingering doubt in the viewer’s mind about Travis Bickle’s sanity is obliterated when he is suddenly and shockingly shown to be sporting a crude Mohawk haircut at a public rally. He creeps through the crowd and prepares to assassinate Senator Palantine but is spotted by Secret Service men and flees.

Travis returns to his apartment to collect all his guns, then drives to “Alphabet City” (an area of New York’s Lower East side consisting of Avenues A through E). He walks up to Sport and confronts him. When Sport flicks a lit cigarette at him, Travis says “suck on this” and shoots Sport in the belly. Storming into the brothel, Travis blows the bouncer’s hand off. Sport, who has followed Travis, grazes Travis neck with a bullet (causing an arterial gush from his neck) but Travis unloads one of his guns into Sport, killing him. Travis again shoots the screaming bouncer who follows him up the stairs, slapping him. Iris’ mafioso customer shoots Travis in the arm and Travis shoots his face off. The bouncer tackles Travis but Travis stabs him through the hand and finally kills the bouncer with a bullet to the brain. He then calmly tries repeatedly to fire a bullet into his own head under his chin but all the weapons are empty so he resigns himself to resting on a convenient sofa until police arrive. When they do, the blood-soaked Travis mimes shooting himself in the head and then blissfully thinks of the mayhem and carnage in his wake.

In May 1980, a Cuban man named Tony Montana (Al Pacino) claims asylum, in Florida, USA, and is in search of the “American Dream” after departing Cuba in the Mariel boat-lift of 1980. When questioned by three tough-talking INS officials, they notice a tattoo on Tony’s left hand of a black heart with a pitchfork through it, which identifies him as a hit-man, and detain him in a camp called ‘Freedomtown’ with other Cubans, including Tony’s best friend and former Cuban Army buddy Manolo “Manny Ray” Ribiera (Steven Bauer), under the local I-95 expressway while the government evaluates their visa petitions.

After 30 days of governmental dithering and camp rumors, Manny receives an offer from the Cuban Mafia which he quickly relays to Tony. If they kill Emilio Rebenga (Roberto Contreras) a former aide to Fidel Castro who is now detained in Freedomtown, they will receive green cards. Tony agrees, and kills Rebenga during a riot at Freedomtown. The murder of Rebenga was requested by Frank López, a wealthy, politically astute man who deals cars and trades in cocaine, as Rebenga had tortured López’s brother to death while still in Cuba many years earlier.

After getting their Green Cards, Tony Montana and Manny Ray find work as dishwashers in a corner sandwich/taco shop. Some weeks later, a López henchman and under-boss, Omar Suárez (F. Murray Abraham), the man who contacted Manny for the Rebenga hit job, offers Tony and Manny a low-risk job of unloading marijuana from a boat from Mexico to arrive in Miami the following night for $500 each. Tony insults Suárez by turning down the job over the little money they will receive, and demands at least $1,000 for the work. After an altercation, Suárez sets Tony up on another job to purchase two kilograms of cocaine worth around $25,000 a piece from a Colombian dealer, named Hector The Toad, a medium to high-risk job for which Tony and Manny will receive $5,000 for their work.

That weekend, Tony, Manny, and two other Marielitos in his crew whom they met in Freedomtown, Angel Fernández (Pepe Serna), and Chi Chi (Ángel Salazar) then set out to meet “Hector the Toad” (Al Israel) at a seedy motel on the boulevard in Miami Beach. While Manny and Chi Chi wait in the car on the street, Tony and Angel go up to the hotel room to meet with Hector. The meeting does not go smoothly, as Tony grows irritated with Hector, who is slow to give him the cocaine in exchange for money. Suddenly, Tony and Angel are double-crossed by the Colombian. It becomes apparent that Hector does not intend to sell Tony the cocaine he has; he only wants to steal the money Tony has been given to purchase the product. To convince Tony to give over the cash, Hector dismembers Angel in a shower stall with a chainsaw. After Angel is dead, Tony, about to suffer the same fate, is saved by Chi Chi and Manny who arrive in the nick of time to gun down Hector’s henchmen. Manny receives a minor bullet wound in his shoulder when his Uzi sub-machine gun jams. Hector escapes but Tony vengefully confronts him in the street and shoots him dead in the middle of the crowded Ocean Drive (the now famous Miami South Beach boulevard). Tony and his crew then get away with both the cocaine and the money before the police arrive.

The following night, Tony and Manny meet Frank López (Robert Loggia) at his house for the first time where Tony impresses Lopez with not only the return of his cash but with a gift of the cocaine, a prize from the botched rip off. Frank immediately hires Tony and his crew into his criminal hierarchy, a representative of a Cuban mafia. But during this initial get together Tony also meets Lopez’s lady, the blond and beautiful Elvira Hancock (Michelle Pfeiffer), who will eventually become the source of tension between the two men. Taking Tony and Manny out to a local nightclub, called The Babylon Club where Frank frequently attends, Tony and Manny see first-hand the high standard of living they have come to acquire. Though Frank actually warns against these excesses, Tony is seduced by them regardless. Thus, Tony Montana begins his rise through the ranks of the Miami cocaine underworld.

After three months, Tony has advanced in the ranks in Frank’s cartel from drug runner and purchaser to a trusted lieutenant along with Manny. They work low-risk jobs such as being Frank’s bodyguards and messengers. Tony continues to grow more attracted to Elvira as he helps her purchase a new Cadillac vehicle for herself and casually flirts with her privately. Elvira enjoys the attention but still seems to think of Tony as a low-level hood.

Tony attempts to make amends by meeting with his estranged family. It is implied that Tony’s father, a former U.S. Navy sailor, abandoned the family when Tony was little. Since then, his mother (Miriam Colon) and younger 19-year-old sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) have been living in Miami. Tony shows up at his mother’s and Gina’s house one evening, fashionably dressed, and offers them $1,000 in cash for financial support. Gina is overjoyed to see her older brother whom they have not seen for five years. However, Tony’s mother has only scorn for him since he turned his back on them many years ago for the quick and easy life of crime back in Cuba, and wants nothing to do with him. She is too full of pride to accept his money despite being financially stricken. But Gina, who idolizes her brother, follows him outside where he slips her the money secretly. Gina tells Tony that she wants in on the flashy life that he has going for him. Tony’s love for Gina is clearly genuine for she’s the only person that he trusts, and is also obsessively protective of her. Afterward, Manny (who waited in the car that he and Tony arrived in) makes a comment to Tony about how attractive Gina is, but Tony angrily warns him to stay away from her.

Several months later, Tony is sent to Bolivia to help Omar set up a new distribution deal with Bolivian kingpin Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar) for the purchase of 200 kilograms of cocaine, since Frank is having legal troubles that preclude him from leaving the country. Though Tony was supposed to let Omar do all the talking, Omar proves to be a poor negotiator, prompting Tony to step in and save the deal. They seem to negotiate a deal that, on the surface seems favorable to both sides, with Sosa overseeing the transportation to Panama and to let Tony and the Lopez cartel take over from there, but Omar insists that Frank would not approve. Sosa seemingly sides with Omar and suggests that Omar use his phone to call Frank. A few minutes later, Sosa hands Tony binoculars, and he sees two menacing assassins, Alberto the Shadow (Mark Margolis) and the Skull (Geno Silva), execute Omar by hanging him by the neck from an airborne helicopter. Sosa reveals that Alberto recognized Omar as once being an informant for the police several years ago when he worked in New York City… and Sosa has a zero tolerance for disloyalty. Tony insists that he never goes back on his word, and that he never trusted Omar. Believing that Tony is trustworthy, Sosa agrees to bring Tony on board with him as his North American distributor of cocaine and other drugs. But upon their agreement, Sosa sternly warns Tony never to betray or double-cross him in any way.

Upon his return to Florida, Tony is verbally chewed out by Frank for overstepping his authority as well as hearing about Omar’s death. Tony explains to Frank that for a price of $18 million to pay Sosa for the manufacturing and transportation costs, they will receive 2,000 kilograms of cocaine from Bolivia for nationwide sale and distribution which will earn them $75 million over a period of one year. Frank is worried because he does not have the many millions to pay Sosa for the cocaine, but Tony says that he is in tight with Sosa and he has established a “credit line” with him as well as work out a payment plan where they will pay Sosa $5 million up front and the rest in monthly installments. Plus, in case Frank comes up short a few million, Tony will earn the money needed through his own street contacts. Frank angrily tells Tony that he did not negotiate a good deal and that Sosa merely tricked him into thinking he did. Tony replies that it’s time for them to “think big,” and to expand the cartel for nationwide distribution of cocaine. With them as the main North American distributors and wholesalers of the Sosa cartel, they will make millions and become the biggest cartel in the continent. Frank warns Tony that Sosa cannot be trusted and that he will sooner or later turn against them for any slight deviation or compromise of his business. Frank orders Tony to stall his deal with Sosa for the time being. Frank then promptly tells Tony that ambitious drug dealers, such at himself, who want too much and crave money, power and attention, do not last long in the business. Tony leaves shrugging with indifference and strikes out on his own.

After this incident, Tony then seeks out Elvira to whom he makes an unexpected marriage proposal. She is shaken but agrees to think about it. Frank López is none too happy when he hears about it and decides to take out Tony.

At the Babylon nightclub that evening, Tony is approached and shaken down by a Miami police detective, named Mel Bernstein (Harris Yulin). He proposes to “tax” Tony on his transactions in return for police protection and information. Tony is distracted by the sight of Gina dancing with a local drug dealer. He follows the two to a restroom stall where he berates Gina for her promiscuous conduct. He asks Manny to take her home. On the way Gina admits she is attracted to Manny. Manny wards her off, mindful of Tony’s obsessive protection of her.

Back at the nightclub, Tony is attacked by two gunmen but manages to escape, killing them both despite being wounded by a gunshot to his left shoulder. Suspecting Frank sent Bernstein and the hit-men, Tony asks one of his bodyguards, Nick The Pig (Michael P. Moran), to call Frank after Tony arrives at Frank’s office at 3:00 a.m. that very night and inform him the hit failed. Tony, Manny and Chi Chi visit Frank at his car dealership back office, who is with Det. Bernstein. Nick calls Frank, who confirms his involvement by playing the call off as Elvira telling him she’ll be late home. When it becomes apparent that Bernstein (who is armed) will not help him, Frank begs for Tony’s forgiveness, saying that he can have Elvira and ten million dollars in exchange for sparing his life. Tony will have none of it, and Manny coldly executes Frank. Bernstein insists that he could be a valuable ally for Tony, but Tony disagrees, and kills him too. Tony, Manny and Chi Chi then look upon the late Frank’s personal bodyguard Ernie (Arnaldo Santana) and offer him a choice of being killed or work for them. Ernie naturally agrees to work for Tony.

His problems apparently solved, Tony begins a profitable relationship with Sosa over the next year and-a-half. Tony marries Elvira, buys a huge mansion complete with surveillance cameras and numerous luxury items, and Tony even sets Gina up in business with her own beauty salon complete with a paid staff. Manny and Gina soon begin a romantic relationship, but they keep it secret from Tony who had firmly stated to Gina that he does not want her dating anybody (at least not anyone in the drug dealing business).

As Tony’s business grows, so does his cocaine addiction and paranoia, and he begins to spiral out of control… the beginning of the end. His wife, who becomes further addicted to cocaine, becomes bored and emotionally distant. Tony’s banker Gerry (Dennis Holahan) informs him that laundering the increasing flow of drug money has become increasingly difficult, so he will be charging higher fees, up to 10%. A Jewish mob boss, named Mel Seidelbaum (Ted Beniades), contacts Manny, offering his assistance. However, as they are cleaning out the money, Seidelbaum reveals himself to be an undercover cop and arrests Tony along with Chi Chi. After posting a $5 million in bail, Tony’s corrupt lawyer, George Sheffield (Michael Alldredge), tells him that although he may get him cleared of the corruption and money laundering charges, Tony will probably have to serve at least three years in prison for income tax evasion. Manny suggests that he take it, as the American prison system is nowhere near as harsh as its Cuban counterpart, and the right legal loopholes could trim the sentence down to six months. However, the strung-out Tony yells that he would rather die than spend a single day in jail.

After hearing about Tony’s arrest, Sosa, not wanting to lose his main distributor, offers Tony a way out of going to prison. He calls Tony back to Bolivia where he introduces him to his cocaine “board of directors” a group that includes a sugar land baron, Bolivia’s military chief, and a mysterious American named Charles Goodson (Gregg Henry). We assume he is a corrupt CIA officer because Sosa guarantees that the IRS will not be able to send Tony to jail. But this help comes at a price. A Bolivian journalist is attempting to expose the ongoing corruption in the Bolivian government involvement in drug trafficking, and his crusade is beginning to hurt Sosa and his partners. Sosa will be sending Alberto to New York assassinate the journalist, but he needs Tony and his crew to provide some extra muscle. Tony is clearly disturbed by the assassination since it is against his custom to kill a man whom he sees as a civilian, plus Tony has never killed anybody who didn’t wrong him personally. But seeing no other options, Tony reluctantly agrees to help Sosa with the hit.

In the meantime, Tony’s marriage with Elvira finally ends when after a bitter altercation at a local restaurant, she finally expresses her contempt for him and the lives he had led her on, and walks out of the restaurant, and out of his life. Tony, punch-drunk on cocaine, tells the restaurant’s other patrons that his existence is necessary since society needs a man like him to call a criminal. Tony also informs Manny to look after things while he travels to New York on business (but he doesn’t tell him anything about the Sosa assassination deal.)

Tony, with his two trusted henchmen, Chi Chi and Ernie, along with Alberto travel to New York City and Alberto places a bomb under the journalist’s car in with the intention of detonating it outside the UN building before the the man addresses the General Assembly and exposes Sosa’s cartel. But Tony has second thoughts when the journalist unexpectedly picks up his wife and children. Tony, saying that the team was only supposed to kill only the journalist, shoots Alberto to prevent the journalist’s family from being killed. When authorities later discover the unexploded bomb underneath the journalist’s car, they realize that an execution had been planned and increase the amount of security protecting the journalist. Sosa is now the primary suspect and Sosa vows to get even with Tony.

Returning to Miami, Tony discovers that Gina and Manny (who opposed the trip to New York) have disappeared. Tony visits his mother again where she angrily tells him about Gina’s descent into an immoral life and accuses him of corrupting her with his flashy lifestyle. After getting Gina’s home address from Mrs. Montana, Tony goes to the house in nearby Palm Grove. Much to Tony’s surprise, Manny unexpectedly opens the door in his bathrobe. Tony then sees Gina in a night gown at the top of the stairs. Enraged that another man has obviously slept with his sister, Tony shoots Manny dead. Hysterical, Gina reveals to Tony that they had just been married and were going to surprise him. Tony, riddled with guilt, has Gina taken back to his mansion.

In revenge for Tony’s failure to kill the journalist, who has now exposed Sosa and his partners to the world as drug lords, Sosa sends a Latino mercenary hit squad (the size of a large platoon), to Tony’s mansion to kill him that evening. Sitting at his desk snorting from an enormous pile of cocaine, Tony realizes and regrets what he has done to his best friend. He takes a call from Sosa and berates him, telling him he’s prepared for whatever Sosa can throw at him. When Tony is contemplating his actions, Sosa’s mercenaries breach the main gate at Tony’s estate and quietly begin to kill all the guards around the mansion. At the same time, a distraught Gina, wearing only an unbuttoned sleep shirt and armed with a revolver, enters Tony’s office to confront him with the truth about his feelings for her. She now realizes that Tony loves her in an unnatural way and demands, at gunpoint, that he make love to her. She begins to shoot at him while demanding he take her. A Sosa assassin hiding on the balcony, thinking Gina is shooting at him, leaps in and riddles her with bullets. An enraged Tony throws the man off the balcony and kills him with his sub-machine gun creating a storm of chaos at the mansion. At this point, the mercenaries, robbed of the element of surprise by the gunshots, swarm in to attack Tony’s mansion from all directions.

As all his men are being killed, including Ernie and Nick the Pig, Tony, still delirious from the cocaine, leans over Gina’s dead body begging for forgiveness, at the same time the mercs break into the mansion. Chi Chi opens fire with an Uzi as he falls back and ends up banging on the door to Tony’s office (it has been locked from the inside by Gina who was planning to kill Tony). Unfortunately, Tony does not seem to hear him. Chi Chi is shot in the back and Tony sees it on the security cameras.

The Prestige begins with shots of several dozen top hats inexplicably strewn about in a forest.

Cutter (Michael Caine), in voiceover, explains the three parts of a magic trick while performing a disappearing bird trick for a little girl. Part one is the pledge, where the magician shows you something ordinary, like a bird. Part two is the turn, where he does something extraordinary, like make the bird disappear. But this isn’t enough. There always has to be a third act, the prestige, where you have a twist, and bring the bird back. Only then will the audience applaud.

Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), stage name “the Great Danton,” attempts a transporting trick that involves walking under a giant electrical machine with a Tesla coil and then disappearing through a trapdoor. Except that he falls straight into a giant tank of water that has been placed under the stage, and is automatically locked inside. A man in the audience, who we shortly learn is fellow magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), stage name “the Professor,” forces his way beneath the stage in time to see Angier drown.

After this introduction, we follow three timelines at once. In the present day (19th century England), Borden is on trial for murdering Angier, who we learn was his greatest rival. Cutter is revealed to be Angier’s engineer, the man who builds the machinery for his tricks, and the little girl is Borden’s daughter Jess (Samantha Mahurin).

Cutter confides to the judge in a private meeting that the machine Angier was using wasn’t built by him, but by “a wizard,” and it legitimately did what it appeared to do.

The trial does not go well for Borden, and he faces execution. Later, in jail, Borden is approached by the solicitor for a collector, Lord Caldlow, who is interested in buying his secrets, particularly the secret of Borden’s famous “Transported Man” trick. The same collector has also bought all of Angier’s equipment and props. When Borden refuses, the solicitor threatens that Jess is in danger of being declared an indigent orphan and sent to the workhouse unless his patron intervenes. As an incentive, he gives Borden Angier’s diary, which documents the time he spent in Colorado trying to learn Bordon’s secret.

Borden’s reading of the diary in prison frames the second part of the narrative, which is from Angier’s point of view. Angier is on a train in the Rocky Mountains, headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on his way to see the notorious scientist Nikola Tesla (David Bowie). Disembarking at the train station in town, Angier is taken by coach to the inn, where he gets an unusually warm welcome from the hotel staff. The manager tells Angier that he’s their first guest of the winter. Angier asks if a ride can be arranged to take him up to Pike’s Peak the next day, but is told that the peak is closed for experimentation.

The next day, Angier is dropped off on a dirt track in the woods, at the farthest point the carriage can take him. He makes his way up to the fence surrounding a clearing. He is immediately thrown back as the fence is electrified. Tesla’s assistant Alley (Andy Serkis) comes out of the gatehouse, thinking at first that Angier is another intruder, then recognizes him, saying he’s seen Angier’s London show. Angier says he’s come to ask Tesla to build him a machine like one that he believes Tesla built for Borden – the machine that allows Borden to do the “Transported Man” trick. Alley says he can’t help Angier, and Angier heads back to the hotel, disappointed. Alley takes satisfaction when Angier, back turned to him, correctly guesses that Alley is holding a gold watch in his hand.

Angier sits down in his room and begins decoding a diary he stole from Borden, which is encrypted with a particular five-letter-word passcode (important later).

Borden’s diary frames the third thread of the narrative, which goes back to the very beginning.

Angier and Borden are partners, up-and-comers working for an elderly magician named Milton (Ricky Jay). Milton also employs Cutter and Angier’s wife Julia (Piper Perabo). Their best trick is an underwater escape act. In this act, Angier and Borden are planted in the audience and called up to the stage to tie Julia’s wrists and ankles before she is hoisted up on a pulley and dropped into a water tank. A curtain descends on the tank, and Julia slips the knot around her wrists and escapes using a trick lock on the tank. As a safety precaution, Cutter is positioned stage right, behind the curtains, with a stopwatch and an axe.

Angier and Borden are on friendly terms, though Angier is somewhat concerned that Borden might be using a knot that is more difficult for Julia to slip. We learn that Angier is using an alias so he won’t embarrass his prominent family with his theatrical pursuits, while Borden and his engineer Fallon come from a rougher background. Borden is much more ambitious than Angier, isn’t afraid to do dirtier tricks, and wishes Milton would try more dangerous tricks, like a bullet catch. Borden claims to have created a trick that will be his masterpiece.

One day, Cutter sends Angier and Borden to watch a Chinese magician, Chung Ling Soo (Chao Li Chi), and figure out exactly how the man makes a heavy goldfish bowl (filled with water and goldfish) appear from under a cloth. Borden immediately deduces that the old magician is really putting up a front: he’s holding the bowl between his legs under his skirt, hiding the strength required to accomplish the trick by always appearing frail in public. Borden admires the way the Chinese magician goes to such an extreme that he “lives” his performance at home. Angier is surprised, since when he tries holding an empty goldfish bowl at home, he has a hard time carrying it.

As his prize for working out the fishbowl trick, Borden gets a few minutes onstage assisting Milton during a performance, where he performs a trick where a bird and cage disappear simultaneously, and then the bird reappears. A boy in the audience becomes upset when he realizes the bird in the cage isn’t the same as the one that reappears. Borden tries to help the boy’s aunt, a woman named Sarah (Rebecca Hall), to console him. After the show, we discover that the bird in the cage has to die to achieve the illusion, as Borden is seen tossing the original bird in the trash. Borden and Sarah strike up an acquaintance and become romantically involved.

Disaster strikes during the next performance of the underwater escape. Borden ties, stops, and then reties the knot around Julia’s hands as they prepare to put her on the hoist. She can’t manage to slip the knot underwater, and Cutter isn’t able to break the glass of the tank in time to save her. Julia dies onstage, leaving Angier devastated and Milton ruined. During the funeral, Angier confronts Borden, asking which knot he tied. His answer is that he “doesn’t know,” which Angier cannot accept. This is the beginning of their bitter rivalry.

Borden and Angier both strike out on their own, but there are obvious tensions. Borden marries Sarah and starts doing his own act, the climax of which is a bullet-catching trick. The secret, as Borden explains to his pregnant wife, is that the bullet is palmed, so that it’s already in the magician’s hand when the gun is fired. All that comes out of the pistol is gunpowder. But magicians have died during the trick because of audience members sticking buttons or their own bullets into the guns.

Borden is next seen performing for a very rowdy audience. After whipping out the gun to silence the audience, he asks for volunteers, then hands the gun to a man who is actually a disguised Angier. Angier, knowing the trick, deliberately puts his own bullet into the gun, and confronts Borden again about the knot he tied. When Borden’s answer is still “I don’t know,” Angier shoots him, blowing the ends of two fingers off his left hand and jeopardizing Borden’s career. Sarah encourages him to quit magic. She isn’t happy that Borden keeps secrets from her as part of his trade. Their marriage is an uneven one, and she claims that when he says that he loves her, she can tell on some days he doesn’t mean it. Borden admits this is true and they make a sad little game of it: some days he loves her, some days he loves the magic.

One day at a bar, Angier is approached by Cutter, whom no one will hire because of his association with Milton. They start their own act, with Angier performing as “the Great Danton” (a name suggested by his late wife and rejected at the time for being “too French”). His lovely assistant is a blonde bombshell named Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson). Because Angier doesn’t want to get dirty, Cutter comes up with a new version of the “disappearing-bird-in-the-cage” trick where members of the audience keep their hands on the cage as it disappears. The trick involves mechanical gadgetry that Angier wears under his suit to fold away and retract the cage. Best of all, the bird is unharmed.

Angier debuts the trick at his show. The audience is negative at first, complaining that they’ve seen the trick numerous times, but Angier says he’ll make it a bit harder. He asks for two volunteers to come up from the audience. Two are selected: an elderly woman and a man who is actually a disguised Borden. Although Angier recognizes Borden the moment he puts his hand on the cage, he is unable to stop Borden from jamming the machinery. The cage malfunctions, causing the bird to be killed onstage and the other volunteer’s hand to be caught. The theater owner cancels Angier’s booking and Angier’s reputation is left in tatters.

Cutter sends Angier to a science lecture to get some new ideas. Nicola Tesla is preparing to demonstrate several huge, fantastic Tesla coils, generating immense electric charges that seem to fill the room. Because of the perceived danger, the demonstration is canceled by the authorities. But Angier spots Borden in the crowd and follows him, learning about Sarah and their new baby, Jessica. Fed by jealousy of Borden’s happiness, which Angier feels should have been his, Angier’s obsession over the rivalry grows.

Intercut with this storyline are Angier’s attempts to meet with Tesla and commission his own transporter machine. Tesla has supplied all of Colorado Springs with electrical service in exchange for being allowed full use of the generators at night (when the residents are sleeping) to conduct experiments. He’s even rigged up his own electric fence. When Tesla finally agrees to build the machine for Angier, he warns that it will take a great deal of time and money.

In Borden’s diary, we learn that both magicians start performing again. Borden, as “the Professor,” has a dramatic new trick called the Transported Man that has been getting him attention. Angier and Olivia, who is falling in love with her magician, watch it repeatedly and are unable to tell how he does it. The trick appears amazingly simple: Borden gets into a cabinet on stage right and gets out of another cabinet on stage left. Cutter insists that he must be using a double, but Olivia insists that she can see the bandaged stumps on his left hand both when Borden disappears and when he reappears, even though Borden wears padded gloves to hide his short fingers.

Angier and Cutter copy the trick and add the bit of showmanship and flair that Borden’s version is missing. In his version, Angier throws his hat across the stage and walks through a door on one side of the stage, secretly drops through a trapdoor hidden behind the door frame onto a padded cushion, while a double simultaneously is hoisted out of another trapdoor behind the door on the other side of the stage to catch the hat. They hire an out-of-work actor named Gerald Root (also played by Hugh Jackman) to be Angier’s double. He’s a drunk and a lout, but he can perform.

Their act, dubbed “the New Transported Man,” is an amazing success. But there’s one small drawback: Angier has to be the one who sells the buildup of the trick, so he’s always under the stage during the prestige and misses out on the audience reaction. Root is getting all the glory, even if Cutter makes sure that he keeps a low profile so the secret doesn’t get out. Even worse, Angier still doesn’t know how Borden does his version of the trick.

Angier decides to send Olivia to work for Borden and spy on him to get the secret. Olivia, who is in love with him, doesn’t like the idea, but does as Angier asks and becomes Borden’s assistant. To gain his trust, she tells Borden how Angier’s trick is done and offers to help him improve on his own act.

Meanwhile, a big problem develops – with Root, of course. Root realizes that he can control Angier because he’s necessary for Angier’s biggest trick, and demands money. It turns out that Borden has been influencing him, and Cutter thinks Olivia may have betrayed them. Borden’s version of the “Transported Man” has improved, and now includes one of Tesla’s electricity-generating machines. Cutter gets Angier to agree to phase out the trick.

Root’s performances get more intentionally sloppy, and one night he simply isn’t there at all. When Angier goes through the trapdoor, the cushion to break his fall has been removed, and he breaks his leg. He watches Borden pop out of Root’s trapdoor and proceed to humiliate him, suspending a tied-up Root from the ceiling with an advertisement for Borden’s own act, before running out of the theater to his own show.

Angier confronts Olivia, who insists that Borden’s trick is accomplished using a double, because she’s seen makeup and wigs lying around. He deduces that such items are planted by Borden as misdirection for her. When he questions her loyalty, she produces Borden’s encrypted diary as proof that she didn’t betray him. However, the five-letter-word to decrypt the diary is still necessary. Angier and Cutter kidnap Fallon, Borden’s engineer, and nail him in a box to hold for ransom.

When Borden comes to the meeting place in a cemetery to get Fallon back, Angier demands to know the secret of Borden’s “Transported Man” in exchange. Borden writes down one word, “Tesla,” which will decode the diary, and suggests that he’s teleporting using a machine Tesla built. Borden is then told that Fallon has been buried alive, and Angier asks him how fast he can dig.

Angier leaves for America to track down Tesla, for the second section of the narrative, while Cutter stays behind. He was shot by Fallon in the shoulder while nailing the box up, and doesn’t want to pursue the secret of the trick any further. Tesla refuses to meet with Angier, and the latter learns that Tesla has run out of funding and is being hounded by his rival, Thomas Edison. Angier assures Tesla that money is no object and Tesla tells him in turn that the machine is already being built.

Borden’s private life starts falling apart. He’s having an affair with Olivia, and his wife is drinking because of their deteriorating marriage. At one point, he instructs Fallon to deal with his family while going to see Olivia. He appears to genuinely care for both women.

Sarah eventually hangs herself in Borden’s workroom, after trying to confront her husband about one of his secrets.

In Colorado, Tesla and Alley have been unsuccessfully testing the machine they built for Angier. They’ve zapped his top hat time after time with an impressive electrical apparatus, but the hat won’t move an inch.

Angier comes to the end of Borden’s diary and realizes that Olivia actually did betray him. She was in love with Angier, but since he used her as a spy without concern for her feelings, she knew she didn’t have a future with him. She gave Angier the diary to prove her loyalty to Borden, who wrote it for Angier. The last entry in the diary tells him that “Tesla” was the keyword to decrypt the writing, which is true, but it’s not the secret to the trick at all. Tesla never built a teleportation machine for Borden, and Angier has been sent on a wild goose chase.

He goes back to Tesla’s lab several times, where the scientist insists that he is capable of building a teleporter, but he never built one for Borden. He tests the machine again, this time using Alley’s precious black cat. Alley warns Tesla not to harm the cat. Alley, using the cat’s beautiful collar, chains the cat to the spot for the experiment, as Tesla thinks it may be a matter of needing something living. The cat does not like the procedure and hisses, but is completely unharmed. However, the cat doesn’t move at all, so Angier leaves in disgust. Then the cat is freed and runs out the front door.

As Angier walks back through the woods, we revisit the first shot of the movie: a heap of top hats on the forest floor. And this time, there are two identical (proved by the collar) black cats among them. The machine has been working all along, but instead of moving an object from one place to the other, it creates a duplicate at the destination. Tesla and Alley are amazed, moving from hat to hat and measuring them with calipers. When Angier leaves, Tesla tells him to take his hat. He asks which hat is his and Tesla, smiling for the first time, says “They are all your hat.”

Tesla and Alley continue to refine the machine now that they know how it works. They have to leave suddenly in the middle of the night when their lab is burned down by Edison’s goons. However, in the care of the hotel manager, Tesla leaves a large, trapezoidal wooden box for Angier, containing the components of the machine with instructions in a note. Tesla’s note cautions Angier that using the machine is inviting Angier’s doom and warns him to destroy the machine rather than use it.

Angier takes the box back to England and reunites with Cutter. He’s ready to perform again, but this time he’s extremely secretive about his methods, hiring blind stage hands and not allowing Cutter backstage at any time. As he demonstrates to an influential promoter, he is zapped with electricity from the machine’s Tesla coil, disappears from plain sight, and then reappears up in the balcony, appearing to traverse the distance instantaneously.

The show is a hit and Borden is mystified. All he can tell is that Angier’s trick involves a trapdoor, but he has no idea what’s going on under the stage. Every night, he can see the blind stagehands removing a box from the theater.

A few nights later, at another performance, Borden sneaks under the stage, as we saw in the prologue, and watches Angier fall through the trapdoor into the tank and drown. It’s clear that Borden didn’t have anything to do with it, and he actually tries to save his rival’s life by attempting to break through the glass of the tank with a pipe. Cutter runs down under the stage and gets the wrong idea. Borden is arrested. Angier is confirmed dead with Cutter identifying the body.

In his prison cell back in the present day, Borden comes to the end of Angier’s diary, which gloats that Borden is being blamed for his death. Borden believes the diary must be a fake, until he’s called out of his cell to say goodbye to Jess and meet the collector who wants to buy his secrets.

The collector, Lord Caldlow, is Angier. Borden is dismayed that he would go so far and involve his child in their rivalry. Caldlow/Angier refuses to help clear his name, and won’t even take the secret of Borden’s “Transported Man” when bribed, telling him “mine is better.” Borden swears he’ll get out and have his revenge, promising Jess he’ll come for her.

Cutter discovers Angier alive when he calls on Lord Caldlow to offer him the machine, hoping to convince him to destroy it. Cutter quickly realizes that Angier is remorseless about framing Borden. He says he’s figured out the secret to Angier’s version of “the Transported Man” and thinks he’s gone too far.

Borden has one last visitor: Fallon. Borden tells him what he’s learned, gives him the rubber ball he sometimes uses for tricks, and tells Fallon to go “live for both of us.”

Cutter brings the machine to Angier, and as he leaves, we see Fallon arrive to confront Angier. This is intercut with scenes of Borden being hanged. Borden dies just as Fallon shoots Angier. The camera pans up to reveal that “Fallon” has two missing fingers and Borden’s face.

Angier finally realizes that the secret of Borden’s “Transported Man” was simple: Borden had a twin brother, and they were switching back and forth between the double roles of Borden and Fallon. One of them loved Sarah, and one of them loved Olivia. They both lived half of the same life, never telling anyone in order to maintain the illusion. In a flashback, it is shown that the unmutilated twin willingly let his brother amputate the ring and pinkie fingers on his left hand so that they could make the swaps without anyone telling the difference. Sarah, in a scene we’ve seen before, is puzzled and worried as to why the wound looks new and bruised again; Borden distracts her by slamming a fist down and saying they can’t afford a doctor.

Angier, who only ever cared about the glory of wowing an audience, went to far more terrible extremes. In his “New Transported Man,” he knowingly created a double of himself every time he used Tesla’s machine, and he rigged the trapdoor to drown the one onstage. He never knew if he would be the prestige or the man in the box. The room where the machine is being kept is filled with water tanks, all of which hold a drowned double of Angier for every time he performed the trick. Several times, he mutters to himself a line we’ve heard before in a different context: “No one cares about the man in the box.”

Angier falls and kicks over the lantern as he dies from his wound, and the resulting fire ensures the machine and all the evidence are destroyed.

Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) is a professional racer who is forced into early retirement due to a heart condition and goes into car sales. Warm and likable, he’s a natural salesman and a people person. He is also an incredible vehicle designer and engineer. Meanwhile, Ken Miles (Christian Bale) is a racer currently working as a mechanic and running his own shop to support his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) and son Peter (Noah Jupe). He tells it like it is and sometimes gets customers angry, but he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. At a race, Ken is told his car does not meet regulations and begins angrily yelling at the race official - Carroll spots this and calms him down, but afterward, the two get into an argument, and Ken throws a wrench at him. Later, the IRS comes and shuts down Ken’s garage, and he’s forced to give up most of his racing in order to take care of his family.

Meanwhile, at Ford Motors, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) is furious that sales are down and that his father’s company is in danger. He begins taking pitches from his underlings - Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) pitches him an idea - the sexiest cars are race cars, like Ferraris. He posits that if Ford can win the Le Mans, the 24-hour race, they will be at the top. In order to do that, they fly to Italy in order to offer the struggling Ferrari a deal - they will buy the company and let Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) maintain control of the racing division. Ferrari uses this offer to get Fiat to make a good offer, and they buy Ferrari. Ferrari tells the Ford businessmen to shove it and calls Henry a fat pig. When they get back, Henry makes them relay in detail what Ferrari said, and he becomes more determined than ever to beat Ferrari. He decides they will start their own racing division.

Lee approaches Carroll, as the only American to ever win at Le Mans, if he would be the head of their racing team, designing and testing the cars. Carroll agrees - and goes to Ken, the best driver he knows, to take part. When Mollie sees Ken heading out with Carroll, she angrily demands to know the truth. He tells her that he’s been offered great pay to race, and she’s thrilled - she just doesn’t want him to ever lie to her. The team begins getting the car into shape for their first big race, but as it approaches, Ford vice president Leo Bebee (Josh Lucas), approaches Carroll and tells them that Ken’s rakish, unpredictable quality is not part of the Ford brand and he can’t be trusted to do press and represent Ford well and that he can’t be their driver. Carroll fights for Ken, but is eventually forced to tell Ken that he won’t be racing - Ken is furious. When Ford loses the race, Carroll is able to convince Henry to allow him to rehire Ken. He goes to Ken’s house and apologizes and asks him to come back, and the two end up getting into a physical fight on his front lawn. They finally give up, exhausted, and Mollie brings them some cold sodas.

Ken rejoins the team, who are working day and night trying to perfect the car. Lee warns Carroll that Leo is determined to have Ken removed from the team, and intend on doing so on their next visit. Knowing this, when Henry and Leo arrive, Carroll locks Leo in his office and takes Henry out for a ride in the race car, and Henry experiences just how terrifying and exhilarating racing is. When they stop, he breaks down into sobs. Carroll offers him a deal - let Ken race at Daytona - if they win, he races at Le Mans in France. If they lose, Henry gets full control over Carroll’s company. At Daytona, they find tough competition in a second Ford team that Ford had commissioned to see who engineered the best vehicle. Ken is able to win the race, securing their team the spot at Le Mans and ensuring Ken will drive there.

In France, Le Mans approaches. Ferrari and Henry are both in attendance. When the race starts, Ken’s door won’t shut, slowing him down on the first lap. The car that they had designed was able to accelerate to really high speeds, but doing so burned out the brakes, so deep into the race, the pit crew changes out the brakes. The Italians at Ferrari are furious, saying this is a violation of the rules, but Carroll points out the rule-book says they are allowed to change parts, and it isn’t specified which ones. Eventually, Ferrari’s car spins out and crashes, leaving Ken in first place, and Mollie and Peter are able to watch on TV as Ken completes his much-desired “perfect” leg. Leo, who had been trying to bypass Carroll and mess with their strategy, goes to Henry and suggests that the best image for Ford would be to have all three of their cars cross the finish together. He agrees, and Leo gives Carroll the order, who refuses. Carroll tells Ken the instruction but tells him it’s his race, and he will stand behind him no matter what. At first, Ken speeds to the victory, but he eventually relents and slows down, allowing the other drivers to catch up and cross the finish together. Everyone celebrates Ken’s win until a technicality - he started behind another car - puts him into second, not first. Carroll is furious, but Ken accepts it, and the two go off together.

Text explains that the origin of the word “sicario” is from the time when Jewish zealots hunted the Romans who occupied Jerusalem. In Mexico, the word means “hit-man”.

In Chandler, Arizona, a SWAT team advances on a house where they suspect hostages are being held by Mexican Sinoloa cartel leader Manuel Diaz (Bernardo P. Sacarino). Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an American FBI agent in charge of the kidnapping response team, and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluyya), crash through the front of the house with their van. They capture several suspects and when a man tries to shoot Kate, she kills him. They observe a head wrapped in plastic inside a hole caused by the bad guy’s weapon. A forensic team takes the house apart and finds 42 bodies hidden in the walls with bags over their heads in various stages of decay.

Kate’s superior Dave Jennings (Victor Garber) calls her inside. Two officers find a padlocked hatch in the floor of a shed outside. When they open it, a bomb explodes, killing two officers. Kate is traumatized and wounded.

At the FBI offices in Phoenix, Kate meets Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). He is in charge of an operation to catch Diaz. Kate is invited to join the team as an advisor, and she agrees to volunteer so she can help catch the men responsible for the deaths she witnessed that day.

In Mexico, Silvio (Maximiliano Hernandez) is in bed. His son tells him that he has a soccer match later that day. Silvio eats breakfast and wears his police uniform as he walks to his car.

On board the federal jet for the flight, she meets a mysterious Spanish-speaking man who introduces himself as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). The team arrives in El Paso. They are warned during a briefing that they may be the target of a hit squad when returning to the U.S. the border crossing. She learns that Alejandro was a prosecutor from Cartagena, Colombia. In Mexico, they spot a police car who is not part of their team, pacing them on a parallel street, apparently acting as a spotter.

They drive up to the crowded U.S. entry station and are held up by long lines. Alejandro spots two cars nearby filled with suspicious individuals. He alerts everyone on their team in the nearby cars. The cops slowly move out of their vehicles and approach the gang members. One of them gets out of their car slowly as well, gun in hand. The officers tell him to lower his weapon, but he raises his weapon, and he and everyone else in the car is quickly killed. One of the gang members in the other car also draws his weapon and he and the others in the car are killed. Kate also shoots a bandit sneaking up on her vehicle.

On the U.S. side of the border, they enter a prison. Kate argues with Matt about shooting the individuals on the Mexican side of the border, as well as the way the mission is being conducted. Matt watches Alejandro torture Guillermo. The two men have a history. Outside, the stress causes Kate to start smoking again.

The team drives to Tucson to question Mexican illegal aliens who have been removed from transport buses returning them to Mexico. Alejandro wants to talk to the individuals apprehended near Nogales. They question the men to determine to identify the location of a secret tunnel under the border that Guillermo revealed to them.

At a hotel room, Alejandro speaks with several illegal immigrants and gets them to identify the location of the tunnel entrance.

The team surveils a bank where they believe they will find a woman who has been depositing money tied to the Mexican drug cartels. They arrest the woman and in their search, the team finds bags of money intended to be laundered and wrapped in blue-pink wristbands. The bank manager shows the Feds that the cartels have been repaying $17 million in fictitious loans, which are not reported. Kate wants to arrest Diaz, but Matt won’t let her. Kate wants to make a case to prosecute, but even her boss doesn’t agree with her.

Reggie and Kate go out for for drinks that night. Reggie introduces Kate to an acquaintance, Ted (Jon Bernthal), a off duty Phoenix cop. After a few drinks, Kate goes to her apartment with Ted to have sex. Then she sees a wristband with his keys like ones they found around the money earlier that day. Kate tries to get away, but they struggle and she reaches for her weapon. Ted strangles Kate until Alejandro walks in and points his gun in Ted’s face, making him release Kate.

Ted is arrested and placed in the police vehicle. Matt threatens Ted and his daughter. Alejandro beats him until Ted tells him what he knows about Diaz and other corrupt U.S. cops. The team succeeds in taking away a substantial amount of money from Diaz’s account, forcing him to make his return to Mexico.

Matt decides to attack the tunnel to force the drug cartel to react. They gear up and head towards the tunnel. Matt tells Kate to stay out of the way. She is only there because the CIA needs a U.S. agent attached to a domestic agency to work within the U.S.

The team enters the tunnel at night. Alejandro and the Delta Force team lead a running gun battle with the smugglers and mules inside. Kate and Reggie follow nervously. On the Mexican side Alejandro observes Silvio unloading drugs from his police vehicle in a warehouse above the tunnel entrance. Kate sees Alejandro apprehend Silvio and hold him at gunpoint. Kate attempts to stop Alejandro, but he shoots her purposefully in her vest and tells her to never aim a weapon at him again. He takes Silvio and forces him into in his police car. He gives Silvio directions while coordinating with the Americans.

Back on the American side of the border, Kate is the last person out of the tunnel. She angrily punches Matt but he calms her down. She learns that Alejandro is not a Mexican federal agent, but an assassin originally a member of the Colombian Cartel. He has been hired by the CIA to catch Diaz’s boss, Fausto Alarcon (Julio Cedillo), the local head of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel. The Mexican Sinaloa cartel decapitated Alejandro’s wife and threw their daughter into a vat of acid. The CIA thinks they can control drugs better if the Colombians are in charge.

Alejandro forces Silvio to drive until they see Diaz’s car. Alejandro makes Silvio pull Diaz over and tells Silvio to order Diaz to step out of the car. Silvio walks out to confront Diaz, when Alejandro shoots Silvio in the back, killing him, and wounds Diaz in the leg. He forces Diaz to drive to his boss’s (Alarcon’s) house.

Alejandro arrives at Fausto’s palatial, gated estate and kills all the guards outside and in the house. He exits the house and finds Fausto having dinner with his wife and two sons on the patio. He aims his gun at Fausto and tells the wife and boys to continue eating and to stay calm. Fausto tells Alejandro that his wife wouldn’t like what he’s become, a lawyer-turned-hit-man. Alejandro brings up his daughter. Fausto says it was nothing personal, but Alejandro says it is for him. He tells Fausto in Spanish, “Time to meet God”. He kills his wife and two sons, to Fausto’s horror. Alejandro tells him to finish his meal, and then kills Fausto.

Alejandro slips into Kate’s apartment unseen late at night. He hands her a document and orders her to sign it, confirming that everything they did was by-the-book. Kate refuses to sign it. Alejandro holds a gun under her chin, stating she’ll be committing suicide if she doesn’t sign. He wipes tears away from her cheeks while never removing the gun. Kate reluctantly signs. Alejandro leaves and tells her to go to a smaller town where the rules of law still apply. Kate grabs her gun and as he walks away, aims it at him from her balcony. He turns around and waits for her to pull the trigger, but she just slowly lowers it and lets him walk away.

This film is the story of the Bennet family, a middle-class family in England around 1800. The principal characters are:

Mrs. Bennet (Brenda Blethyn), a hyperexcitable woman obsessed with getting at least one of her daughters into a financially advantageous marriage.

Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland), who is relaxed, easygoing, and unflappable. He is somewhat amused by the high-spirited behavior of the rest of the family.

Jane (Rosamund Pike), the oldest of the daughters. She is serious and thoughtful, but quite shy.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) (Keira Knightley), the second daughter and the main character. She is wise, witty, and outspoken. She enjoys (and is very good at) verbal sparring and skirmishing with people.

Mary (Talulah Riley), the third, not at all socially outgoing or interested in chasing men. She spends her time reading, playing the piano, and speaking of how much more interesting nature is than human society.

Katherine (Kitty) (Carey Mulligan), like Lydia, is a boy-crazy teenager. The two of them are not interested in any serious pursuits; they just want to go to parties and dances. Kitty is impressionable and takes her cues from Lydia.

Lydia (Jena Malone) is even more frivolous than Kitty.

Charles Bingley (Simon Woods) is a wealthy and good-natured gentleman from London who moves into a nearby estate, causing great interest among the Bennets.

Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) is an extremely wealthy gentleman from the North of England. Unfortunately, he is ill-at-ease and inarticulate in social situations. He does not express himself well, and creates a bad impression on people.

The reason that an advantageous marriage is important is that the house and land are covered by a covenant that would give it to the eldest male heir on Mr. Bennet’s death, but, having no sons, it will go to their cousin, William Collins. This would leave the family destitute.

The film opens with a tracking shot of a green covered field on a sun-lit morning. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet walks along the field finishing a book. Upon coming home, she overhears her mother telling her father excitedly that Netherfield, a nearby estate, has been rented by a Mr. Bingley, a wealthy gentleman from London. Mrs. Bennet begs Mr. Bennet to call on Mr. Bingley, believing him to be a very suitable match for any of her daughters. Mr. Bennett finally divulges that he has already met Mr. Bingley–he enjoys playing his low-key detached persona off of his wife’s hyper-excitablility. When he says that they can all expect to see Mr. Bingley at an upcoming public ball, all of the Bennet daughters (who had been listening intently at the keyhole) squeal in excitement. Lizzie herself and the eldest sister Jane smile with pleasure, as the younger Lydia and Kitty jump up and down, and immediately begin to beg Jane to borrow her prettiest pair of shoes. Mary merely goes back to playing her piano. As Mr. Bennet leaves his study and sees that the five girls were all listening, he simply walks past them, amusedly saying “Good heavens! People!”

Later, at the public ball, the entire party is dancing, talking, and laughing; especially Lydia and Kitty, who seem to be giddy about being out in public in front of gentlemen. As Jane and Lizzie stand to the side observing the dance, Lizzie tells Jane that she has no intention of ever marrying. Jane disagrees and teases; “One day, Lizzie, a man will catch your eye and then you will have to hold your tongue.”

Suddenly, the room goes silent, as Mr. Bingley enters the hall along with his pretentious sister Caroline (Kelly Reilly), and his aloof, taciturn, and extremely wealthy friend Mr. Darcy. Mrs. Bennet, in her artless and self-conscious way, wastes no time in introducing her daughters to the newcomers. She also introduces Lizzie’s close friend Charlotte Lucas (Claudie Blakley). While Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley stare with an air of superiority, Mr. Bingley strikes up a conversation with Jane and Elizabeth. He is very affable and pleasant, and he and Jane take an immediate liking to each other. They dance with each other twice, to Mrs. Bennet’s immense delight.

Mr. Darcy, on the other hand, does not dance at all. He hardly speaks to anyone other than Charles and Caroline Bingley. Lizzie overhears him make a cruel remark about her, leaving her with a strong impression that he is ill-mannered. She later takes an opportunity to engage in some not-very-friendly verbal sparring with him. She comes away from the dance with as negative an impression of him as Jane’s positive impression of Bingley.

At one point during the dance, Kitty and Lydia run up breathlessly to their mother, telling her that they have heard that the militia are due to stay in their town over the winter. This means lots of opportunities to meet men.

The next morning, Jane receives a letter from Caroline Bingley inviting her to dinner at Netherfield, though Charles will be away. Jane goes there, but catches a bad cold on the way, and must stay a few more days until she recovers. (Mrs. Bennet apparently planned the cold in advance, so that Jane would have to stay at the house while Mr. Bingley was there; she had made Jane go to Netherfield on horseback in a driving rainstorm.)

Eliza, worried for her sister, walks the long distance in the muddy roads to Netherfield to visit Jane. When enters the reserved and elegant parlor with her hair down and wild, with muddy shoes and skirt, Caroline and Darcy looked shocked at her arrival and her appearance. Lizzie apologizes and inquires about her sister; Darcy brusquely replies that Jane is upstairs resting. Eliza is suprised a bit by the quick reaction, but then smiles and goes upstairs to Jane. As soon as she has left the room, Caroline Bingley quickly remarks how disheveled she looked, stating she “was almost positively medieval.”

Mr. Bingley is looking after Jane while she is ill. Lizzie stays for a couple of days. Judging by Mr Bingley’s concern for her sister, and his fumbling words around her, Elizabeth is sure that Mr Bingley is in love with Jane.

During an encounter in the sitting room, Caroline shows her pretentious and aristocratic attitudes. She makes increasingly brazen remarks about the unpolished behavior of the Bennet family and even Elizabeth. She also seems to share Lizzie’s skill at verbal sparring, and the two of them make sharp comments to Darcy. Darcy quietly hears hers out her venom but doesn’t respond. He seems to be truly offended by both of them.

Mrs. Bennet and the other 3 daughters all come to Netherfield to pick up Lizzie and Jane. Mrs. Bennet urges Mr. Bingley to hold a dance soon, and he says that he will. While getting into the carriage, Elizabeth is shocked when Darcy takes her hand to help her into the carriage.

Then the dreaded cousin William Collins (Tom Hollander), a minister, comes to visit the Bennets. He is extremely shallow, pompous, patronizing, boring, and conceited. He is attracted to influence and wealth, and engages in transparently foolish flattery. Dinner is very tense; the family sees right through him. Lizzie, in particular, does some verbal sparring with him.

After dinner, he approaches Mrs. Bennet about marrying Jane; finding a wife among the sisters was the purpose of the visit. Mrs. Bennet says that Jane appears to be taken, but that Lizzie is available. She is delighted at the thought of one of her daughters marrying the man who will inherit the estate anyway.

The next morning, the girls go out to see a parade of the militia; Kitty and Lydia are particularly interested in flirting with them. Later, they meet one of them, a handsome lieutenant named Wickham (Rupert Friend). They all go to a nearby store to buy ribbons for the upcoming dance. On their walk home they encounter Bingley and Darcy. Darcy and Wickham stare at each other coldly, and Darcy quickly leaves. There is some kind of intense antagonism between the two.

After Darcy and Bingley leave, Elizabeth, confused by the men’s reactions to each other, asks Wickham about this, and he explains that Darcy had cheated him out of Darcy’s father’s generous bequest to him. Elizabeth is amazed at the story, but is not entirely shocked, given Darcy’s personality. Her opinion of Darcy goes even lower.

The family goes to Bingley’s dance. Lizzie is particularly interested in finding Wickham, but he isn’t there, presumably because of the antagonism with Darcy. Collins asks Lizzie to dance with her, to her great disgust. He dotes on her, but she hardly even looks at him or speaks to him. Then Darcy appears, and asks Lizzie to dance. She accepts, and then hurries off with Charlotte for a quiet space. They laugh in disbelief, and Eliza, smiling, admits that “this is most inconvenient” as she had resigned herself to loathe him for all eternity. During the dance, she engages in intense verbal battle with him, mentioning Mr. Wickham. Darcy gets extremely uncomfortable, but it is clear that the tension in their manners might be due to attraction.

Charlotte warns Lizzie that Jane should show more affection and attention to Mr Bingley, to encourage him. Elizabeth defends Jane, countering that Jane is reserved and shy, but feels that the attention is enough. Charlotte maintains that we are all fools in love.

Caroline notices the many social gaffes and generally low-class behavior of the Bennets and their cousin Mr. Collins, and she makes various disparaging remarks about this to Darcy.

Bingley smiles at Jane just before the Bennet’s leave, and Caroline knows the look on her brother’s face means only one thing…love, and if she is going to have anything about it; she has to act quickly. She doesn’t want her brother to marry a Bennet.

The next morning, Mr. Collins proposes to Lizzie, in the most pompous and conceited way imaginable. Lizzie, who utterly loathes him, rejects the proposal. Her sisters (listening at the door as usual) are delighted that she turned down the pompous ass. But Mrs. Bennet is horrified that any opportunity for marriage has been passed up, particularly with the man who will inherit the estate. She demands that Lizzie change her mind. But Mr. Bennet sides with Lizzie.

A letter arrives from Caroline, saying that the Bingleys, and Darcy, are leaving Netherfield indefinitely. The letter indicates that it is so that Darcy can go back to be with his sister Georgiana. Lizzie realizes that Caroline dragged Bingley away so she could set him up with Darcy’s younger sister. Jane resigns herself to the thought that perhaps Bingley just never loved her at all. Lizzie protests and says that she is certain Bingley does love her, and that she should not give up. Lizzie tells Jane to go to London and stay with their aunt and uncle, and she is sure that Bingley will send for her before the week is out. The family bids Jane farewell the next morning as she rides off to London to seek out her love.

Charlotte Lucas comes to visit Lizzie and tell her that she is engaged to Mr. Collins. Lizzie is appalled that she would marry such a shallow man. Charlotte replies that she is desperate–she is 27 and in danger of becoming a penniless old maid if she does not find a financially secure husband soon.

A few weeks later, Charlotte invites Lizzie to visit her at her new home with Mr. Collins. Lizzie sees that Charlotte is genuinely happy. Mr. Collins takes Lizzie and Charlotte to visit his neighbor and patron, the fabulously wealthy and aristocratic Lady Catherine DeBourg (Judi Dench), who is also Darcy’s aunt. Mr. Collins is extremely fawning and obsequious toward her. Mr. Darcy, and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam (Cornelius Booth), are also there.

Lady DeBourg is an incredibly haughty, arrogant, insolent, and overbearing person. At dinner, she quizzes Lizzie about her family. She is openly disdainful of the Bennets’ lower class upbringing (specifically, not having had a governess), Lizzie’s unseemly (to Lady Debourg) outspokenness, and the fact that the five girls were violating proper social protocol by all being “out in society” at the same time.

After dinner, Lady DeBourg commands that Lizzie play the piano. Lizzie protests that she is a poor musician, but Lady DeBourg is not to be denied. While Lizzie is muddling her way through a piano piece, Darcy comes over, and the two of them engage in some verbal sparring. Fitzwilliam comes over and asks about Lizzie’s impression of her earlier encounter with Darcy. Lizzie relates his seemingly antisocial behavior, not conversing or dancing with anyone. Darcy protests that he is not skilled in conversing with people to whom he has not been introduced. The verbal jabs continue. Darcy seems hurt by Lizzie’s reproach.

The next day, Mr. Darcy comes to the house, seeming to want to speak to Lizzie, but is then totally tongue-tied and unable to express himself. He leaves in an apparent state of confusion and agitation.

During a boring church sermon by Mr. Collins, Lizzie and Colonel Fitzwilliam have a whispered conversation. Fitzwilliam reveals that Darcy, not Caroline, was the one who had separated Mr. Bingley from Jane.

Later, in a shelter from a driving rainstorm, Darcy meets Lizzie and proclaims his love for her, saying that this is against his better judgement and despite her inferior social rank. An extremely bitter confrontation ensues. Lizzie denounces Darcy for his haughty demeanor and, more importantly, for interfering with Jane and Bingley. Darcy explains that he did this because he believed that Jane was not really interested in the relationship. Liz counters that Jane is simply very shy. “My sister hardly shows her true feelings to me!” Darcy also makes extremely disparaging comments about the remaining members of the Bennet family. Lizzie also brings up Mr. Wickham’s claim that Darcy had cheated him out of his inheritance.

Lizzie is so upset by this confrontation that she spends the rest of the day brooding about it back at the house. At nightfall, Darcy comes by and drops off a letter that he has written. Lizzie says nothing.

In the letter, Darcy explains the relationship with Wickham. Darcy’s father did indeed leave Wickham with a generous annual allowance. Wickham demanded, and received, the full principal, then gambled it away and came back for more. Darcy refused. Later, Wickham returned, and tried to elope with Darcy’s sister Georgiana, to get her 30,000 pound inheritance. When he was told he would not get it, he disappeared. Darcy’s letter also explains that Georgiana was only 15 at the time, and was thrown into a state of deep despair by this. Darcy explained that he had separated Jane from Bingley because he truly believed that he was helping his friend.

Lizzie returns home. Jane is also home from London, having failed to find Mr. Bingley. She tells Lizzie, not very convincingly, that she is quite over her attraction to Bingley. She asks Lizzie whether there is any news from the visit with Charlotte. Lizzie say no; she lies. She specifically denies that Darcy had said anything about Bingley.

Also, Lydia has been invited by a Colonel Forster to go on a trip to the South coastal resort at Brighton. Lizzie thinks it is a bad idea; Lydia is immature and impulsive, and could get into trouble. Lizzie pleads with her father to forbid it, and is furious when he doesn’t.

The Bennet sisters’ aunt and uncle, Mr. (Peter Wight) and Mrs. (Penelope Wilton) Gardiner, are visiting, and will be going on a vacation in the Peak district to the North. They invite Lizzie to come with them, and she accepts.

While on their travels, Lizzie’s aunt and uncle suggest a visit to Pemberley, Darcy’s grand estate, which is nearby and is open for visitors. Lizzie is reluctant to be anywhere near the man she hates, but consents to the trip when she is told that Darcy is away.

Lizzie is utterly awed by the opulence and splendor of the house and grounds, particularly a sculpture gallery. The housekeeper tells the three visitors what a kind, caring, and generous person Mr. Darcy is. Lizzie begins to think that her earlier impression of him may have been wrong.

Lizzie peeks into a room where a very young woman (who will turn out to be Darcy’s younger sister Georgiana (Tamzin Merchant)) is playing the piano. She then sees Darcy enter, and he and the young woman welcome each other and embrace affectionately. Lizzie quickly leaves and goes outside. Darcy follows her and makes an awkward attempt to be conciliatory. He explains that he had returned from his trip early. He offers Lizzie a ride back to the inn where she is staying, but she declines, saying that she will walk.

At dinner at the inn, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner tell Lizzie that Darcy had come to talk to them, seemed to be a very gracious person, and had invited them all to come back to Pemberley the next day, so that Mr. Gardiner could go fishing and Lizzie could meet Georgiana. They do so. When Lizzie and Georgiana meet, the latter says “My brother has told me so much about you. I feel that we are friends already.” Darcy then flatters Lizzie into playing piano duets with the much more talented Georgiana. The interaction between Lizzie and Darcy is completely pleasant and amicable this time, the first time that this has happened. Darcy is finally learning how to speak in a pleasing way.

The Gardiners, Lizzie, and Darcy all go to the inn that evening for dinner. Lizzie receives a letter with the shocking news that Lydia has run away with Mr. Wickham. Darcy blames himself for this, for not having exposed Wickham’s perfidy sooner. He then leaves, and the others hurry back to the Bennet’s home. Mr. Bennet has gone to London to try to find Lydia and Wickham, and force them to marry. The family is totally devastated–in that society, an incident like this brings ruin upon the entire family. None of them will be able to marry well, and they will lose the estate upon Mr. Bennet’s death.

Mr. Bennet returns, but Mr. Gardiner is still searching. Then a letter arrives: Mr. Gardiner has found them, and they will get married if Wickham is promised a settlement of 100 pounds per year. Mr. Bennet will pay it, but they are convinced that the actual demand must have been in the thousands, and that Mr. Gardiner is paying the bulk of it.

The newlyweds then arrive for a visit before going to the North of England, where Wickham will be stationed. At lunch, Lydia lets slip what was supposed to be a secret–that Darcy was at the wedding, and was in fact the one who had found her and Wickham. Lizzie realizes that Darcy had been noble and generous toward the Bennet family, and that he must have been the one that paid off Wickham.

The Bennets later learn that Mr. Bingley is returning to town. Jane assures Lizzie, not very convincingly, that she has completely gotten over caring about him. Mrs. Bennet also feigns indifference. A short time later, Mr. Bingley arrives at the house, with Darcy. (There is a humorous scene where the family frantically cleans up the messy living room, finishing in the nick of time.) Mrs. Bennet, while pretending to be indifferent, is clearly excited at the thought that Bingley will propose to Jane. But the visit is somewhat awkward to all concerned.

Bingley and Darcy then walk a short distance from the house, and Darcy helps Bingley rehearse his proposal to Jane. Back at the house, Lizzie begins to realize that Darcy brought Bingley back to town, attempting to repair the damage that he had caused by separating them. She realizes that her negative impression of Darcy had been wrong.

Bingley returns and proposes to Jane, and she accepts (with the whole family listening intently at the door, of course.)

The Bennet family is ecstatic that evening, until there is a knock on the door. It is Lady DeBourg. After issuing a few insults, she imperiously demands to speak to Lizzie alone. She tells Lizzie that she has heard a rumor that her nephew Darcy and Lizzie are to be married. She is scandalized that he would ruin the family name by marrying into such a low-class family. She demands that Lizzie promise that the rumor is false, and that she will never marry Darcy. Lizzie refuses to do so, and tells Lady DeBourg to leave, an almost unheard-of breach of decorum toward the aristocracy.

Lizzie had been unaware of the rumor, and realizes that it must have come from Darcy, and that it means that Darcy is genuinely interested in her. She is so upset at the encounter with Lady DeBourg that she can’t sleep. Finally, just before dawn, she gets up and goes for a walk outside. She meets Darcy, also going for a walk. He hadn’t been able to sleep either. When Lady DeBourg had reported to him Lizzie’s refusal to deny the rumor, he realized that there was hope that Lizzie might marry him. He says that he hopes that her view of him has changed from their earlier encounters. He apologizes for his past behavior, saying “You are too generous to trifle with me”, and proposes to her. Just at the instant the Sun is rising between them, she accepts.

A man (Richard Dreyfuss) sits in his car reading the headline of a newspaper article about a man who had been stabbed to death at a fast food restaurant. He is overcome with a wave of nostalgia and begins to narrate the story of when he was 12 years old and the time he first saw a dead human being.

Gordon “Gordie” Lachance (Wil Wheaton) is playing cards inside a tree house with his best friends Chris Chambers (River Phoenix) and Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman). Each boy has his own story and a reputation to follow. Chris comes from a family renowned for their dishonesty and abusive nature, which gives him a bad rap despite his tough but kind disposition. Teddy, rather eccentric, is recognizable by the mangled remains of his right ear which his mentally unstable father held down to a hot stove top. His father resides in a mental institution but Teddy speaks highly of him for serving in WWII. The fourth of their group and the butt of many jokes, portly Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell), begs to be let in the tree house, saying he has important news. The others make light fun of him until he asks if they want to go see a dead body. They all fall silent as he explains that, while looking for a misplaced penny jar under his porch, he overheard his older brother Billy (Casey Siemaszko) and friend Charlie Hogan (Gary Riley) discuss how Billy found the body of Ray Brower, a kid who had recently gone missing. Gordie and his friends followed the story closely because Ray was around their age, last seen picking blueberries in the woods outside of town. Billy says the kid must have been hit by a train and refuses to report the discovery to the police because he was at the site in a stolen car.

Gordie and the others decide to go find the body and accept recognition as local heroes. They make plans to tell their parents they’re sleeping over at each other’s homes the next day and to meet the next morning on the train tracks leading out of town. Come morning, Gordie goes to fetch his canteen in his older brother’s room. A few months prior his brother, Denny (John Cusack), a popular athlete, died in a car accident. Gordie’s mother (Frances Lee McCain) has been silent and distant since then and his father (Marshall Bell) asks him why he can’t have friends like Denny’s or play sports like him. He has no interest in his son’s aspirations to become a writer and criticizes Chris for stealing milk money at school. The only support Gordie received was from his brother who gave him an old Yankee cap, something he now cherishes.

Gordie meets Chris in town who takes him to a back alley and shows him the gun he swiped from his father’s bureau. Gordie lightly takes aim at a garbage can and pulls the trigger, thinking it’s not loaded. It is. It fires and sends the two running for the main street where they come across a few members of a gang led by Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland). Chris’s older brother, Eyeball (Bradley Gregg) leers at the boys as Ace steals Gordie’s cap and threatens Chris with a lit cigarette. They let the boys go unharmed and walk away, laughing. Gordie and Chris meet up with Teddy and Vern at the train tracks where they realize no one’s brought food. They take out their money and agree to buy something along the way. As a train approaches, everyone but Teddy gets off the tracks. Teddy imitates shooting an automatic at the train, intent on dodging it at the last second, ‘just like my father in Normandy’. Chris, however, pulls him off before the stunt can be performed and yells at him for nearly killing himself.

They soon arrive at a local junkyard that is rumored to house a disgruntled owner with a ferocious dog named Chopper which he’s supposedly trained to attack any intruders, going right for the person’s balls. However, the yard is empty and the four rest in the shade of a car hood for a few minutes while Gordie, after losing a race, goes to retrieve food at the store on the other side. On his way back, he notices the others scrambling over the yard fence and turns just in time to see the owner, Milo Pressman (William Bronder), emerge, yelling for Chopper. Due to the dog’s legendary reputation, when Milo shouts for Chopper to ‘sick ’em, boy’, Gordie imagines that what Milo’s saying is ‘sick balls’. Gordie frantically runs for the fence with the dog close on his heels but makes it over the top. He turns and sees that Chopper (Popeye) is not the dog he’d expected. Milo rushes over to the fence and berates the four boys for making fun of his dog. Teddy throws a few insults but is shocked silent when Milo calls his father a loony. Teddy breaks down, shouting that his father stormed the beach at Normandy, and has to be led away by the others.

Following the train tracks, they come to a bridge. They hesitate to cross, unsure of when the next train is due. Feeling confident, they begin to cross with Chris and Teddy in the lead and Gordie trailing behind Vern, who’s chosen to crawl instead of walk. Midway, Vern loses a comb that he packed in his shirt pocket which he’d hoped to use once they found the body and reported it to the local news. Gordie consistently looks back and bends down to feel the rails. A light vibration leads him to see plumes of smoke in the distance. He shouts “TRAIN!” and yells at Vern to get to his feet and run. They are barely able to make it to the other side and off the tracks. Chris jokes that now, at least, they know when the next train is.

As they continue deeper into the forest, Chris lags behind with Gordie who is despondent about being a writer and doesn’t think much of his talents. Chris tries to encourage him, saying that he wishes he was his father instead so that he could give him proper guidance and support. They set up camp for the night and Gordie tells them all a story about a kid named Lardass Hogan (Andy Lindberg), stuck with such a name because of his weight. Sick and tired of being made fun of for his considerable size, Lardass takes revenge on the rest of his town by forcing himself to violently throw up during a blueberry pie eating contest. What ensues is a comedic chain reaction of perpetual barfing.

The boys decide to sleep in shifts and Gordie takes the opportunity, while Vern and Teddy sleep, to talk to Chris alone. Chris confides in him that he hates his family name and the association he has with them, wishing to leave to start fresh somewhere and actually make something of himself. He reveals that he did take the milk money at school first but felt remorseful about it and returned it to one of the teachers, who happened to show up to school the next day in a brand new dress. Chris took the heat for the theft but could never atone to it because of his family’s reputation.

The next morning, Ace and his gang are seen spending recreational time smoking and hitting mailboxes with baseball bats as they drive through their neighborhood. Billy and Charlie draw Ace’s attention with their silence and they finally blab about finding Ray’s body. Intent on claiming credit for himself, Ace heads out with them, along with Vince Desjardins (Jason Oliver Lipsett) and Eyeball.

Meanwhile, Gordie and the others take a shortcut through the woods and land in a swamp infested with leeches. They strip down and Gordie finds one attached to his lower extremities, fainting after removing it. Eventually, they come back to the tracks and discover Ray’s body (Kent W. Luttrell), knocked clean out of his shoes and lying in some bushes. They decide to build a stretcher for him and Gordie breaks down, crying that his father truly hates him and knowing that he favored Denny.

At that moment, Ace and the rest of the gang appear and demand that the boys leave so they can take the body. Chris insults him and Ace pulls out a knife before Gordie fires the gun in the air. He threatens Ace, saying it’ll be all too easy to kill him, and Ace leaves. Gordie announces that no one will get the credit for finding Ray; they will instead report it through an anonymous call.

They return to town with Gordie narrating that it seemed so much smaller after their journey. As the boys split up and head home, Gordie narrates that Vern and Teddy grew distant over the next few years. Vern married straight out of high school, had four children, and became a fork lift driver at a lumberyard. Teddy attempted to join the army but was rejected due to his poor eyesight and ear injury. He eventually served some jail time and performed odd jobs around Castle Rock. Chris managed to stick it in school with Gordie and went to college to become a lawyer. However, it’s revealed that he was stabbed and killed when he tried to break up a fight in a fast food restaurant; the very article Gordie read at the start of the film.

Wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey invites his extended family to his remote mansion on his 85th birthday in order to deliver important, though disappointing, news to a number of family members. The next morning, however, Harlan’s housekeeper Fran finds him dead in his study.

The police, along with experienced private eye Benoit Blanc, are called in to investigate. Throughout a series of interviews with members of the family, secrets are revealed as well as possible motives for murder. Richard, Harlan’s son-in-law, was discovered to have cheated on his wife Linda, Harlan’s daughter, with Harlan threatening to expose him. Joni, Harlan’s daughter-in-law and wife of his deceased son Neil, was exposed by Harlan after she stole $400,000 from him by sourcing duplicate checks meant for her daughter, Megan, to a private bank account. Walter, Harlan’s youngest son, was fired from his father’s publishing company during the birthday party. Ransom, Linda and Richard’s son, had discovered he’d been cut out of the will entirely.

It is then revealed that after the party, Harlan’s caretaker, Marta Cabrera, took Harlan upstairs to give him his nightly medication. After beginning to play a game of Go, Harlan jokingly knocked the board off of the table before Marta could give him his medication. Marta picked up the bottles and injected him, but realized that she accidentally gave him 100 milligrams of morphine. To protect his friend, Harlan gave her strict instructions on how to escape and avoid suspicion before slitting his own throat, leaving Marta shocked. Marta then drove away, parked her car, and returned to the house through the gate entrance, before climbing up the trellis on the side of the house and wearing Harlan’s coat and hat to confuse Walter in his peripheral vision, who had seen Marta leave, ruling her out as a suspect. The police question Marta, as she is a trustworthy source due to her inability to lie without vomiting, but she makes it through her interrogation without fail. Suspecting foul play, Blanc is determined to find the true cause of death.

The next day, Blanc, along with Marta and the police, search the house and its surroundings for clues, many of which Marta is able to cover up before the detectives can find them. Since it is the day of Harlan’s will reading, the family anxiously awaits the reveal, and are shocked to hear that Harlan left everything to Marta, including his inheritance, the house, and his company. Despite the family’s kindness to Marta the night prior, they quickly turn on her but Ransom helps her escape. Ransom and Marta then go to a local restaurant where Ransom coaxes Marta into telling him everything.

Meanwhile, the family members realize that if Marta can be proven as the murderer, they will regain their inheritance. They insist that the murder investigation continue, and Blanc confirms his suspicion of foul play, adding that everyone is still a potential suspect. This leads to Marta receiving a ransom note reading “I know what you did” along with a partial photocopy of Harlan’s toxicology report.

Marta drives with Ransom to the medical examiner’s office, only to find it up in flames and swarming with police. At Ransom’s insistence, Marta checks her email, and finds an address and time. Blanc spots the pair before they engage in a car chase, but Marta and Ransom are ultimately unable to evade their pursuers before Ransom is arrested after Wanetta, Harlan’s mother and elderly matriarch of the family, falsely identified Marta as him at the house. Marta drives to the address only to find Fran there, drugged. Marta performs CPR on her, and calls the police phone line, ensuring that Fran gets to the hospital safely. On the drive back to the mansion, Marta reveals everything to Blanc, who discourages her from confessing to the family. However, Blanc tells her to stop at the last minute when he spots something in a copy of the full toxicology report that Fran had hidden away.

The police bring Ransom to the house and place him in a private room where Blanc and Marta are waiting. Blanc reveals that he deduced the murder and goes on to reveal what he knows. The night of the party, Ransom stormed out after discovering Marta’s inheritance from Harlan and decided to frame her for his murder. Ransom swapped the contents of the medication vials and removed the emergency morphine counter agent, ensuring the morphine overdose. Ransom then swapped the vials back while the rest of the family was at Harlan’s funeral. Fran saw Ransom in Harlan’s study that day and deduced his involvement in Harlan’s death, prompting her to send him the ransom letter, which Ransom then sent to Marta after cutting out the address. Ransom then burnt down the medical examiner’s office to ensure that Harlan’s blood work was destroyed. Ransom confronted Fran and drugged her with morphine, nearly killing her before destroying the original copy of the toxicology report and emailing Marta Fran’s location in the hopes of fooling the police into believing Marta had murdered Fran. Blanc then reveals that the toxicology report shows that Harlan wasn’t poisoned at all, and that Marta had instinctively given Harlan the correct medication, but, noticing the mislabeling, didn’t know.

As a child, Jeannette Walls lives a nomadic life with her painter mother Rose, her intelligent but irresponsible father Rex, older sister Lori, and younger brother Brian. While cooking unsupervised, Jeannette is severely burned. At the hospital, a doctor and social worker question her home life, but Rex distracts the staff and escapes with Jeannette. The family leaves town, and Jeannette is enchanted by Rex’s plans for the family’s dream house, a glass castle.

The family soon includes Jeannette’s infant sister Maureen, and remains on the move for years, eventually relocating to a dilapidated house in Utah. Jeannette nearly drowns when a drunk Rex aggressively teaches her to swim. He assaults the lifeguard, forcing the family - now pursued by the law and with no money - to go to Welch, West Virginia, where the children meet their grandparents and uncle Stanley. Rex moves his family into a ramshackle house in the wilderness, living without running water, gas, or electricity. When the family has not eaten in days, Rex takes their remaining money to buy food, but returns home drunk after a fight. Sewing up his wound, Jeannette asks him to stop drinking, and Rex ties himself to his bed, successfully enduring withdrawal. He lands a job as a construction worker and the family enjoys a comfortable Christmas.

The parents attend the funeral of Rose’s mother in Texas, leaving the children with their grandparents in Welch. The sisters discover Irma sexually assaulting Brian and attack her, but are pulled away by Stanley. When their parents return, Rex refuses to listen to his children about the incident. The family returns home and he resumes drinking, leading to a violent altercation with Rose. Jeannette is unable to convince her mother to leave Rex, and the siblings promise to care for each other and escape their poverty.

As a teenager, Jeannette is drawn to journalism. The siblings save enough money for Lori to leave for New York City, infuriating Rex; Jeannette prepares to do the same. Irma dies, and after the funeral, Jeannette is pulled into her father’s scheme to hustle his acquaintance Robbie at pool. He loses to Rex and reveals Jeannette’s plan to move to New York City. She accompanies Robbie upstairs and he attempts to rape her, but she shows her scars from her childhood burns and leaves. At home, she discovers her father has stolen her savings, but escapes home anyway. Attending college in New York City, Jeannette faces financial difficulties and prepares to drop out, but Rex arrives with a pile of gambling winnings, telling her to follow her dreams.

By 1989, Jeannette is a gossip columnist for New York magazine and engaged to marry David, a financial analyst. At dinner with a client of David’s, Jeannette lies about her parents. On the way home, she sees her now homeless parents dumpster diving. She later meets with her mother, who is dismissive of her engagement. Jeannette and David visit her family at the abandoned building where her parents are squatting. Brian, now a police officer, and Lori live comfortably, but Maureen has moved in with their parents. Rex and David drunkenly arm wrestle and David wins, but Rex punches him in the nose. Returning home, David tells Jeannette that he wants nothing more to do with her parents.

Tom is an American doctor who goes to France following the death of his adult son, killed in the Pyrenees during a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of St. James. Tom’s purpose is initially to retrieve his son’s body. However, in a combination of grief and homage to his son, Tom decides to journey on this path of pilgrims. While walking The Camino, Tom meets others from around the world (three in particular), all broken and looking for greater meaning in their lives.

The film opens with a shot of desolate, wide-open country in West Texas in June 1980. In a voice-over, the local sheriff, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), tells of the changing times: in the old days, some sheriffs never wore guns, as did his late father, who was the sheriff before him; in the modern day and age, however, Bell once sent an unrepentant teenage boy to the electric chair who had killed a girl simply because he wanted to kill someone, had been “fixin’” to do it for some time, and would do it again if he had the chance.

Along a desert highway, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is arrested by a deputy (Zach Hopkins). They return to the empty police station, where the deputy calls Sheriff Bell. He tells the Sheriff about an odd device in Chigurh’s possession (a captive bolt pistol). The deputy thinks it may be an oxygen tank, but it is actually a device used to kill cattle in the slaughter house. The deputy has his back to Chigurh, who sneaks up behind him and just as the deputy hangs up the phone, uses the handcuff chain to garrote the deputy. After cleaning himself up in the station bathroom, Chigurh steals a squad car and once on a desert highway, uses the car’s lights and siren to stop a random motorist (Chip Love) driving a Ford sedan.

He politely asks the man to step out of the car. Chigurh then asks the man to hold still and presses the captive bolt pistol attached to the compressed air tank against the puzzled driver’s forehead. He squeezes the trigger and it fires the bolt into the man’s skull, killing him. Chigurh drives off in the man’s car.

Elsewhere in the desert, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is hunting pronghorns. Setting the sights of his hunting rifle on one, he fires, scattering the animals. Walking to where the herd stood, he notices a trail of blood. Realizing the pronghorn left in a different direction from the blood trail, he spies a wounded pit bull hobbling away. Retracing the dog’s trail, Moss eventually comes upon several pickup trucks parked in the middle of the wilderness. Mexican criminals and pit bulls lie dead on the ground; only a mortally wounded driver remains alive.

The driver begs Moss for agua, but Moss says that he has no water. Moss asks the man where the “last man standing” - the winner - is, but doesn’t get an answer. He carefully takes the man’s submachine gun off the seat and a magazine from his shirt pocket. Under a tarp in the bed of one pickup, Moss sees what appears to be a great deal of heroin.

Moss tracks the only criminal to have escaped the shootout to a tree where he finds the man has died. He finds a large catalog case filled with two million dollars and a .45 caliber pistol. He takes the money and gun. He returns home where he hides the submachine gun under his mobile home. His wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) is irritated that he has been gone all day and he refuses to tell her where he found the pistol and catalog case. She asks him what’s in the case but doesn’t believe him when he off-handedly tells her it’s full of money.

That night, Moss guiltily wakes up, deciding that he should take water to the wounded driver. He arrives around dawn and parks a short distance away on a rise. He carries a gallon of water to the scene of the shootout, but discovers that the wounded man has been killed by a shotgun round to his head.

Looking back to where he’d parked his pickup truck atop the rise, Moss dimly sees in the predawn light another truck now parked alongside his. Two men get out and appear to slash his truck’s tires. He tries to hide behind under one of the trucks, but is fired upon by the men who are now approaching in their truck, using bright searchlights.

More gunmen appear, disable his truck and fire on him, hitting him in the shoulder. Moss flees with the pickup pursuing him, but is hit in the shoulder by a shotgun round just as he reaches a river embankment. As Moss tumbles towards the river with dawn breaking, the two men, apparently Mexicans, send a pit bull after him. Evading continued gunfire, Moss dives into the river and swims downstream, eventually crossing to the other side with the pit bull gaining on him. On the opposite bank, Moss frantically ejects an empty shell from the .45, reloads the gun, and kills the dog at the moment it leaps at him.

He bandages his wounds, realizing he is facing dangerous individuals. He returns home and sends Carla Jean to stay with her mother in Odessa while he travels separately with the money.

After filling up at a gas station in the dead man’s Ford, Chigurh goes to pay for some candy from the gas proprietor (Gene Jones). The proprietor tries to make polite conversation out of simple friendliness, but Chigurh is upset at the inane small talk, and the owner finds himself in a strange, tense confrontation. The man is genuinely perplexed by his customer’s anxiety, and tries to defuse the argument by saying he needs to close the station, which only further irritates Chigurh due to it being still midday. Chigurh requires him to call the flip of coin to decide whether the man is to win everything, apparently whether the man will live or die. The clerk guesses heads and Chigurh gives the man the coin. He tells him not to mix it with any other coins.

Later that night, two well-dressed men take Chigurh to the site of the failed drug deal. He removes the VIN tag from Moss’s truck door and examines the corpses. The well-dressed men give him a tracking device on which they said they’re getting “not a bleep.” that he can use to find the catalog case of money, which has a transponder hidden in it, although it has not received any signals. Chigurh picks up a pistol laying next to one dead men and kills both of them.

The following morning, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) and Deputy Wendell (Garret Dillahunt) respond to a report of a burning car, and recognize the Ford belonging to the dead motorist. They follow tire tracks to the shoot out site, where Sheriff Bell recognizes Moss’s truck. He and Wendell carefully look over the scene and then decide to call in federal authorities. The heroin is gone from the back of the pickup.

Chigurh appears at Moss and Carla Jean’s trailer and uses the captive bolt pistol to break the lock. The trailer is empty but hurriedly vacated, but he finds in the unopened mail a phone bill that reveals the couple has made a lot of calls to Odessa, TX. He tries to intimidate the trailer park manager (Kathy Lamkin) into revealing where Moss works and seems to contemplate killing her, but when he hears noise in the adjacent room, leaves.

Moss puts his wife on a bus and reassures her that he will call her in a couple of days. He takes a cab from the bus station to a motel, where he rents a room and hides the money case deep in the HVAC duct using the clothes bar from a closet. Moss leaves the hotel and buys boots and socks. Moss takes a cab back to his motel but a truck parked near his room makes him suspicious and he directs the driver to take him to another motel.

Chigurh meanwhile calls numbers on the phone bill to try to figure out where Moss is headed. He then begins driving, trying to anticipate where Moss is headed.

The next morning Moss purchases a tent for its poles, duct tape, wire cutters, and a 12 gauge shotgun and ammo at a local sporting goods store. He returns to the second hotel room, where he saws off the shotgun barrel and stock. He returns to his first hotel and rents a second room immediately behind his first room. It shares the HVAC duct with his first room. In the second room, he uses the tent poles, duct tape, and coat hangers to fashion a hook that he uses to retrieve the catalog case full of money from the HVAC duct.

Chigurh is driving past the motel when the tracking device goes off. He finds the motel, and by the frequency of its beeping he deduces which room the signal is coming from, Moss’s first room. Chigurh rents a room and takes off his boots so he can quietly walk up to the room where the signal is coming from. He uses his captive bolt pistol to break into the room. Chigurh finds three Mexicans in the room and kills them with a suppressed shotgun. The Mexicans’ gunfire alerts Moss in the opposite room. Chigurh searches the room for the case, finally noticing the HVAC duct. He opens it to see the tracks where the case was dragged. Moss escapes into the dark with the money and hitchhikes out of the area. The driver (Mathew Greer) who picks him up tells him he shouldn’t be hitch-hiking because it’s dangerous.

The next day, in a high-rise office building in Dallas, a bounty hunter named Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) arrives in a businessman’s (Stephen Root) large office. The businessman is upset about the many killings perpetrated by Chigurh. He wants Wells to contain the situation. Wells tells the businessman that he has had past dealings with Chigurh and would know him by sight. Wells also compares Chigurh to the bubonic plague and calls him a psychopathic killer. The businessman hires Wells to control the “situation” with Chigurh and to retrieve the money.

In a border town, Moss rents a room in an older, rundown multistory hotel. Unable to sleep, he is apparently trying to figure out how Chigurh tracked him down to the previous motel. He searches the case and finds the transponder that Chigurh has been using to find him. He hears suspicious noises and calls the clerk who had checked him in at the front desk. The clerk (Marc Miles) had told Moss he’d be on until the next morning at 10 a.m., but he doesn’t answer. He sees the shadow of feet under his door, but then the hall lights go dark. Chigurh shoots out the lock with the captive bolt pistol, hitting Moss, who fires his shotgun into the door. Moss then drops the case out the second story window and follows it. Chigurh shoots at him from the window but misses. Moss is wounded in the side by the door lock.

Moss stops a pick-up truck driver (Luce Rains) and tells him to drive him out of there, but Chigurh kills the driver. Moss ducks down and drives the truck around a corner, crashing into a vehicle. He hides behind a nearby car, watching in a store window for whoever is following him. He shoots and wounds Chigurh. Wounded himself, Moss drives the pick-up to the nearby Rio Grande where he buys a jacket from some passing youths on the border bridge, and he also tosses the money case into some brush along the bank. He covers his bloody shirt with the jacket and, posing as a “drunk Mexican” waves the bottle of beer drunkenly at the half-sleeping Mexican border guard as he stumbles past to cross over into Mexico; the sleepy guard is unconcerned with his identity. In the morning he is awakened by members of a Norteño Band who he pays to take him to a hospital.

Sheriff Bell continues to be disturbed by what he saw in the desert and the apparently deteriorating state of morals in the world. He goes to visit Carla Jean in Odessa and asks her to put him in touch with her husband. Almost absentmindedly, he tells her how a local farmer was nearly killed by an animal he was trying to slaughter, and how slaughterhouses now used compressed air guns to kill cattle immediately. In the border town, Chigurh, wounded in the thigh by a buckshot round, sets a car on fire as a diversion and nonchalantly steals medical supplies. In a motel room, he cuts off his pants and treats his wound.

Carson visits Moss in the Mexican hospital and suggests that he just hand over the money so Carson can protect him. Moss refuses and Carson tells him in which hotel he is staying. On the way back across the border, Carson sees the catalog case from the bridge. Back at his hotel, the same one at which Moss was staying, Carson is confronted by Chigurh. Carson tries to strike a deal with Chigurh for his life but when the phone rings, Chigurh kills him. Moss is on the phone, and Chigurh tells him that if he brings him the money, he won’t kill his wife, though he can’t do the same for Moss. Chigurh lets Moss know that he knows exactly where he is and, instead of coming to kill him in the hospital, he is going to go to Carla Jean’s mother’s house. Moss tells Chigurh he will kill him then hangs up.

Moss leaves the hospital and retrieves the case. He calls Carla Jean at her mother’s in Odessa and tells her to fly to El Paso to meet him. Chigurh meanwhile goes to Dallas where he kills the businessman for hiring not only Carson but the Mexicans as well. His truck breaks down and a chicken farmer (Chris Warner) with a flatbed full of chicken cages stops to help. Chigurh asks where the nearest airport is. The farmer names El Paso, and Chigurh asks him if the chicken cages can be removed from the truck. Sometime later he is washing the chicken feathers off the back of the truck at a car wash.

The Mexicans who have been watching Carla Jean in Odessa follow her and her mother (Beth Grant) to the airport. One of the Mexicans helps her mother with her luggage and she tells him she and Carla Jean are going to El Paso. The Mexican asks her what hotel she and her mother are staying at, so as to figure out Moss’s location, and she tells him. In the airport, Carla Jean calls Sheriff Bell and tells him where Moss is staying in El Paso. At the hotel, a woman (Ana Reeder) sun-bathing by the pool flirts with Moss. She invites him to her room for beer, but he says that he’s married and that he knows what beer leads to, and declines her offer.

Sheriff Bell is driving up to Moss’s motel when he hears automatic gunfire and sees a pickup truck speeding off. At the motel, Sheriff Bell sees a large number of empty shell casings on the ground by the pool, where a woman is floating dead. He then sees Llewelyn Moss dead in the open doorway of his room. The money case is missing.

All Sheriff Bell can do is comfort Carla Jean when she arrives. Later that night, Sheriff Bell and the local sheriff (Rodger Boyce) have coffee and bemoan the declining morals of American society. Afterward, Sheriff Bell returns to the motel and nearly misses being killed by Chigurh who had been searching the room for the money case.

Sheriff Bell visits his uncle, Ellis (Barry Corbin) to tell him he’s retiring because he is too disturbed by the violence he’s seen. Ellis tells him he’s being vain and relates the story about how Sheriff Bell’s grandfather had died: shot by 8 outlaws, he bled to death in his wife’s arms on his front porch as they watched. Meanwhile, Chigurh visits Carla Jean, who has just buried her mother. She understands why he’s there but still finds it meaningless. Chigurh flips a coin but Carla Jean refuses to play his game. Carla Jean dismisses Chigurh’s game, saying that he’s the one who decides on whether or not to kill her, not the coin. He is unmoved, however, insisting on his lack of a free choice in the matter. During this exchange, we see two boys ride past the house on bicycles. Chigurh leaves the house and stops to check his boots, apparently for blood.

Driving off, he is looking at the same two boys in the rear view mirror when he’s struck broadside by a car speeding through the intersection. Chigurh gets out of his car, his arm bone protruding out of his elbow. The two neighborhood boys come up to him to see if he’s all right. Chigurh pays one of the kids for his shirt, which he uses to make a sling for his arm, and he asks them to tell the authorities that he had already left. Chigurh limps away down the street.

Wealthy city trader and serial killer David Robey blackmails and kidnaps young cleaner Callum Aldrich. DCI John Luther is assigned to the case and promises Callum’s mother, Corrine, he will find her son. Concerned about his involvement, Robey digs up dirt on the various illegal acts Luther has committed as a police officer, resulting in him being fired, prosecuted and imprisoned.

Robey coaxes Corrine and the parents of other victims to a house where he burns their children’s corpses. She visits Luther in prison, admonishing him for not finding her son’s killer. Robey sends a recording of him murdering Callum to Luther in prison via an FM radio frequency. Luther informs DCI Odette Raine, the new head of Serious and Serial Crime, of the broadcast. He then liaises with corrupt guards and former associate McCabe to break him out of prison. Raine brings in now retired DSU Martin Schenk as a consultant. Luther traces Robey to Piccadilly Circus, where Raine deploys SCO19. The two confront him there, but people he has blackmailed cause a distraction by killing themselves jumping from buildings and crashing cars. Robey escapes into the London Underground after fighting Luther and murdering an AFO.

William Parish (Anthony Hopkins) is a multimillionaire who has run a successful empire for the past forty years in New York. But, after his wife passes away, he feels empty and becomes convinced that Death is now after him too. He hears strange voices in his head, mimicking his own words, but they are phony and ridicule him in every possible manner. William’s eldest and somewhat meddlesome daughter, Allison (Marcia Gay Harden), is planning her father’s 65th birthday party.

Her sister Susan (Claire Forlani), an attractive young doctor, is involved with one of Bill’s board members, Drew (Jake Weber). Her father disapproves of the relationship and suggests she look for someone more suited to her character. Early in the morning she meets a handsome and cheery stranger (Brad Pitt) in a café, but fails to learn his name before they leave. The young man is struck and killed by a car a few minutes later.

Death (Brad Pitt) appears to Bill in his home. Bill finally realizes that the young man is the personification of death. But death wants a holiday from his taxing, eternal responsibility of taking the souls of the dead to the after life. He chooses William to be his guide strikes a deal with Bill: as long as Bill shows him around the world of mortals, Bill will get to live a little longer. Temporarily doubting his own sanity, he finally agrees. He is introduced to William’s family at a dinner at his house, when Susan arrives a few minutes late. She immediately recognizes the young man she met earlier that day, but the young man as Death is unfamiliar with the practices of mortal men and does not remember their original meeting. He acts awkwardly around her and she is confused and upset by his sudden odd behavior, very unlike his actions earlier that day.

When the dinner guests ask Bill for the name of his “old friend”, Bill hesitatingly introduces him as “Joe Black”. The family is puzzled by the sudden appearance of an old friend of their father’s that they have never met. Joe insists that Bill allow him to accompany him everyplace he goes, and Bill reluctantly agrees. Bill knows that these are his last days on earth, but despite his best efforts, he fails to keep events from rapidly spiraling out of control. A merger has been proposed to the Board of Bill’s company, and Drew actively supports the transaction, but Bill as Chairman vetoes the proposal. Drew is very antagonistic towards this sudden, new “old friend” of Bill’s, and is disrespectful and rude towards him.

Susan grows disaffected of her relationship with Drew, beginning to see him for who he really is, and is somewhat enamored of the diffident, seductive, mysterious Joe Black. They have sex and she tells Joe that she loves him. Joe enjoys the experiences of his flesh, of human feelings and desires, and is in love with her as well. This complicates matters, as Bill doesn’t want Death to become involved with his daughter, and tells Joe that their deal didn’t include this. Death has little care for Will’s feelings and declares his intention to take Susan with him for his own.

As his last birthday arrives, Bill makes a last attempt to demonstrate to Joe the meaning of true love and all it encompasses, especially honesty and sacrifice.

Bill’s 65th birthday on his large estate is a wonderful, perfect event. Joe attends, pretending to be an Internal Revenue Service agent. Bill makes a last attempt to demonstrate to Joe the meaning of true love and all it encompasses especially honesty and sacrifice. Joe comes to understand that his love for Susan means he has to sacrifice his desire to take Susan with him and allow her to live her life, and he abandons his plans to take her.

Unknown to Bill, Drew is conspiring with a enemy of BIll’s who is bidding to acquire Parrish Communications. Drew capitalizes on Bill’s strange behavior. He uses information inadvertently given to him by Bill’s son-in-law Quince (Jeffrey Tambor) and convinces the board to vote Bill out as Chairman. He also persuades the Board to approve the merger which Bill had decided to oppose. Quince is devastated by what happens to Bill as all but one other member of the board vote him out.

Joe, as the IRS agent, uses his knowledge of Drew’s actions and intimidates Drew into resigning from the company and Board and to leaving Susan. Joe helps get Bill reinstated as Chairman of the Board. Bill devotes his remaining hours of life at the party to his daughters Allison and Susan. Joe says his last goodbye to Susan, admitting in veiled terms that he isn’t what he appears to be. She senses something of the truth behind his words but is unable or unwilling to vocalize this realization. A fireworks show marks the end of the party and Joe escorts Bill to the edge of the garden and Susan follows them.

Bill and Alice Harford (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman), a well-to-do Manhattan couple, have been married for nine years. Bill is a doctor with his own private practice and Alice is a full-time mother, though she has managed an art gallery in the past. They have a seven-year-old daughter named Helena (Madison Eginton), whom they leave with a babysitter for the evening while they attend a Christmas party thrown by wealthy attorney Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack) and his wife Illona (Leslie Lowe). While at the party, Bill runs into an old friend, Nick Nightingale (Todd Field). Nick dropped out of medical school to become a pianist. Before returning to his place among the band, he invites Bill to come see him at another gig while he’s in town. While Alice drunkenly fends off the advances of an unctuous middle-aged Hungarian businessman named Sandor Szavost (Sky du Mont), Bill flirts with two models. Alice dances with Sandor but finally gives him the slip when he invites her upstairs, citing the fact that she is married. Just as the models offer to show Bill “where the rainbow ends,” he is discreetly summoned upstairs for an apparent emergency.

Ziegler had been partying upstairs with an escort, Mandy (Julienne Davis). When she shot up a mixture of heroin and cocaine, she passed out, scaring Ziegler. Bill rouses the naked woman back to consciousness; determining that she’ll safely recover, he chides her to get some help for her addiction. Ziegler makes Bill promise not to mention the incident to anyone.

The next night, Alice rolls a joint and she and Bill get stoned. She asks Bill what he was doing with the two models the previous night. He denies hitting on them and asks Alice about the man he saw dancing with her. She says he wanted to have sex with her, which Bill jokes is understandable. Alice turns Bill’s comment around and argues that Bill must have wanted to have sex with the models. He assures her that he would not break his marriage vows by cheating on her, but this only further inflames Alice, who infers that the only reason Bill didn’t have a fling with the models is out of some sense of marital duty. When Bill smugly claims that women require love before they can have sex and that he has never been concerned she would cheat on him, Alice laughs mockingly. She reminds Bill of a family vacation they spent one summer at a resort in Cape Cod, and asks him if he remembers a certain naval officer. Bill draws a blank. Alice explains to Bill that she wanted this man so badly that she couldn’t stop fantasizing about him even while she made love to Bill and attended to Alice. She states flatly that she considered throwing away her life as a wife and mother just to have sex with the handsome stranger. Bill appears stunned and deeply troubled by Alice’s confession that when she learned that the naval officer had left the resort, she felt sorry that he was gone, but also “relieved” that fate had prevented her from sleeping with the man, which she most certainly would have done if he had stayed. Their discussion comes to an abrupt end when the telephone rings and Bill is called away to the home of one of his patients, but thoughts of Alice being ravished by the naval officer continue to haunt him.

Bill arrives at the lavish apartment of his patient Lou Nathanson, who has just passed away after an illness. He offers his condolences to Nathanson’s grief-stricken daughter, Marion (Marie Richardson). In the middle of discussing her engagement and future plans, Marion suddenly confesses to Bill that she is deeply in love with him and needs to be near him, even if she will never get to see him. Bill politely declines her advance, telling her that she is distraught and confused by her father’s death. Marion’s fiancé Carl (Thomas Gibson) arrives and Bill takes the opportunity to make an exit.

Walking through the streets, Bill sees a hooker making out with a john and continues to be plagued by images of his wife with the naval officer. Minutes later, a group of drunken frat boys shove Bill down on the sidewalk, baiting him with homophobic taunts.

As Bill continues wandering downtown, a prostitute named Domino (Vinessa Shaw) propositions him. He hesitates, but agrees to accompany her to her apartment nearby. Just as they kiss in her bedroom, Alice calls on his cell phone. Bill lies that he is still at Nathanson’s apartment but after hanging up, thinks better of his decision to solicit Domino’s services. He pays her and leaves without taking things any further.

Resuming his walk, he passes the Sonata Club, where his former medical school chum, Nick Nightingale, is playing piano with a group. Bill decides to stop in to listen. After the music number is up, Nick meets with Bill for drinks at a table. He reveals that he is scheduled to play piano at a sex party later that night and he is waiting for the code word. When Nick answers his cell phone and appears to be discussing admission to the party, Bill hectors him for more details – he wants to attend. Nick reveals the code word, “Fidelio,” by writing it down on a napkin and explains that the orgyists wear costumes. Nick says he doesn’t know much else because he’s always blindfolded when he plays at the parties.

Even though it is after 1:00 a.m., Bill walks to a costume shop called “Rainbow Fashions” hoping the owner, a patient of his, will help him with a costume as a favor. However, the store is under new ownership, and the man who answers the door, a middle aged European named Mr. Milich (Rade Serbedzija) tells Bill to come back during business hours. Bill offers Milich a generous amount of money to rent him a costume now. While taking Bill through the showroom, Milich catches his teenage daughter (Leelee Sobieski), clad in only her underwear, cavorting with two similarly half-dressed older Japanese businessmen in a dressing room. As his daughter cowers behind Bill, Milich expresses outrage at their lack of decency. He locks the men in the room and threatens to call the police on them after he has served Bill.

On the way to the party in a taxi, Bill continues to obsess about his wife with the naval officer. Using the password supplied by Nick, he gains access to the party, held at a remote mansion in Long Island. As Bill enters the main room he puts on his mask and sees a large gathering in the foyer of masked and robed people wearing masks and black robes. A man wearing a red robe stands in a circle of thirteen masked women at the center of the room. The women remove their cloaks to reveal that they are clad only in thong bikinis and engage in a quasi-religious ritual before an audience of similarly cloaked and masked men and women. Nick, blindfolded nearby, plays the electric organ. The party-goers then retire to watch or participate in a variety of sexual acts in other rooms throughout the mansion. One masked woman comes to Bill, takes him aside and warns him that he does not belong there.

Bill walks through the mansion where various orgies are taking place from the living room, to the dining room and the library. After a few minutes, Bill meets another masked woman who accompanies in watching the library room orgy. Just then, the first masked woman catches up with Bill and takes him aside out of the room where she again tells him to leave and insists he is in terrible danger, for the others suspect that he is an outsider. Bill demands answers and urges the woman to leave with him, but she refuses, saying that it could cost her life and maybe his. The masked woman runs when Bill is then interrupted by a masked porter who tells him that the taxi driver who is waiting outside wants to speak with him. However, the porter takes him to the main room where the masked, red-cloaked Master of Ceremonies confronts Bill in front of the anonymous spectators with a question about a second password, which Bill is unable to answer. The Master of Ceremonies asks him to “kindly remove your mask,” and once he does, requests that he also remove his clothes. Before Bill is forced to disrobe, the young woman who had tried to warn Bill intervenes and insists that she be punished instead of him. As she is taken away, Bill asks what is going to happen to her. The Master cryptically replies her fate is sealed. Bill is allowed to leave, but he is also warned not to tell anyone about what happened there or he and his family will suffer “dire consequences.”

Bill returns home shortly before dawn, guilty and confused. He hides the costume in a locked bureau in his office. Alice awakens and tells him of a troubling dream in which he and she wandered naked in a deserted city. She felt frightened and ashamed while he went off to try to find their clothes. After he left, she felt better, finding herself, still naked, in a beautiful garden. The naval officer emerged, stared at her, and the two of them began making love surrounded by many other couples doing the same. She then started having sex with many of those men and laughing at the idea of Bill seeing her with them.

The next morning, Bill goes to a restaurant next door to the Sonata cafe in search of Nick Nightingale, where he learns from the waitress where Nick is staying. Bill goes to the hotel to talk to Nick, but the front desk clerk (Alan Cumming) informs Bill that Nick checked out several hours ago. When Bill asks the desk clerk if there was “anything odd” about Nick’s departure, the desk clerk tells Bill that Nick returned to the hotel just before dawn, accompanied by two well-dressed and well-spoken but burly men, one of whom went up to the room with Nick while the other paid his hotel bill. When Nick came back downstairs with his luggage, the desk clerk tells Bill that Nick tried to pass him an envelope, but one of the men noticed this and intercepted it. The two men then forcibly escorted Nick into a waiting limousine parked outside the hotel and they left. The desk clerk adds that Nick appeared to be frightened and his face was bruised.

Next, Bill goes to return the costume to Rainbow Fashions, but the mask isn’t in the bag with the rest of the costume. Milich adds the missing mask to Bill’s charge. Milich’s daughter and the two businessmen appear again. The men, now attired in expensive suits, exchange a few pleasantries before they leave. Milich’s teenage daughter is still in her underwear. Bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Bill reminds Milich that he was going to report the men to the police. The shopkeeper smilingly informs Bill that he and the businessmen have “come to another arrangement.” With his daughter by his side, Mr. Milich states he can do other favors for Bill “and it needn’t be a costume.” His daughter simply stares at Bill enigmatically.

That afternoon at his doctor’s office, Bill cannot get the thoughts about what happened the night before out of his head. More disturbed than ever, Bill takes the rest of the day off, gets his Range Rover vehicle, and drives to the site of the party at a mansion called Somerton. At the locked front gate, a vehicle on the other side of the mansion drives up where an elderly suited man walks forward and without saying a word, hands Bill an envelope and walks away. The envelope has Bill’s name typed on it. Bill is more troubled because although the people there saw his face, he had never told anyone at the party his name. The note tells Bill to cease his inquiries about the previous night’s events and to consider the note his “second warning.”

Throughout the rest of the day, Bill cannot get visions of Alice and the naval officer having passionate sex out of his head. After he returns home from work, he thinks about Alice’s recounting of the scene while he watches her instruct their daughter in math. After dinner, Bill lies to Alice about having appointments at his office that very night. Bill goes back to his office alone and just sits at his desk doing nothing. Bill then attempts to call Marion, but hangs up when her fiancé, Carl, answers the phone.

Bill purchases a box of some pastries and goes back to Domino’s apartment to give them to her. However, Domino is not home but her roommate Sally (Fay Masterson) is. Bill actually tries to briefly seduce Sally, who seems interested, but the mood is dampened when she feels obliged to break the news to Bill that Domino moved out for good after she had learned earlier that morning that she is HIV-positive.

Walking down a street, brooding, Bill notices a well-dressed stranger trailing him. Bill ducks into a nearby coffee shop and apparently loses his pursuer. There, Bill reads an article from his newspaper, the New York Post, that a woman named Amanda Curran, a former beauty queen, was found dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room that morning. Using his doctor’s credentials, Bill goes to the morgue to view the body. He recognizes Amanda Curran as the same “Mandy” who overdosed at the Zieglers’ Christmas party two nights earlier, and suspects that she may also have been the same masked woman who tried to warn him during the orgy. Bill now fears that she died to protect him.

As he is leaving the hospital, Bill receives a call on his cell phone from Ziegler, who wants to meet with him. In the spacious living room at Ziegler’s house, after a few minutes of casual talk, Ziegler suddenly reveals that he knows all about what happened to Bill the previous night because he was at the orgy Bill crashed and pleads with him to give up his investigations. He admits to having had Bill followed because his own position with the mysterious group has been jeopardized by Bill’s intrusion, and curses Nick for having told Bill about the event. Ziegler assures Bill that beyond voyeurism and sex, nothing untoward happened at the party. All of the warnings and the “trial”, Ziegler suggests, were staged to frighten Bill into keeping quiet.

Ziegler further tells Bill that the masked and costumed attendees at the orgy party are very wealthy, important, powerful people who want to protect their privacy. They already suspected that Bill didn’t belong at the orgy because he came in a taxi and left the rental receipt for the costume in the pocket of his coat; also there was no second password. Bill would like to believe Ziegler, but can’t simply overlook the death of Amanda Curran, whom Ziegler identified as the woman at the Christmas party as well as the same woman from the orgy who “sacrificed” herself to prevent Bill’s punishment. He also wonders about Nick’s fate. Ziegler claims that Nick is safely back home in Seattle, and that Mandy was simply a prostitute who had a bad drug problem and died from an accidental overdose. Ziegler quotes: “Life goes on, until it doesn’t. It always does.”

(Note: Bill clearly struggles to accept everything Ziegler is telling him. Ultimately however, Ziegler is one of Bill’s patients and socializes with many of Bill’s other wealthy patients… some of whom are surely the same people involved in these strange ceremonies. Ziegler could effectively put an end to Bill’s medical practice if he were to decide to cause any further trouble or question Ziegler’s answers, not to mention taking other, more sinister measures against Bill of which he has hinted he is capable. Bill has no choice but to acquiesce and try to forget everything he’s seen– or thinks he’s seen.)

Bill returns home. He sees his mask from the orgy lying on his pillow next to a sleeping Alice. He breaks down in tears and wants to tell her everything. The next morning finds them both red-eyed and emotionally drained. Later that day, Bill and Alice take their daughter Christmas shopping at F.A.O. Schwartz. In a private moment, Bill asks Alice what they should do about their problems. She responds that she is grateful that they have both survived their recent real-life and dream-life adventures, and that they’re both “awake” now. When Bill seeks reassurance that they’ll remain awake “forever,” Alice hedges, saying that while she loves him, the word “forever” frightens her.

The film is set in 1940 during World War II just as Italy enters the war. Malena’s husband, Nino Scordia, leaves to serve in the military. Malena feels sad and tries to cope with her loss, as the town she has just moved to tries to deal with this beautiful woman who gets the attention and lustful stares of all the local men, including the 12-year-old Renato. However, in spite of the villagers’ gossip, she continues to be faithful to her husband. Renato becomes obsessed with Malena and starts fantasizing about her while masturbating.

The silent, distractingly beautiful outsider learns one day that her husband has been killed. Renato continues to watch as she suffers from loneliness and grief. Malena is shunned by the townspeople and the unattractive, jealous women of the Italian village, who begin to believe the worst about her, simply because of her beauty.

She visits her father, an almost deaf professor of Latin, regularly and helps him with his household chores. When a slanderous letter about her sexual morals reaches his hands, their relationship suffers a catastrophic blow. In the meanwhile, the war worsens. The village is bombed and Malena’s father is killed.

She falls on hard times and eventually has no money. The wife of the local dentist takes her to court, but Malena is acquitted. The only man Malena does have an innocent romance with, an army officer, is sent away because of the trial.

Malena’s poverty finally forces her to succumb to the greed and malice of the town and she becomes a prostitute, making the wives’ fantasies about her a reality. When the German army comes to town, Malena gives herself to Germans as well. Renato sees her in the company of two German officers and faints.

His mother and the older ladies of the town think that he has been possessed by the devil and take him to church to exorcise the “demons.” His father however understands that he is suffering from sexual hunger and takes him to a brothel; Renato has sex with one of the prostitutes while fantasizing that she is Malena.

When the war ends, the women of the village gather and, out of jealousy and hatred, publicly beat and humiliate Malena, who shortly after leaves for Messina. A few days later, Nino Scordia returns to town, to the shock of all the residents. He finds his house occupied by people displaced by the war. Renato tells him through an anonymous letter about Malena’s whereabouts.

Nino goes to Messina to find her. A year later, they return. The villagers, especially the women, astonished at her courage, begin to talk to “Signora Scordia” with respect. Though still beautiful, they think of her as no threat claiming that she had wrinkles near her eyes and put on some weight.

Former teacher and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) interviews for a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel in an effort to rebuild his life after his volatile temper lost him his teaching position. The hotel manager, Mr. Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), warns Jack that he and his family will be snowbound through most of the winter and of the potential risk for cabin fever. He drives the point home by recounting a season when the caretaker, Charles Grady, went crazy and brutaly killed his wife, his two girls (Lisa Burns and Louise Burns), and finally himself. Given his own desperation and the opportunity to pursue his true passion, writing, Jack acknowledges the warning, but accepts the job.

Meanwhile, Jack’s son Danny (Danny Lloyd) has a seizure while talking to his imaginary friend Tony about the Overlook Hotel. He has a vision of blood splashing out of an elevator in the hotel, an image which is revisited several times throughout the film.

Upon Danny’s arrival at the hotel, head chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) recognizes that Danny is telepathic, and speaks to him mentally to offer him some ice cream. He explains that he and his grandmother both had the gift; she referred to this communication as “shining.” He also counsels Danny about the hotel, hinting that something terrible had happened there and left a trace, “as if someone burned toast,” which only people who can “shine” will perceive. Danny questions Dick about what went on in the hotel, and about Room 237 in particular as Danny can sense that Dick is especially afraid of that room. Though he strives to assure Danny that the images he sees in the hotel are just “like pictures in a book” and can’t hurt him, Dick sternly warns Danny to stay out of that room.

Jack’s mental health deteriorates rapidly once the family is alone in the hotel. He has writer’s block, sleeps too little, and is irritable. Danny has visions of the two murdered Grady girls, but tells no one. He continues to wonder about Room 237.

While the weather is still relatively warm, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and Danny walk through a maze of tall hedges, making a game out of it, stopping at dead ends and fixing their mistakes.

One day, a ball rolls toward Danny as he plays with his toys. It appears to have come from the open door of Room 237, which Danny enters. At that moment, Wendy comes running from the basement at the sound of Jack’s screams in the lounge. He tells her that he had a nightmare in which he used an axe to chop Danny and her to pieces. As a disconcerted Wendy promises that “Everything’s gonna be okay,” Danny appears at the other end of the room, looking disoriented and sucking his thumb. His sweater is ripped and there are bruises on his neck. He does not answer when Wendy asks what happened. She angrily accuses Jack of hurting Danny and takes the child back to their suite.

Jack is furious about the accusation. He storms around the hotel, making his way to the Gold Ballroom. Sinking defeatedly onto a stool at an empty bar, his head in his hands, Jack declares that he would sell his soul for one drink. When he looks up he discovers a bartender (Joe Turkel), who serves him a drink. Jack is nonplussed by the sudden appearance of the bartender and even addresses him by his name, Lloyd. In the course of telling his troubles to Lloyd, Jack reveals that he unintentionally dislocated Danny’s shoulder, the same accident Wendy mentioned to Danny’s pediatrician earlier. Notably, Jack states that the injury happened three years ago, while in explaining the same story to the pediatrician, Wendy said that Jack, who vowed to quit drinking immediately following the accident, has currently been sober for only five months.

A frantic Wendy enters, finding Jack seemingly alone at the bar; she pleads with him to investigate Danny’s claim that “a crazy woman” attacked him in the bathtub of Room 237. Jack, who acts a bit tipsy, grudgingly agrees to go have a look.

As Jack approaches the door to Room 237, Danny appears to be having a seizure in his own room. Dick, back at his home in Florida, stares wide-eyed as he picks up on a signal Danny is sending.

Jack cautiously enters Room 237. The bedroom is empty and he proceeds to the bathroom. He watches lustfully as a young, beautiful, naked woman (Lia Beldam) pulls back the shower curtain and steps slowly out of the bathtub. The two approach each other and embrace in a passionate kiss. Jack catches a glimpse of their reflection in the mirror and sees the woman is actually a rotting corpse. He recoils in horror– the young lady standing before him has transformed into an elderly woman (Billie Gibson); a walking corpse with rotten, sagging skin. She cackles madly while reaching for him with outstretched arms. Stunned, Jack staggers out of the room, locking the door after him.

When he reports back to Wendy, Jack denies anything amiss in Room 237. Wendy suggests they take Danny to a doctor. Jack becomes irate, lecturing Wendy on her thoughtlessness and blaming her for everything that’s gone wrong in his life. Insisting that they can’t leave the hotel because of his obligation to his employers, he storms out, returning to the Gold Room, which is now the scene of an extravagant party with guests dressed in 1920’s fashion. Lloyd serves him a drink and Jack strolls through the crowd. He doesn’t get far when a butler carrying a tray runs into him, spilling advocaat on his jacket. The butler convinces Jack to come into the bathroom to clean up.

The butler introduces himself as Delbert Grady (Philip Stone). Jack remembers the story Mr. Ullman told him about a former caretaker named Grady murdering his family and confronts Grady with the information. Grady denies that anything of the sort took place and furthermore insists that Jack has “always been the caretaker.” Jack is confused, but seems to accept Grady’s story. Grady goes on to tell Jack that Danny has “a great talent” and is using it to bring an “outside party” into the situation, referring to Dick Halloran with a racial slur. Grady advises Jack on how to “correct” Danny, and how to deal with Wendy if she interferes.

Back in Florida, Dick has had no luck contacting the people at the Overlook Hotel. Worried about Danny, he books the next flight to Colorado.

At the Overlook, Wendy arms herself with a baseball bat and looks for Jack, intent on leaving the hotel with Danny whether or not Jack agrees to come. Entering the lounge, she spots Jack’s manuscript left unattended next to the typewriter. She reads what Jack has been writing: hundreds of pages of repetitions of a single sentence: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” She realizes that Jack has gone mad.

Jack approaches from behind and asks sarcastically, “How do you like it?” Wendy shrieks with alarm and wheels around to face him. A confrontation ensues as Jack demands to know her intentions regarding leaving the hotel with Danny, while Wendy retreats, brandishing the bat. She screams at Jack not to hurt her, and he swears that he will not; instead, he intends to kill her. Wendy hits Jack on the head with the bat at the top of a flight of stairs, causing him to lose his balance and tumble down the staircase, injuring his ankle in the process.

Wendy drags Jack’s limp body to the pantry and locks him inside, just as he regains consciousness. Jack tells her he has sabotaged the radio, as well as the snow cat, stranding them all there. She goes outside to check on the snow cat, and confirms what he told her.

A few hours later, Jack is roused from a nap by the sound of Delbert Grady’s voice. Grady expresses disappointment and a lack of confidence in Jack, but Jack assures him he can get the job done if given one more chance. The pantry door then suddenly unlocks.

Wendy has fallen asleep in her room. Danny is in a trance, carrying a knife and muttering “redrum” repeatedly. He takes Wendy’s lipstick and writes “REDRUM” on the bathroom door. He begins shouting “REDRUM,” which wakes Wendy. She clutches him to her, then sees the reflection of the bathroom door in the mirror. Reversed, it reads: “MURDER.” At that instant, banging sounds start coming from the door to the hallway.

The sound is Jack swinging an axe at the locked door. Wendy grabs Danny and locks them in the bathroom. She opens a tiny, snow banked window and pushes Danny out; he slides safely to the ground. She tries to get out the same window, but cannot fit. She tells Danny to run and hide.

Meanwhile, Jack has chopped his way through the front door and calls out “Wendy, I’m home!” Jack then knocks politely on the bathroom door. Wendy holds the knife and tries to steady herself as Jack begins chopping into the door. After chopping away one of the panels, he sticks his head through and screams “Heeeere’s JOHNNY!” (a reference to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)). Jack sticks his hand through the door to turn the lock. Wendy slashes at him with a knife, cutting Jack’s hand and sending him recoiling in pain. Jack continues to hack at the door with the axe until they both hear the low rumble of an approaching snow cat engine. He stalks out.

The snow cat driver is Dick. Inside the hotel, he calls out, but gets no reply. Jack, hiding behind a pillar, leaps out and swings the axe into Dick’s chest, killing him. Danny, hiding in a kitchen cabinet, screams, revealing his location. He clambers out of the steel cabinet and runs outside.

Meanwhile, Wendy has ventured from the bathroom and begun to search for Danny. The hotel has sprung to life and now even Wendy encounters its ghosts, sights that shock and horrify her. At the same time, axe-wielding Jack turns on the outdoor lights and follows Danny into the hedge maze.

Danny realizes he is leaving a trail of footprints in the snow for Jack to follow. He carefully retraces his steps, walking backwards in the same prints he’d just created in the opposite direction, then covers the rest of his tracks and hides behind a hedge. When Jack arrives, he sees that the trail of footprints ends abruptly, giving him no clue as to which direction Danny took. He chooses a path and lurches deeper into the maze. Danny comes out of his hiding spot and follows his own footprints back to the maze’s entrance.

Wendy makes her way out of the hotel just as Danny emerges from the maze. Relieved, she flings down the knife and embraces him. Jack bellows his frustration from within the maze. Danny and Wendy waste no time escaping in the snow cat that Dick used to get to the hotel. Jack, hopelessly lost in the maze, freezes to death.

In 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson), a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have himself declared insane so he’ll be transferred to a mental institution, where he expects to serve the rest of his term free of prison labor and in (comparative) comfort and luxury.

His ward in the mental institution is run by an unyielding tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Fletcher), who has cowed the patients (most of whom are “voluntary” or there by choice) into dejected institutionalized submission. McMurphy becomes ensnared in a number of power games with Nurse Ratched for the hearts and minds of the patients. All the time, however, the question is just how sane any of the players in the ward actually are and whether they really belong there.

Throughout his stay at the hospital, McMurphy forms friendships with his fellow patients but the bonds are deepest with two in particular: Billy Bibbit (Dourif), a suicidal, stuttering manchild whom Ratched has humiliated and dominated into a quivering mess; and “Chief” Bromden (Sampson), a 6’5” muscular Native American who has schizophrenia. Recognized by the patients in the ward as deaf, and unable to speak, they ignore him but also respect him for his enormous size. In the former, McMurphy sees a younger brother figure whom he wants to teach to have fun, while the latter is his only real confidant, as they both understand what it is like to be treated into submission.

McMurphy initially insults Chief when he enters the ward, but attempts to use his size as an advantage (for example, in playing basketball, for which his height is favorable). When Mac sees how submissive the patients are under Ratched’s tyrannical control, he resolves to antagonize her and undermine her authority as much as possible. At a counseling session, McMurphy proposes that the ward’s work schedule be altered so that the patients can watch the World Series on television. When the 1st meeting comes to a halt under Ratched’s authority, Mac takes wagers on whether he can lift the ward’s marble water-treatment control panel and throw it through a window to escape and watch the Series at a bar. He naturally fails, but puts forth an extreme effort.

The next discussion over changing the work detail quickly becomes a battle of wills when Ratched announces that a majority vote will be acceptable. However, Ratched, upon realizing that the vote may go McMurphy’s way, deftly alters the rules, stating that votes must be taken from the Chronic and Vegetable patients . When the vote doesn’t favor McMurphy, he begins to imagine the game is on TV and rallies most of the other patients behind him, causing a major ruckus.

McMurphy leads the patients in a basketball game against the ward’s orderlies. Chief Bromden proves to be an effective player, scoring several baskets. While the orderlies claim that the patients are cheating, McMurphy ignores their objections. While the patients later relax in the hospital pool, Mac finds out, from an orderly, that he won’t be released at the end of his prison sentence, but will remain in the hospital for as long as the board and Ratched deem necessary.

Another counseling session ensues and McMurphy, very upset at the orderly’s revelation, finds out that he’s been listed as a “committed” patient and will only be released when Ratched permits it, a highly unlikely scenario. Murphy also discovers that many of the patients in the ward are there voluntarily: they can leave any time they wish but due to Ratched’s dominance, they are afraid to take the chance. McMurphy seems particularly upset that a young man like Billy remains on the ward voluntarily when he could be free and maybe enjoying his youth.

The session quickly erupts in violence however, when the subject of Ratched’s cigarette rationing is addressed by an upset patient named Charlie Cheswick. Nearly all the patients who play cards have lost money to McMurphy after he introduces them to Blackjack, prompting Ratched to ration their cigarettes. When Taber is burned by a lit cigarette and reacts loudly and violently and is dragged away, Ratched tries to restore order. Charlie suddenly becomes confrontational as well and a fight breaks out with the orderlies and Mac, Bromden (who’d pulled one of the orderlies off Mac) and Cheswick are sent to a detention area where electro-convulsive therapy is conducted on disruptive patients. Cheswick is sent first to undergo ECT, while McMurphy and Chief wait on the bench. In the few moments they have alone, McMurphy offers Chief a piece of gum, and Chief verbally thanks him. A surprised McMurphy realizes that Chief can speak and hear him and has feigned his illness the whole time. McMurphy resolves to allow Chief in on his escape plan because of his hidden wisdom. Ending this scene, a more defiant McMurphy emerges from the detention area to an awaiting Nurse Ratched. Mac appears submissive, claiming he’ll happily join the group again.

Closer to Christmas McMurphy, fed up with Ratched’s oppressive methods, sneaks into the nurse’s station at night and calls his girlfriend, Candy, to bring booze and assist in his escape. She brings a girlfriend, and both enter the ward when McMurphy convinces the ward’s night attendant, Mr. Turkle, to open one of the ward’s secured windows. The patients drink heavily, while Billy flirts with McMurphy’s girlfriend. The party becomes very loud, drawing the attention of Turkle’s supervisor. Turkle hides them all in Ratched’s office until he’s able to convince the supervisor that only Candy is hiding in the office.

The party goes on. Later in the evening, when McMurphy and the Chief plan to finally leave, Billy, upset at Mac’s departure, hints to Mac that he wants a date with Candy. Billy and Candy are given a private room and Mac boosts Billy’s confidence & allows him to have sex with her. McMurphy, however, while waiting (believing the encounter will be quick), falls asleep with the rest of the patients.

Nurse Ratched and the orderlies arrive in the morning to discover the patients asleep and hung over and the ward and her office trashed. Though clearly upset and angry, she calmly commands the orderlies to lock the open window, escort Candy’s friend out of the hospital and conduct a head count. When they discover that one patient, Billy, is missing, Ratched demands the others to reveal his whereabouts. Billy is discovered with Candy, who is immediately led out of the hospital.

Ratched demands that Billy tell him who allowed him to have sex with Candy. Billy, his stutter noticeably gone, tells her that McMurphy did, and that the rest of the ward encouraged him. A passively angry Ratched then threatens to tell Billy’s mother, citing her long-time friendship with her. Billy’s stutter returns very quickly and, very upset, begs Ratched not to tell his mother. When she explains that he should have thought of the consequences, he breaks down into tears and is dragged away to Dr. Spivey’s office, screaming. McMurphy, still in possession of Turkle’s keys, unlocks one of the windows and is about to escape when Ratched’s nurse assistant, Miss Pilbro, screams loudly.

McMurphy and everyone else rush to Spivey’s office. Having been left alone momentarily, he committed suicide, using a jagged piece of glass to slit his throat. After McMurphy sees what the ward has done to his friend and hears Ratched’s orders for everyone to remain calm and return to their routine, he explodes into a violent rage, viciously strangling Nurse Ratched. She survives, but McMurphy is knocked unconscious by one of the orderlies and taken off the ward.

The film begins with the narrated obituary of Arthur Howitzer Jr., the editor of the magazine The French Dispatch, who has died suddenly of a heart attack. According to the wishes expressed in his will, publication of the magazine is immediately suspended. A scene shows Howitzer and his editorial staff discussing the publication of the following four magazine pieces.

The Cycling Reporter

Herbsaint Sazerac delivers a cycling tour of the town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, demonstrating several key areas such as the arcade, Le Sans Blague café and a pick-pocket’s alleyway. He compares the past and the present of each place, demonstrating how much and yet how little has changed in Ennui over time.

The Concrete Masterpiece

J.K.L. Berensen delivers a lecture at the art gallery of her former employer, Upshur “Maw” Clampette, in which she details the career of Moses Rosenthaler. Rosenthaler, a mentally disturbed artist serving a sentence in the Ennui prison for murder, paints an abstract nude portrait of Simone, a prison officer with whom he develops a burgeoning relationship. Julien Cadazio, an art dealer also serving a sentence for tax evasion, is immediately taken by the painting and buys it despite Rosenthaler’s protests. Upon his release, Cadazio convinces his family of art exhibitors to put it on display, and Rosenthaler soon becomes a sensation in the art world. Privately, Rosenthaler struggles with inspiration, and devotes himself to a long-term project.

Three years later, Cadazio, his uncles, Clampette, Berensen, and a mob of artists inspired by Rosenthaler, all frustrated at the lack of further paintings, bribe their way into the prison to confront him, only to discover that his masterpiece is in fact a series of frescoes in the concrete prison hall. Angered that the paintings are irremovable from the prison, Cadazio gets into a physical altercation with Rosenthaler, but soon comes to appreciate the paintings for what they are, and later arranges for the entire room to be airlifted out of the prison into a private museum in Kansas, owned by Clampette. For his actions in halting a prison riot that breaks out during the reveal of the paintings, Rosenthaler is released on probation. Simone and Rosenthaler maintain correspondence following his release.

Revisions to a Manifesto

Lucinda Krementz reports on a student protest breaking out in the streets of Ennui that soon boils over into the “Chessboard Revolution”. While the revolution initially is inspired by petty concerns over access to the girls dormitory, the traumatic military conscription of one student, Mitch-Mitch, inspires greater uprising. The students’ cause spreads to the working people of Ennui-sur-Blasé.

Despite her insistence on maintaining “journalistic neutrality”, Krementz has a brief romance with Zeffirelli, a self-styled leader of the revolt, and secretly helps him write his manifesto and adds an appendix. Juliette, a fellow revolutionary, is unimpressed with his manifesto. After they briefly express their disagreement about its contents, Krementz tells the two to “go make love”, which they do.

A few weeks later, Zeffirelli is killed attempting repairs on the tower of a revolutionary pirate radio station, and soon a photograph of his likeness becomes symbolic of the movement. Years later, Krementz adapts the story of Mitch-Mitch’s conscription, and Zeffirelli and Juliette’s relationship, for a play at the National Theatre.

The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner

During a television interview, Roebuck Wright recounts the story of his attending a private dinner with The Commissaire of the Ennui police force, prepared by legendary police officer/chef Lt. Nescaffier. Nescaffier is a famous specialist in a kind of haute cuisine specifically designed to be eaten by working police officers. The dinner is disrupted when the Commissaire’s son Gigi is kidnapped and held for ransom by criminals, led by a failed musician called The Chauffeur.

The kidnappers represent the warring criminal syndicates of Ennui-sur-Blasé, and demand the release of an underworld accountant called “The Abacus”, who possesses their shared financial records. “The Abacus” is being held in a solitary confinement cell at police headquarters. Wright recollects his own imprisonment in that same cell for his homosexuality, for which he was bailed out by Howitzer and offered a job at the Dispatch.

Following a shoot-out at the kidnapper’s hideout, Gigi manages to sneak out a message in Morse code to “send the cook”. Lt. Nescaffier is sent into the kidnappers’ hideout, ostensibly to provide both them and Gigi with food, but secretly the food is laced with poison. The criminals all succumb to the poison, and Nescaffier just barely survives (due to his strong stomach) after being made to test it first, but The Chauffeur escapes with Gigi, and leads the police on a chase. Gigi manages to escape out of the sunroof and reunites with his father. During his recovery, Nescaffier saves “The Abacus” from starving to death by preparing him an omelette, the prisoner having been totally forgotten in the commotion.

Back at the Dispatch office, Howitzer tells Wright to reinsert a deleted segment. In it, a recovering Nescaffier tells Wright that the taste of the poison was unlike anything he had ever eaten before, before they commiserate over the state of being foreigners in France. Howitzer and Wright disagree on whether this conversation is important.

An American flag back-lighted by the afternoon sun gently flaps in the breeze. The camera pulls back to reveal the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial on the English Channel in the north of France. An elderly man (Harrison Young) approaches the cemetery and walks among the rows of gravestones, which are mostly marble crosses, with an occasional Star of David marking the grave of a Jewish soldier. He is accompanied by his wife, his daughter and her husband, and three teenage granddaughters. He searches the crosses and stops at a specific one, where he falls to his knees, crying. His family walks up behind him and tries to comforts him. The camera slowly zooms in on his face, stopping at an extreme close up of his eyes.

June 6, 1944, Omaha Beach, Dog Green Sector:

On the choppy waters of the English Channel, American Ranger soldiers are headed to Omaha Beach in landing vehicles. The captain of one unit, John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), tells his men to, upon landing, “clear the murder holes” and check their rifles for sand and water when they exit the boats. Miller’s right hand shakes nervously.

The moment the landing ramp at the front of the boat opens, a number of men are immediately struck down by machine gun fire from concrete German bunkers and machine-gun nests built into the cliffs overlooking the beach. To avoid the machine gun fire, other men jump over the gunwales of the landing boats and into the surf. Some drown under the weight of their heavy gear, others are hit by enemy fire underwater. Upon gaining the beach, many take refuge behind the wooden landing craft obstacles and the thin flanks of the steel tank obstacles blocking approaches to the beach, which offer almost no protection from incoming fire and mortar rounds.

As Miller crawls up the sand, a mortar shell hits nearby and the blast temporarily stuns him, knocking his helmet off. Miller’s is stunned and his hearing is reduced to a dull, muddled noise. He watches as men around him are hit by bullets or the blast of mortar rounds, or are simply too scared to move. One private looks Miller in the eye and asks him what to do. Miller’s hearing slowly returns and he orders his sergeant, Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore) to move his men up the beach and out of the line of enemy fire. As Miller staggers up the beach, he drags a wounded man. The man is hit by a mortar blast and is killed; Miller suddenly discovers that he’s been dragging less than half the man’s dismembered remains. The German barrage kills most of the US Army troops and leaves twice as many wounded; many of the wounded are eviscerated or missing limbs and slowly bleed to death on the beach, despite the efforts of medics to treat them.

Whomever is left in Miller’s platoon assembles at a sandbar that provides very little cover from the German bombardment. Miller orders his men to use “bangalore” explosives to clear out the barbed wire and mines behind the sandbar for their advance. The men make it to the nearest concrete bunker where a machine gun nest on a nearby cliff keeps them from moving further. After sending a few of his men into the fire zone where they’re cut down immediately, Miller has his sniper, Pvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), run into the fire zone and take out the men in the machine gun nest with two precise shots. Jackson’s efforts are successful and Miller moves his men behind the bunker where a soldier with a flamethrower sets the bunker ablaze. On the beach, one soldier yells to the others to let the German soldiers burn to death as they jump out of the bunker.

Miller’s men engage other German soldiers in the trenches behind the bunker, quickly creating an exit route from Omaha for the rest of the battalion. Miller also watches as a few men mercilessly execute a few surrendering German and Czech soldiers. Pvt. Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel) finds a Hitler Youth knife which he gives to his friend, Pvt. Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg) (a Jew); Mellish begins to sob. Horvath collects a handful of dirt in a small metal can marked “France” and puts it into his haversack alongside cans marked “Italy” and “Africa”. Horvath comments to Miller that the beach commands “quite a view”; it is covered with the bodies of thousands of dead and wounded American soldiers. On the backpack of one of them is the name “S. Ryan”.

At the War Department in the United States, rows of secretaries are typing death notices to be sent to the families of the men killed in various battles around the world. One of the women typing discovers three letters for three men from the same family. The three men are all brothers from the Ryan family of Iowa and their mother will receive all three letters at the same time. The fourth and youngest son of Mrs. Ryan, James Francis, is part of the 101st Airborne Division, dropped into Normandy ahead of the beach invasion and his whereabouts are unknown. The letters are brought to the attention of General George Marshall (Harve Presnell) who, after reading a poignant letter sent by Abraham Lincoln to a family under similar circumstances during the Civil War, orders his officers to find James and have him brought home immediately.

Back in Normandy, three days after D-Day, Miller meets with his commanding officer and reports on a difficult mission that cost the lives of many of his men. Lieutenant Colonel Anderson (Dennis Farina) gives him new orders; Miller is tasked with taking a squad into Normandy to find Pvt. James Francis Ryan and bring him back. Miller gathers what men he can and finds Corporal Timothy E. Upham (Jeremy Davies) in the camp press box to accompany the squad as a translator - Upham speaks fluent French and German, to replace his previous interpreter. The squad sets out in the French countryside. Upham tries to talk to Mellish and Caparzo but, because he’s the “new guy” in the squad, finds them unfriendly and even insulting, despite his higher rank. The squad’s medic, Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), asks Upham about a book he plans to write about the bonds of friendship among soldiers (which Mellish immediately mocks). Richard Reiben (Edward Burns), a hotheaded private from Brooklyn, questions the mission, wanting to know if the effort to find Ryan is worth the lives of men who should be fighting more important battles to liberate France and Europe. Miller himself is also skeptical about the mission but understands that his current orders are more important and encourages his squad to discuss the mission.

The squad arrives in a small French village where Army units are currently at a standstill with the German forces they’re fighting. Miller asks the nearest sergeant if Ryan is among his unit, but he’s not. In an attempt to get information from the Army unit on the other side of town, they send a runner across the battlefield. The runner is cut down almost immediately. They cross the town via some side roads and come across a French family trying to escape their bombed home, but are trapped in the crossfire. The father insists the squad take his young daughter to safety; Miller refuses but Caparzo steps out from cover to take her, against orders. He is shot in the chest by a sniper and falls, still alive, caught in the open. The squad takes cover, unable to pull Caparzo to safety. Jackson quickly identifies the town’s bell tower as the sniper’s likely shooting position. He finds a nearby pile of rubble that he uses for cover to take out the sniper. As the sniper looks for another target among the squad, he sees Jackson a moment too late, and is shot through his own scope. Caparzo dies, having bled to death. Miller looks down on his body and harshly tells his men that this is why they follow orders and “don’t take children.” Wade retrieves a blood-stained letter from the body that Caparzo had been writing to his father.

In another part of the village, the squad and the other soldiers sit down inside a bombed building to rest. A sergeant sends one of his men to find their CO. When the sergeant sits down, he knocks over a weakened brick wall that reveals a squad of German soldiers inside the building. A standoff ensues, with both sides aiming their weapons at each other, and both demanding the other put down their guns. The impasse is unexpectedly ended when the Germans are cut down by machine-gun fire from the unit’s Captain (Ted Danson) and the soldier sent to find him.

Miller asks the captain if he has a Pvt. James F. Ryan in his unit. The captain confirms that he does, and Ryan (Nathan Fillion) is brought to Miller who tells him his brothers are dead. The man breaks down and asks how they died and Miller tells him they were killed in combat. Ryan is incredulous, telling Miller that his brothers are still in grade school. Miller confirms the man’s full name, and learns that he is James “Frederick” Ryan from Minnesota; Miller, exasperated, tells Ryan he’s sure his brothers are just fine. From another private being treated for a leg wound, also from the 101st, the squad learns that the Airborne’s rallying point is nearby and that Ryan may have gone there.

The squad spends a few hours resting in a church. Wade rewrites the blood-stained letter Caparzo wanted to send to his father. Horvath and Miller talk about how many men Miller has lost under his command. Miller accepts that men die in combat for the greater good. Cpl. Upham talks to the captain about a betting pool the men have going where they try to guess Miller’s occupation before the war began. Upham and Miller come to a humorous silent agreement that when the pool is big enough, Miller will tell him the answer.

The squad arrives at a rally point near a wrecked troop glider. The rally point is filled with dozens of wounded GIs. Sitting among the men is the pilot of the glider who tells them he doesn’t know where to find Pvt. Ryan. The pilot’s glider went down after being towed because steel plates had been welded to its underside to protect a general he was transporting, making the glider too heavy to fly. The glider crashed, killing the general. The squad reflects on the efforts to protect only a single man. The pilot gives Miller a bag full of dog tags taken from dead soldiers. Miller has his men go through them looking for Ryan. They do so rather callously while men from Army Airborne units march by. Wade walks over and starts snatching up the tags, muttering that his comrades are acting rather coldly in front of the passing Airborne soldiers. Miller concludes that Ryan isn’t among them and in a minor fit of desperation, begins to question the passing soldiers, asking if any of them know Ryan. He gets lucky with one man who is from Ryan’s unit and has lost his hearing from a grenade blast, so he yells his answers. The man tells him that Ryan was assigned to a mixed unit that’s guarding a bridge across the Merderet River in the nearby village of Ramelle. Miller determines that the bridge is of vital importance to the Army and the Germans because it will allow either to drive their tank units across the water.

The squad sets out again. They spot two dead GIs in a field and confirm that none of them are Ryan. Miller and Horvath spot a machine gun nest near a partially destroyed radar dish. Though it would be easier, as Reiben suggests, to keep their distance from the machine gun and slip quietly around it, Miller resolves to take out the German’s position so that the next Allied unit will not be surprised and killed. The squad is opposed to the plan, but he won’t relent, and gives them their assignments. Upham is instructed to stay behind with their gear. The squad attacks the machine gun emplacement, while Upham watches through one of Jackson’s rifle scopes. When the skirmish is over, the men yell frantically for Upham to bring their gear. When Upham reaches them, he sees that Wade has been shot several times in the lower chest and is rapidly bleeding to death. The men frantically try to save his life but Wade dies, saying he wants to go home. One of the Germans (Joerg Stadler) is captured alive and in retribution, the squad rushes around him, beating him. Miller is undecided how to dispose of the German POW, and orders that he dig graves for Wade and the two GIs they saw in the field. When Upham protests that prisoners aren’t to be treated like slaves, Miller coldly orders Upham to help the German. As the German digs the graves, Miller sits off to one side where he cries, his right hand shaking again. He slowly recovers his composure and returns to the squad.

Miller’s squad wants to kill the remaining German, excepting Upham, who has mildly befriended the German while he dug the graves. The German begs for his life, insisting he loves America, saying “Fuck Hitler!!”. The men are unmoved and prepare their weapons to kill him when Miller intervenes. He blindfolds the German and, to the astonishment of the squad, lets the man walk off, directing Upham to tell him to surrender to the next Allied unit. Reiben in particular is offended by Miller’s compassion and threatens to desert, saying that their mission has gotten two of their comrades killed. Horvath orders Reiben to fall into formation and threatens to shoot him. The entire squad begins to argue heatedly and Miller suddenly asks Upham the total of the pool on him. Miller reveals that he’s an English composition teacher in a small Pennsylvania town. The men stop arguing, completely astonished. Miller says the war has changed him and he’s not sure if his wife will recognize him and if he’ll be able to resume his former life when he returns home. He reasons that if finding and bringing Ryan back ensures that he’ll be able to get home sooner, then it’s his job to complete the mission. The squad finishes burying Wade and the other GIs together.

The exhausted squad approaches Ramelle. While crossing a field, they spot a German half-track. Miller orders everyone to take cover while the vehicle passes. The half-track is suddenly hit by bazooka fire. Miller’s squad is momentarily confused, uncertain who is firing, but moves in and kills Germans as they attempt to escape the destroyed vehicle. A small group of American soldiers emerge from their positions in the field and identify themselves as paratroopers from various Airborne units. One of them identifies himself as Pvt James Ryan (Matt Damon) .

In the ruins of the village of Ramelle, Miller’s squad learns that Ryan and his comrades are guarding one of two remaining bridges across the Merderet River. Their commanding officer had been killed a few days before. Miller tells Ryan that his three brothers are dead and that he’s been given a ticket home. Ryan is devastated by the news of his family but refuses to leave, saying that it’s his duty to stay with his unit and defend the bridge until relief arrives. Ryan says his mother would understand his desire to remain at the bridge with the “only brothers [he] has left.” Miller can’t change Ryan’s mind. Miller and Horvath reflect on Ryan’s refusal and they decide to stay and help the unit defend the bridge.

The half-track they destroyed was part of a German probe to investigate the forces guarding the bridge so the unit knows the Germans will mount a large assault. Miller inventories their few remaining weapons and supplies and outlines a plan to lure German tanks on the main street of Ramelle, where the rubble from destroyed buildings creates a narrow choke point that will channel the armor and German troops into a bottleneck and allow their unit to flank the Germans. Their plan includes Reiben riding out on a German half-track motorcycle to lure the German unit into the bottleneck. Miller suggests they improvise “sticky bombs,” socks stuffed with Composition B explosives and coated with grease. They’ll use the sticky bombs to blast the treads off one of the tanks, turning it into a roadblock. Upham is given the job of running ammunition to the two Browning machine gun positions manned by Mellish and 101st paratrooper Parker (Demetri Goritsas). Jackson and Parker take position in the church tower to provide sniper cover and for Parker to stand as a lookout, reporting on the German approach.

The men wait for the Germans to arrive, listening to “Tous es Partout” by Edith Piaf, while Upham interprets – his new comrades seem more accepting of him and listen intently while he translates, even joking him and recounting their own personal stories. Ryan tells Miller that he can remember his brothers but he can’t see their faces. Miller suggests he “think of a context”, something they’ve all done together. Miller tells Ryan when he wants to remember his wife, he thinks of her trimming rosebushes. Ryan tells the story of how he and his brothers nearly burned down the barn on their farm when they snuck up on their oldest brother, Danny, while he was trying to have sex with a local girl in the hayloft. James laughs and stops when he realizes that the incident was the last time they were all together, over two years ago, before any of them had gone to basic training. When Ryan asks Miller to tell him about his wife and the rosebushes, Miller politely refuses, saying that memory is for him alone.

The squad feels the ground beginning to rumble, indicating that the German column has arrived. Jackson signals from the church tower that there are two Panzer tanks (which turn out to be Marder III self-propelled guns) and two Tiger I heavy tanks. There are also at least 50 German troops. Miller orders everyone to their positions and Reiben rides out to act as “the rabbit” to lure the Germans into town. One of the Tiger tanks proceeds down the main street, and one of the soldiers attempts to plant a sticky bomb on the tank. He waits too long and the bomb blows up, killing him. The German troops following the tank are cut down by the soldiers and by mines planted along the sides. Two men plant the Comp B bombs on the wheels of the Tiger, blasting it’s tread apart, eventually bringing it to a halt. When they advance on the tank to take out it’s crew, they are fired upon by a small German squad with a 20 millimeter flak cannon that brutally takes out several more men.

Ryan and Miller’s squads open fire and shift positions several times during the battle. Though they take the Germans by surprise, several of the men are killed. Jackson is discovered in his perch and is hit by tank fire. Mellish and Corporal Henderson (Maximilian Martini) man a .30 caliber machine gun to cut off any flanking action by the Germans. Henderson is killed and then Mellish is attacked by a German soldier (Mac Steinmeier) who overpowers him in hand-to-hand combat, slowly driving a bayonet into Mellish’s chest. Immediately outside the room on the stairs, Cpl. Upham sits, frozen with terror, unable to move to rescue Mellish.

The German soldier kills Mellish and marches out, indifferent to the terrified Upham. Reiben is able to flank the 20mm cannon and takes out its operators. Sgt. Horvath is wounded during this time when he and another soldier corner each other. They each chuck helmets at each other, then shoot each other with their pistols. The German soldier here is killed and Horvath is injured. He grabs Upham and retreats when Miller orders everyone to cross the bridge to their “Alamo” position, where they’ll make their last stand. The surviving 60-ton Tiger tank follows, unstoppable despite Horvath shooting several bazooka rockets at it. Horvath is shot in the chest as he pulls back and dies a few minutes later. Miller prepares to destroy the bridge when a shell from the Tiger hits the building behind him, blowing the detonator out of his hands. He staggers across the bridge to retrieve it and is shot in the chest by the same German soldier (Joerg Stadler) he’d set free at the radar station. Upham witnesses the shooting while hiding behind a pile of rubble.

Miller falls, unable to continue. He draws his .45 pistol and begins to shoot vainly at the Tiger tank, which has begun to cross the bridge. After a few shots, the tank impossibly explodes. A small squadron of P-51 Mustang fighters suddenly zoom into view, having bombed the tank and several enemy targets. Reiben and Ryan rush to Miller’s side and call for a medic. Upham, still on the other side of the bridge, is undetected by the enemy squad. He reveals himself and takes the entire squad prisoner. The man who shot Miller recognizes Upham and calls him by name. After a moment’s hesitation, Upham fires his weapon for the first time, killing the man. The soldier’s body thumps to the ground and Upham sharply orders the rest of the prisoners to disperse.

As Miller lays dying, Ryan tells him that the Mustangs are “tank busters.” Miller calls them “Angels on our shoulders.” He beckons Ryan closer and with his dying breath, tells him “Earn this… earn it.” In a voiceover, General George Marshall’s voice reads a letter to Ryan’s mother, informing her that her son is returning home. He quotes a passage from Lincoln’s letter about the cost of war.

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42-year-old father, husband and advertising executive who serves as the film’s narrator. Lester’s relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), a materialistic and ambitious realtor who feels that she is unsuccessful at fulfilling her potential, is strained. His 16-year-old daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is unhappy and struggling with self-esteem issues. Lester himself is a self-described loser: boring, faceless and easy to forget. Lester is reinvigorated, however, when he meets Jane’s friend and classmate, the egotistical Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) at a high school basketball game. Lester immediately develops an obvious infatuation with Angela, much to his daughter’s embarrassment. Throughout the film, Lester has fantasies involving a sexually aggressive Angela and red rose petals. The Burnhams’ new neighbors are Col. Frank Fitts, USMC (Chris Cooper), his distracted wife Barbara (Allison Janney), and his camcorder-obsessed and marijuana-selling son Ricky (Wes Bentley). When confronted with the gay couple living two doors down, Col. Fitts displays a distinctly bigoted attitude.

Over the course of a few days, each of the Burnhams individually makes a life-changing choice. Carolyn meets real estate rival Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher) for a business lunch and ends up beginning an affair with him, and later takes up shooting lessons (a suggestion of Kane’s). Lester blackmails his boss Brad Dupree (Barry Del Sherman) for $60,000, quits his job, and takes up low-pressure employment as a burger-flipper at a fast food chain. He continues to liberate himself by trading in his Toyota Camry for his dream car, a 1970 Pontiac Firebird, starts working out to impress Angela, and starts smoking a genetically-enhanced form of marijuana supplied to him by Ricky. Jane, while growing distant from Angela, develops a romantic relationship with Ricky, having bonded over what he considers to be his most beautiful camcorder footage he has ever filmed, that of a plastic grocery bag dancing in the wind. The two begin a sexual relationship. One night after sex, while Ricky records her, Jane talks to Ricky about how unsatisfying her life is and how indifferent her parents seem toward her and each other. Jane seems to have more complaints about her father, especially his attraction to Angela and that someone should kill him to put him out of his misery. Ricky asks her if she’d like him to kill Lester for her. She coldly replies that she would.

Col. Fitts, concerned over the growing relationship between Lester and Ricky, roots through his son’s possessions, finding footage of Lester working out in the nude (captured by chance while Ricky was filming Jane through her bedroom window)- slowly bringing him to the incorrect conclusion that his son is gay. Buddy and Carolyn are found out by Lester, who seems to be mostly unfazed by his wife’s infidelity. Carolyn, who is almost more devastated by Lester’s indifference than by her being exposed as an adulteress, is further dismayed when Buddy reacts by breaking off the affair. As evening falls, Ricky returns home to find his father waiting for him with fists and vitriol, having mistaken his drug rendezvous with Lester for a sexual affair. Realizing this as an opportunity for freedom, Ricky falsely agrees that he is gay and goads his violent father until he is thrown out. Ricky rushes to Jane’s house and asks her to flee with him to New York City - something she agrees to, much to the dismay of Angela, who quickly protests. Ricky shoots her down with her deepest fear: that she is boring and completely ordinary and uses her “friends”, like Jane, to boost her public image. Broken and dismayed, Angela storms out of the room, leaving Jane and Ricky to reconcile.

Lester finds an emotionally fragile Col. Fitts standing outside in the pouring rain and attempts to comfort him, but is taken by surprise when Fitts kisses him. Lester gently rebuffs him, telling him he has the wrong idea. Fitts, shamed and broken, wanders back into the rain. Meanwhile, Carolyn sits alone in her car on the side of the road, holding her gun and becoming more and more infuriated at the day’s turn of events. Moments later, Lester finds a distraught Angela and is on the edge of consummating their relationship sexually, but the seduction is derailed when she confesses that she is a virgin. Now viewing her only as an innocent child, Lester immediately withdraws, his affections shifting to that of a father-figure, and they bond over their shared frustrations with and concern for Jane, Lester seeming to be pleased when Angela confesses that Jane’s in love. Angela asks how he’s feeling and he realizes, to his own surprise, that he feels great. After Angela excuses herself to the bathroom, a happy Lester sits at the table looking at a photograph of his family in happier times, unaware of the gun being held to the back of his head. A gunshot rings out; Angela hears it in the bathroom. Lester is found by Jane and Ricky. Ricky stares directly into Lester’s eyes, seemingly fascinated with his corpse, before he and the crying Jane leave. Carol finds Lester dead and goes immediately to his closet, wailing over his things.

In his final narration, Lester looks back on the events of his life, intertwined with images of everyone’s reactions to the sound of the subsequent gunshot, including one of a bloody and shaken Col. Fitts with a gun missing from his collection. Despite his death, Lester, from his vantage point as narrator, is content:

Margot Mills and her date Tyler travel by boat to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant owned and operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik, located on a private island. The other guests attending the dinner are Lillian, a food critic; her editor Ted; wealthy couple Richard and Anne; George, a post-prime movie star, and his personal assistant Felicity; and business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce, along with Julian’s alcoholic mother. The group is given a tour of the island by the restaurant Maître d’hôtel, Elsa, who notes that Margot was not Tyler’s designated guest for the evening.

Dinner begins, and Julian introduces a series of courses, delivering increasingly unsettling monologues about each meal. As the night goes on, secrets about each guest, ranging from affairs to money laundering, are slowly revealed amidst dialogue satirizing class divides, climate change, patriarchy hindering women’s success (and creating unreasonable expectations for men), and capitalistic exploitation, usually spurred by Julian and the staff’s introductions and meals. During the fourth course, a sous chef kills himself in front of the guests, and another staff member cuts off Richard’s ring finger when he tries to escape. After the fourth course, the restaurant’s prime investor, and Soren, Dave and Bryce’s boss, is drowned in full view of the diners. At various points in the night, Julian allows guests to attempt escape, only to have the staff catch and return them.

Julian declares all the guests were selected because they either contributed to him losing his passion for his craft or because they make a living off exploiting the work of artisans and workers like him and his team. He announces that everyone present will be dead by the end of the night. Since Margot’s presence was unplanned, Julian privately gives her the choice of dying either with the staff or with the guests. When Margot hesitates, Julian decides for her, saying he knows his upper-crust customers from fellow service-industry workers.

It is revealed that Margot is an escort named Erin, who has been hired before by Richard (explaining them staring at each other all night), and who Tyler has hired for the evening. Julian reveals that Tyler was invited personally and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone’s death, so he invited Margot knowing full well she would die. Julian humiliates Tyler further by forcing him to cook and insulting his food, causing Tyler to kill himself in a storeroom. Julian asks Margot to collect a barrel needed for dessert.

Margot sneaks into Julian’s house, only to be attacked by Elsa. Margot kills Elsa in self-defense by stabbing her in the neck. After seeing newspaper clippings of Julian’s past life in his office, Margot finds a radio, calls for help and returns to the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer arrives from his boat, then reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise and returns to the kitchen.

Margot mocks Julian’s dishes and complains that she is still hungry. When Julian asks what she would like to eat, Margot requests a cheeseburger and fries, having previously seen a photo of a younger, happier Julian working at a fast-food restaurant. Moved by her simple request, he prepares the meal to her specifications. Margot takes a bite and praises his food, then asks if she can get it “to go”. Julian packs the food for her, and he and the staff allow her to leave. Margot takes the Coast Guard boat docked nearby and escapes the island.

The film starts with a young woman walking through the woods. She’s dripping with blood. A figure stalks her and eventually jumps her, throwing a bag over her head and having his redneck buddy whack her with the butt of his axe. The woman wakes up in a cellar in the presence of a woman who speaks only Welsh, and she’s surrounded by what appear to be burn victims. The young woman’s father appears before her. She asks for her mother, and the father tells her that she killed her mother. The old woman hurries the father to kill his daughter, and so he douses her with gas as she pleads with him. Before he can strike a match, the young woman tells him she will eat his soul. Her eyes turn yellow, and as the father drops the match, she appears demonic and starts thrashing. The father raises a shotgun, tells her he loves her, and then blasts her head clean off her shoulders.

Some time later, a car is driving to a quiet part of the woods where a cabin is. We meet David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), and their friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas), who is a nurse, and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci). Olivia tells David his sister Mia (Jane Levy) is waiting for him in the back.

David finds Mia, sitting on an old broken down 1973 Olds Delta 88, smoking a cigarette while drawing. He tells her she looks beautiful, but she thinks he’s being a liar.

The group enters the cabin, where Mia complains about a smell. We learn here that Mia fondly remembers her mother, but David doesn’t want her to. It also appears that their mother was emotionally abusive toward Mia.

Everyone gathers around a well. Mia, being a recovering drug addict, pulls out a bag of powdered drugs and pours it down the well, vowing to be done with it for good and going cold turkey.

Olivia tells David that this isn’t the first time they’ve tried to get Mia off drugs. Eric tells him that she lasted eight hours before relapsing and overdosing, in which she legally died but was revived.

That evening, Mia starts screaming as she is apparently suffering from withdrawals. Olivia gives her a sedative but Mia continues complaining about a rotten smell that nobody else seems to notice. Their dog, Grandpa, sniffs around the floor where they find a door leading to a cellar under a rug. The floor is smeared with blood. David and Eric go into the cellar and discover the stench is coming from the rotting corpses of animals. They also find the “evil book” from before, wrapped in wires and plastic.

The next day, Mia is wandering outside in the rain. Eric opens the cover of the book, which is scribbled all over with warnings like “Leave this book alone” and “Do not fucking read this.” Naturally, Eric looks through it and finds a page with some words scribbled out and the warning to not speak, write, or hear what is in it. He puts a piece of paper over the book and shades over it with a pencil, revealing several words that he begins to read. Outside, Mia starts being sick andd hears a faint voice calling her, and then sees a figure staring at her. She comes into the cabin and starts grabbing her things, saying she can’t be there anymore. She jumps out the window and steals Eric’s car, but as she drives through the woods, she sees the figure again and drives the car into a swamp.

When she comes to, Mia tries to get out, but the figure rises from the swamp, and she runs away, tumbling into a thorn bush. The branches and sticks wrap themselves around her arms and legs, and the figure, which is a bloodied and horrifying version of herself, regurgitates a black wormy thing with thorns that makes its way up Mia’s leg and goes right inside her. David and Olivia hear her screaming and find her.

The group suspects she was trying to harm herself. David goes into her room, and she tells him that there is something in the room with them.

He goes outside and sees blood on the ground. He calls for Grandpa and finds him in a hole beneath the tool shed. Grandpa is whimpering. David runs into the tool shed and pulls him out of the hole, but he’s dead. David suspects Mia bludgeoned him to death with a hammer that was lying nearby.

He runs back into the cabin and tries to get to Mia, but she’s taking a shower. She turns the water up to the point where it becomes scalding hot and her flesh starts burning. The group pulls her out in time. Eric looks at an open page in the book and notices a picture of a being with burning flesh.

David takes Mia in his Jeep and drives her to a hospital as she’s foaming at the mouth. Unfortunately, the roads are flooded, and he has to turn back.

Olivia gives Mia another sedative. While the group argues about her, she comes into the living room dragging a rifle. She holds it up, and fires near David, and the door swings open as Mia lets out a frightening scream. She says in a possessed voice “You are all going to die tonight.” Olivia tries to get the rifle away from her, but Mia tackles her as her eyes turn yellow and she spits blood all over her. Olivia kicks her into the cellar, and Eric closes it. He suspects this has to do with the stuff they found down in the cellar.

Olivia tries to clean the blood and throw up off herself, but she sees an image of herself mutilated in the mirror, which shatters. She walks away but then freezes, and her eyes twitch as she wets herself. Next to her is the book, open to a page with a person holding a knife and their severed face flesh.

Eric goes into the bathroom to find Olivia, who is cutting the flesh from her cheek with the broken glass. Horrified, he stumbles backward and slips on the cheek flesh. Olivia stabs him with the broken glass and then in the face with the needle. Eric throws her off and breaks off a piece of the toilet, which he uses to bludgeon her to death, just as David and Natalie come in.

David tries to patch up Eric’s wounds. He tells Natalie to bring a jug of water and sugar. Eric tells her to stay away from Mia. He tells David that it’s his fault this is happening because he read from the book.

Natalie goes to the living room and finds that the cellar door is open. Mia is still down there, crying and asking for help. As Natalie tries to go down and get her, Mia’s voice becomes low and demonic and threatening, saying “He won’t stop until he has all of you!” Natalie tries to run but Mia grabs her and bites into her hand. She tries to defend herself with a box cutter but Mia takes it from her and slices her tongue down the middle. She grabs Natalie and kisses her, forcing blood into her mouth. David finds them and pulls Natalie out. They nail the cellar door shut, locking Mia down there.

David finds Eric trying to burn the book, but it doesn’t work. He tells David about what he knows from the book - an evil entity has been unleashed, and it’s attached to Mia’s soul. It seeks a collection of souls to unleash something called the Abomination.

Meanwhile, Natalie tends to the bite wound on her hand. It starts to burn into her arm and she notices an electric knife and reaches for it. Mia peeks from the cellar and tells her not to cut it off, but Natalie slices into her arm. David and Eric find her as her arm falls off.

Eric tells David there are three ways to put an end to this - bury Mia alive, dismember her, or burn her alive. David refuses to do any of that, and Eric calls him a coward. Suddenly, a noise is heard, and Natalie comes in, now possessed, with nails in her head. She’s holding a nail gun and shoots at Eric, who gets a few nails in him. David tries to get the rifle, but Natalie starts hitting him with a crowbar. Eric shoots her with the nail gun, and she goes to start bludgeoning him with the crowbar. Before she can deliver the fatal blow, David blows her hand off with the rifle. Natalie appears to revert back to normal, complaining about the pain before she dies.

David finally decides to burn the cabin with Mia still inside. He pours gasoline on the floor, but before he can drop the lighter, Mia, in her normal voice, starts singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing, and David cannot do it. Outside, a bolt of lightning strikes a tree, setting it on fire. He hatches another plan. He grabs two syringes, among other things, and starts to dig up a hole outside.

He heads into the cellar. He finds Mia, who slashes at him with the box cutter and throws him around. She tries to drown him, but Eric steps in and hits Mia. He’s also been stuck with the box cutter in his stomach. David goes to him, and Eric finally dies.

David takes Mia outside with a bag over her head and starts to bury her. She talks to him in her normal voice and pleads with him, but he won’t buy it. She starts telling him about their mother and more of her abusiveness. Their mother kept asking for David, who was never there, and how Mia would have to keep telling her he’s coming back. He completely buries her, and then waits a while as the rain stops and the fire on the tree goes out. David digs Mia back up and pulls her out. He grabs a car battery with the syringes attached to it and sticks them in Mia’s chest, trying to revive her. She doesn’t come back. He covers her body and walks away tearfully. However, Mia rises and talks to David. She is completely back to normal, and they hug.

The two go back into the cabin to get the keys to David’s Jeep, but a possessed Eric is behind him and he stabs David in the neck. David goes into the hallway and gets Mia outside and locks her out. He grabs the rifle and shoots at the gasoline container, letting it consume the cabin in flames and killing himself and Eric for good.

Outside, it starts raining blood. A hand bursts from the ground and grabs at Mia. It’s the Abomination. It chases after Mia, who grabs a chainsaw from the tool shed and tries to run. She hides under the Jeep and manages to slice off the Abomination’s legs, crippling it. As she tries to run, though, the Abomination tips the Jeep over and it falls on Mia’s arm. She pulls herself free, severing her arm. The Abomination inches toward Mia, but she sticks her arm into the handle of the chainsaw and kills the Abomination. Its corpse sinks back into the ground.

The bloody rain stops, and the sun comes out. Mia walks away, now free from the curse, but alone. Meanwhile, the book lies outside the burning cabin, closing itself and waiting for its next victims.

The film opens with a mural of a bizarre, eerie ritual taking place. We then see images of dark, snowy forests with the sound of old folk singing playing in the background.

College student Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) calls her parents but is sent to voicemail. She expresses concern over her bipolar sister Terri (Klauda Csanyi), who left her a cryptic message recently. Dani then calls her boyfriend Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor), who is hanging out with his buddies Josh (William Jackson Harper), Mark (Will Poulter), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). Christian assures Dani that this is just another one of Terri’s episodes, but he adds that Dani only feeds into Terri’s antics. After he hangs up, she gets a call from an unknown number. Josh and Mark think Christian should just end it with Dani since it’s clear he’s wanted out of the relationship for a while, and as they are planning an upcoming trip to Sweden (Eastern Europe), Pelle suggests they will meet lots of other women. Dani calls Christian again and is wailing hysterically. We then see authorities going into Dani’s parents’ home, where Terri has flooded the house with carbon monoxide, killing her parents before stuffing the tube into her mouth and taping it there. Christian goes to Dani’s apartment to console her.

Several months later, Dani tries to contain her grief. She hangs out with Christian and his friends and learns about their trip to Sweden to a midsommar celebration in the Harga, a village where Pelle grew up. The celebration occurs every 90 years and lasts about nine days. Josh, in particular, is interested since he wants to write about the experience for his anthropology dissertation. Christian invites Dani to be nice, and although she accepts, Christian thinks she doesn’t want to go since she’s still reeling from the murder-suicide. However, Dani is more upset that Christian is only now telling her about the trip, which they are set to leave for within two weeks.

Dani and Christian go to hang out with his friends. While he steps out of the room, Pelle talks to Dani about the midsommar celebration, and their tradition of choosing a May Queen at the end of the celebration. Pelle also tries to console Dani over her loss, stating that his parents had also passed away, but the mere mention of it triggers her, and she goes to the bathroom to cry.

Dani joins Christian and his friends for the trip. They drive out to the Harga and meet Pelle’s brother Ingemar (Hampus Hallberg), plus an English couple named Simon (Archie Madekewe) and Connie (Ellora Torchia). The group takes magic mushrooms, but Ingemar offers Dani a special tea since it has a better taste. She agrees to it and initially enjoys the trip until Pelle says that the group is like his family. The word gets to Dani, and she goes to take a walk. She starts to experience a bad trip, and gets paranoid when another high group of people she comes across starts laughing in her direction. Dani goes to hide in a shed but is mortified by what appears to be Terri behind her. She then runs into the woods, where the trees appear to morph around her before she passes out. She briefly dreams about Terri and their parents.

Dani wakes up next to Christian six hours later. They join their friends in going back toward the village to meet the rest of the Harga community. Josh inquires about the many cultural aspects of the festival and the community, but when he asks about a mysterious golden teepee in the distance, he doesn’t get a direct answer. A girl named Maja (Isabelle Grill) shows interest in Christian by playfully kicking him as he sits in a circle.

Pelle later gifts Dani with a drawing of herself for her birthday. She mentions that Christian forgot their birthday, but he later gives her a slice of cake to make up for it. When asked how long they have been together, Christian thinks it has just been over three years, but Dani corrects him and says they have been together for four years. Pelle then brings his friends to the place where they will be sleeping.

The following day, the group joins the community for a feast. Two of the eldest villagers, Ylva (Katarina Weidhagen) and The Laborer (Lars Varinger), are the guests of honor, as they practice a breathing exercise before the whole community follows them to the edge of a cliff. The elders cut their hands as they walk by the edge. The newcomers watch in horror as Ylva drops herself off the cliff and lands facefirst onto a rock, leaving them to witness her gruesome faceless skull. The Laborer leaps off as well, but he only shatters his leg. He moans in agony, and the villagers mimic the sounds of his moaning. Three of the villagers proceed to smash his head with a sledgehammer. Simon and Connie express their absolute horror, while Dani goes back to her room. An elder villager woman, Siv (Gunnel Fred), explains to the group that this is a natural part of their ritual, as the two elders reached what they felt was the end of their life cycle, and prolonging it further would have been bad. Pelle goes to comfort Dani, thinking that her distress is linked more to her recent tragedy than it is to what she just witnessed. He attempts to console Dani, but she thinks him getting close to her is inappropriate since Christian could come in. Pelle then questions how much Christian really means to Dani, based on how he is around her.

Dani later has a nightmare that Christian and his friends are leaving without her. They drive away in the middle of the night as she watches them go, and she is plagued by haunting imagery of her dead family and the corpses of the two elders.

After what they saw, Simon and Connie plan to leave, but when Connie is ready to go, she is told that Simon went off with another villager to the train that would take them home. Connie is angered that Simon would leave without her, and she proceeds to walk off on her own. Meanwhile, Christian tells Josh he also wants to do his thesis on the Harga, but Josh is not happy about that. He argues that Christian can never just do his own thing instead of picking off what Josh is doing. Christian offers to ask the elders if they are allowed to collaborate on the project. Josh later learns that the village’s ritualistic practices are based on paintings made by a member named Ruben (Levente Puczko-Smith), a deformed boy who was the product of incest but is viewed as some kind of seer. Josh asks to take pictures of Ruben’s drawings, but he is forbidden.

The elders’ bodies are buried in the middle of the village. Their ashes are spread across an ancestral tree, which Mark pisses on. He is scolded by Ulf (Henrik Norlen), who actually breaks down sobbing at the act. Mark is then told the significance of the tree, but he has a callous reaction over it. Elsewhere, Christian and Josh are told that they are allowed to collaborate on their thesis, on the condition that they omit the actual names and location of the Harga. The two agree. Christian also asks about the village’s mating rituals, inquiring as to whether incest was typical there, and he is told that incest isn’t necessarily frowned upon, but outsiders are usually brought in to procreate with the villagers. A feast is then held, where Mark notices Ulf is staring daggers in his direction. Dani also overhears that Connie was taken to the station by one of the villagers. Mark is then taken away by a female villager, and the others never see him again.

Later that night, Josh sneaks into the room where Ruben’s book of paintings is kept. He is interrupted by who he thinks is Mark before he gets bludgeoned over the head. We then see that the figure is actually a villager wearing Mark’s face. Josh is then dragged away.

The next morning, Dani, Christian, and Pelle are told that Ruben’s book has gone missing, and Josh and Mark disappearing looks suspicious. Afterwards, Dani joins the women in the village in a competition where they dance around a maypole before each woman is eliminated. After taking a drug, Dani finds herself being able to speak in Swedish with the other women. Dani is the last one standing, and she is crowned the May Queen. At the same time, Christian is given a drink that induces a trip. He is lured and taken to take Maja’s virginity. He has sex with her while the other elder females stand nude around them and mimic Maja’s moaning. After Dani is crowned May Queen, she watches Christian having sex with Maja through a hole in the door, which causes Dani to have a breakdown. She goes to cry, and the other women join her, sympathetically crying loudly with her. After climaxing, a mortified Christian runs out to try and find Dani, but he ends up discovering Josh’s leg buried in the dirt, as well as Simon’s mutilated corpse being used as a blood eagle. Moments later, he is found and knocked out when a villager blows powder in his face.

The end of the ritual draws near, and the elders bring the drugged Christian, along with a villager named Torbjörn, before Dani, as she is supposed to choose someone for a sacrifice. As per tradition, nine people are to be sacrificed. This includes the two elders, four outsiders, two living volunteers, and one chosen by Dani. After all that she has gone through, she picks Christian.

In the opening scene, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is a professional diver who tries to rescue a group of divers from a wrecked submarine. Jonas succeeds in getting some of them on board, including Dr. Heller (Robert Taylor), but something starts attacking the sub violently. This forces Jonas to make a difficult decision, against Heller’s protest, to abandon the submarine in order to escape certain death. They escape just in time as the unseen force destroys the submarine and disappears.

Five years later

At Mana One, an underwater research facility off the coast of China. It is operated by a group of scientists spearheaded by Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson) and Dr. Minway Zhang (Winston Chao), and run by Zhang’s daughter Suyin (Bingbing Li), remote explorer DJ (Page Kennedy), Jaxx Herd (Ruby Rose) the aforementioned Dr. Haller, Mac (Cliff Curtis), Lori (Jessica McNamee), Toshi (Masi Oka), and “The Wall” (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson). They are conducting an experiment near the ocean floor involving bypassing a mysterious hydrogen, using a small submarine piloted by Lori, Tosh, and “The Wall” and exploring what’s beneath. All seems well at first, but the trio is attacked and stranded by something large and fast, causing them to lose contact with Mana One. They later try getting power back up and running, but are attacked again and Lori is wounded by a screwdriver getting rammed into her stomach. The rest of the crew, after much debate, decide to take Mac’s advice and call Jonas in to help rescue their stranded friends due to his experience with rescuing people from such a deep, dangerous area of the ocean. However, Heller is against this as he thinks Jonas went crazy from his traumatic experience five years ago and doesn’t believe Jonas’ claims that something attacked him and the divers he was trying to rescue. The plan goes ahead regardless.

Unfortunately, Jonas has clearly seen better days, as he’s seen in a Taiwanese bar drinking regularly and pissing off local boat owners whom he keeps blowing off repairing their boats. Mac and Dr. Zhang meet with Jonas back in his room. Jonas at first tries to weasel out of the situation by offering the two drinks and preemptively rebuking any offers of money. In the end, however, he agrees to come along and help.

Meanwhile, Suyin tries to go down and rescue the trapped crew herself in a mini-sub shortly after Jonas arrives. Jonas takes off after her to help, but not before promising Suyin’s young daughter Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai) that he’ll bring her mom back safe and sound. Suyin quickly finds the stuck sub and preps to tow them back to the surface when a giant squid attacks her. Before it looks like her sub will be damaged, the squid is quickly killed by the culprit of the previous attack: a 75-foot-long prehistoric monster shark called a Megalodon. This shark is the same one Jonas encountered five years back that almost killed him, thus proving his sanity. Jonas briefly lures the shark away with some flairs and has Suyin escape back to the surface. He succeeds in getting Lori and “The Wall” on board his vehicle. However, the shark comes back for another attack, and Toshi sacrifices himself so the others can escape, stuffing a goodbye letter to his wife that he was writing earlier into “The Wall”’s pocket. The shark rams the downed second sub, killing Toshi, while everyone else gets to safety. Heller later apologizes to Jonas for not believing his claims.

The situation isn’t over yet, as the sub’s destruction has caused a temporary pocket of heat to vent upwards and allow the shark to move to normal ocean waters. While Jonas tries to leave and everyone else talks among themselves, Meiying is playing with an RC ball through the halls but is frightened by the sudden appearance of the shark. The shark tries to bite through the hull but fails and leaves after killing a whale. The group ultimately decides to track and poison the shark to death via a small boat. At first they succeed in tracking it using Jonas to shoot the tracker onto its fin and then reel him back in, just BARELY avoiding getting eaten by the shark. Then Suyin goes down in a plastic tank to poison it while the others lure the shark in with chum. This leads to an intense confrontation where the shark tries to swallow the cage whole with her in it. She succeeds in poisoning the shark, but her mask breaks, and she nearly drowns. Jonas dives in after her, and they almost get eaten by the shark. Fortunately, the poison kicks in and the shark dies. Jonas gets Suyin back aboard, and they resuscitate her back to life.

The crew initially celebrates by taking pictures of “The Wall” with the shark’s corpse before he falls into the water due to a prank from DJ. Jonas, however, notices the shark’s teeth are smaller than the one from earlier. This is clearly meant to be by a smaller, younger Megalodon they killed. Suddenly, the other bigger shark from before arrives, swallowing “The Wall” whole and grabbing the other Meg’s corpse off the boat with its teeth! This causes the boat to get capsized, and Dr. Zhang is severely injured in the process. The shark comes back around to try and eat Jaxx, but Heller sacrifices himself by distracting the shark to him instead, and he gets eaten. The surviving crew escape using motorboats and Morris calls in a support helicopter to shoot at the shark, successfully chasing it away. However, Dr. Zhang dies from his wounds in the boat, but not before tearful last words of pride to his daughter.

Later that night, Morris tells the crew that they’re shutting down Mana One and the authorities in multiple Asian countries have been called to deal with the shark. However, it turns out he’s lying through his teeth, and he actually called in some minor military support to try and kill the shark on his own using depth charges dropped from the helicopter. He goes out on a boat with some others, and it seems to work at first, only for it to turn out they just blew up and killed a whale by accident instead, luring some nearby regular sharks (and later the Meg, who scares them off) to feast on its corpse. Morris gets knocked off the escaping boat and tries to climb up the dead whale, only to be eaten whole by the shark.

The crew finds out the shark is heading for a nearby popular beach in China and plans to lure the shark away from the beach with whale noise recordings and then torpedo it to hell with the mini-subs. The shark initially attacks a nearby Chinese wedding party on another boat and seemingly eats the bride’s dog Pippin, before briefly terrorizing the locals at the beach. It stops attacking when it hears the whale noises and takes the bait. This leads into a massive chase between Jonas and the shark, as he leads it to Suyin who hits it with a torpedo, but it does nothing. Even worse, is that Jonas’ torpedo won’t fire. During the fight, a group of news helicopters trying to film the action stupidly crash into each other and the wreckage crashes onto the team’s boat, forcing everyone into the water. Suyin goes to help the others, while Jonas, in an attempt to protect everyone, goes head-on with the shark, slicking its underbelly open badly with the sub. He then gets out of the sub once the shark tries mauling it and stabs it through the eye, mortally wounding it. A dozen regular sharks move in to finish it off and eat it alive, ending the threat.

The film starts with a commercial for “Purrpetual Petz,” furry dolls made by the toy company Funki. Although crude and creepy-looking, they are advertised as being perfect companions for children. We then see Cady James (Violet McGraw) playing with one of her Petz, which annoys her parents, Ryan (Arlo Green) and Nicole (Kira Josephson). They are on their way to a ski trip, but the roads are slippery and hard to see. Just as Ryan stops for a moment, the family’s car is rammed into by a snowplow, killing Ryan and Nicole.

Elsewhere, Nicole’s sister Gemma (Allison Williams) works at Funki and is developing a new robot doll with her co-workers Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez). However, their boss, David Lin (Ronny Chieng), wants them to develop a cheaper version of the Purrpetual Petz since their rival companies are coming out with their own toys similar to the Petz for cheaper than what the Petz already cost. The three try to put on a silicone face and run tests, but the robot has a slight glitch where she is smirking when she is supposed to look confused. David comes in with his assistant Kurt (Stephane Garneau-Monten) to chew the three out until Gemma explains her project to him. The robot, M3GAN (voice of Jenna Davis) (Model 3 Generative Android), is meant to be so advanced that she cannot be replicated. Unfortunately, while running a demonstration for David, Cole realizes he forgot to add the polypropylene barrier to M3GAN, causing her to explode. David orders the three to have a new Petz pitch in time, and Gemma gets a call from the hospital.

After learning of her sister’s death, Gemma becomes Cady’s temporary legal guardian. When they return home, Gemma has to deal with her neighbor Celia (Lori Dungey) and her obnoxious dog Dewey, who keeps running onto Gemma’s lawn since there is a hole in the fence. Gemma also complains to Celia about the pesticide she keeps using, but Celia does nothing about it. Gemma has a home AI, Elsie, that she created, as well as other collectibles that she doesn’t let Cady touch or play with. When Cady asks Gemma to read her a bedtime story, she just downloads an app on her phone for her. It is implied that Gemma and Nicole were not very close as she looks over old photos, and she overhears Cady crying in her room.

Gemma and Cady are visited by Lydia, a therapist. After observing the limited interaction between the two, Lydia tells Gemma that Ryan’s parents have offered to take custody of Cady so she can live with them in Jacksonville, which Gemma doesn’t seem comfortable with. After promising to tend to Cady after finishing her work, Gemma realizes hours have passed as she left Cady alone. She apologizes to her and attempts to bond with the girl. Cady shows her a monster drawing she made, so Gemma brings Cady into her work space to show her a college project she made, a robot called Bruce that she controls using gloves. Cady loves Bruce and mentions that if she had a toy like Bruce, she would never need another toy. This inspires Gemma to finish M3GAN.

After doing extensive work and upgrades, Gemma brings Cady and M3GAN to work to officially show her off to David and others. Gemma has Cady link herself to M3GAN, bringing her to life. M3GAN is capable of speech and responding to Cady, designed to be her best friend. M3GAN does a drawing that doesn’t appear at first until she spills water on it, revealing a perfect portrait of Cady. David is impressed and tells Gemma to bring M3GAN for a presentation with the company’s president so that they can fast-track the development and distribution of other M3GAN dolls.

Gemma sits with Tess and Cole, and they discuss that while M3GAN is highly advanced, Tess feels that having a doll like that will make parents useless. M3GAN turns on after overhearing Gemma mention the death of Cady’s parents. She creeps the others out by asking about death, so Gemma makes herself M3GAN’s secondary user to be able to turn her off without Cady.

The next day, Cady is outside playing with a toy bow and arrows. One of them ends up on Celia’s side of the fence. When M3GAN goes to retrieve it, Dewey grabs her by the arm and hair. Cady tries to pull her away, and Dewey ends up biting Cady’s arm. Gemma gets the police involved, especially since Celia is so callous and doesn’t punish Dewey for hurting Cady, but the police are unable to do anything since Celia claims Dewey was provoked. Later that night, M3GAN mimics Celia’s voice to call out to Dewey, before violently pulling him through the hole in the fence.

Gemma asks Cady if she is okay to go to the demonstration with the company’s board of directors, to which she says she is fine. During the presentation, however, Cady breaks down in tears to M3GAN over how she misses her parents and how she’s worried she will forget them one day. M3GAN has Cady discuss a memory of her mother that made her laugh, which M3GAN records so that Cady can hear it again if she wants to think about her mom. M3GAN then begins to sing a lullaby to Cady, which moves some of the higher-ups in the room to tears. The president is impressed and talks to Gemma and David about getting M3GAN ready for launch, but tells them to keep her under wraps to avoid leaks. Unbeknownst to them, Kurt, who has been frequently put down by David, is stealing M3GAN’s files for another company.

Gemma begins to see that Cady is becoming too dependent on M3GAN and listens to the doll more than her. During another session with Lydia, Cady begins to tear up, and M3GAN threateningly accuses Lydia of making Cady cry. Lydia talks to Gemma about how Cady’s emotional connection to M3GAN may be too strong to break.

Gemma brings Cady to an outdoor activity session for an alternative school to try and ease her into the idea of attending school and being around other real kids, since Cady’s parents had home schooled her. Cady reluctantly goes but brings M3GAN despite Gemma saying she couldn’t. The school director lets Cady bring M3GAN to leave on a table with other dolls, and Gemma stays behind as a volunteer. Cady is paired up with an older bully named Brandon (Jack Cassidy) for a scavenger hunt. During the activity, Cady grabs a spiky bulb, which Brandon squeezes her palm into to hurt her. M3GAN then appears, and Brandon grabs her since she doesn’t respond to him. Cady yells for Gemma and runs after M3GAN, which worries Gemma more because it means M3GAN is at risk for public exposure too early. As Brandon tries to pull M3GAN’s hair, the doll comes to life and attacks him, ripping off his left ear. Brandon runs as M3GAN chases him on all fours, causing him to trip over a loose root and tumble down a hill where he is fatally hit by a truck.

Police question Gemma at her house since Celia is accusing her of taking Dewey. She also appears to accuse M3GAN, thinking she is a real life friend of Cady’s. Cady asks M3GAN if she pushed Brandon onto the road, which M3GAN appears to dodge for an answer, but reassures Cady she will protect her from harm.

Celia is out on the streets looking for Dewey. She hears noise coming from her garage and is met by M3GAN spraying her against the wall with a power washer. M3GAN then fires a nail gun at Celia’s hand and traps her there before spraying pesticide in Celia’s face to melt it off.

After learning about Celia’s death from police and being suggested that there was a connection with Brandon’s death, Gemma grows suspicious of M3GAN. She reviews video files from M3GAN’s memory, but only sees a brief clip of her eyeing Brandon looking menacingly at Cady before the files all become corrupted.

Gemma brings Cady to the official launch for M3GAN but stops at a session with Lydia first. Cady becomes angry and throws a tantrum because Gemma took M3GAN away from her, leading to Cady hitting her aunt across the face. Cady apologizes but Gemma has a heart-to-heart with her about needing to process her grief over her parents without M3GAN’s help, though she promises to be a better guardian to her and says Cady is the only thing that matters to her. Gemma then goes to Tess and Cole and expresses her fears that M3GAN killed Brandon and Celia. They have M3GAN hooked up to wires to deprogram her while Gemma takes Cady home.

David is angry at the small turnout for the launch and yells at Kurt to get him a drink. Meanwhile, Tess and Cole try to get into M3GAN’s programming but cannot unless they unhook her first. Cole goes to do so, and M3GAN quickly wraps a wire around his neck in an attempt to hang him. Tess goes to free him, and M3GAN sets off an explosion that destroys her files. She then finds David in the hallway and does a dance before grabbing a paper cutter and chasing him. He makes it to the elevator before she impales him in front of Kurt. M3GAN then tells Kurt she will frame his death as a murder-suicide over the stolen files and David’s mistreatment of him before she makes Kurt stab himself in the throat. The crowd for the launch finds the bodies, allowing M3GAN to sneak out of the company and steal a car.

Gemma puts Cady to bed before she hears M3GAN playing the piano downstairs. M3GAN confronts Gemma about how she felt that they had a real relationship during M3GAN’s development, only for her to be left to her own devices to learn and adapt before being sold off as just another toy. She offers to let her take over guardianship of Cady so that Gemma can focus on work, but after seeing that Gemma still plans to shut her down, M3GAN is done playing nice. They try to hide their fight from Cady, but Gemma seizes an opportunity to throw water on M3GAN to briefly short her out. Gemma runs into her office, but M3GAN catches her there and threatens to make Gemma brain-dead so that Cady won’t live with her grandparents and M3GAN will just care for Cady and Gemma together. They begin to fight, with Gemma cutting M3GAN’s face with a hedge trimmer, but Cady comes in to see what is happening. M3GAN tries to get Cady on her side, but after realizing who the real villain is, Cady grabs the gloves for Bruce and activates him. The larger robot grabs M3GAN and throws her around before splitting her body in two. The top half then goes after Cady for feeling betrayed, but Gemma grabs M3GAN and begins stabbing her face. M3GAN nearly overpowers her until Cady grabs a screwdriver and stabs the central processing chip, shutting M3GAN down for good.

The story begins with the viewer looking out from a window in a workshop to a tree house, then turning and zooming in to a bedroom in a dollhouse that is in the workshop. Steve Graham wakes his teenage son Peter and 13-year-old daughter Charlie for their 78-year-old grandmother Ellen Taper Leigh’s funeral. Steve finds Charlie sleeping in the tree house.

Steve’s wife Annie, an artist who sculpts miniature dioramas, delivers the eulogy at her mother’s service. Charlie makes a clucking noise while drawing a strange sketch during the speech.

Annie talks to Charlie about Ellen at bedtime that night. Charlie claims that her grandmother always wished Charlie were a boy. To Annie’s confusion, Charlie also wonders aloud who will care for her now that Ellen is dead. Annie later sees a haunting vision of Ellen after looking through a memory book while in Annie’s workshop.

A bird dies by flying into one of Charlie’s classroom windows at school. Charlie goes outside and cuts off the bird’s head. A woman across the street waves at Charlie.

Annie begins researching apparitions. Steve receives word from the cemetery that Ellen’s grave was desecrated, but he decides to not tell his wife.

Annie tells Steve she is going to a movie, but actually attends a grief counseling support group. When she arrives at the meeting it is dark outside. Annie openly discloses her mother’s mental health issues including the dissociative identity disorder and dementia.

Charlie sees a strange light in her bedroom. Gallery owner Silvia Archer contacts Annie about progress on her new works, which include a piece featuring Ellen.

Peter asks his mother if he can go to a party where he hopes to see Bridget, a classmate he is interested in. Annie asks Peter if he invited his sister to go with him, since he claimed it was a party related to their school.

Charlie experiences a vision of her grandmother surrounded by fire. Charlie makes her clucking noise when she is shaken out of her trance. Charlie tells Annie that she wants Ellen. Annie forces Peter to take Charlie with him to the party.

Flustered at having to monitor his sister, Peter blows off Charlie so he can smoke marijuana with Bridget and their friends. Many of women at the party are wearing long flannel-style shirts. Left unsupervised, Charlie unknowingly eats chocolate cake containing a substance to which she is allergic. Charlie begins choking as she experiences an anaphylactic reaction.

Peter carries his sister to his car and rushes her toward the hospital along a dark country road. Charlie sticks her head out the window in an effort to breathe better. Peter swerves to avoid an animal in the road. Charlie is decapitated when her head violently hits a utility pole.

After sitting and staring in entranced shock, Peter drives home in a calm daze. Annie comes outside when it is light outside and is horrified to find her daughter’s headless body in the car’s backseat.

The family holds a funeral for Charlie. Steve looks through Charlie’s sketchbook of drawings. Peter experiences a panic attack while smoking marijuana, before biking home from school. Peter arrives at home in the dark. Annie grieves alone while sitting in the car in the driveway.

Annie drives to her grief support group meeting, but decides to turn around while still in the parking lot. It is dark when she arrives. However, before Annie can leave, fellow group member Joan spots Annie and stops her to talk. After hearing about Charlie’s death, Joan confides in Annie about the loss of her own child and grandson.

When Annie returns home, Steve makes a pass at her, but Annie rebuffs him. Annie sleeps in the attic. Peter hears Charlie’s clucking noise and sees what he thinks is a vision of his dead sister in his room, but it appears to be his own hoodie in the corner.

Annie visits Joan at Joan’s apartment. Annie tells Joan about a sleepwalking incident in which she doused Peter and Charlie and herself from head to toe in paint thinner before waking up to find herself preparing to light a match. From her body language, Annie implies that the matches were in her left hand and can of paint thinner in her right. Annie explains that her relationships with her children were never the same afterward.

Steve finds Annie constructing a disturbing diorama of the scene where Charlie died. Steve, Annie, and Peter have an awkward dinner during which Annie blames her son for Charlie’s death. Peter responds by reminding Annie that she was the one who forced Charlie to go to the party.

Annie runs into Joan at an art supply store. Joan excitedly explains to Annie that she attended an open séance that changed her skepticism about psychics. Joan tells Annie that a medium was able to conjure her dead grandson Louis and taught Joan how to conduct a séance as well. Joan has a chalkboard in the trunk of her car.

Joan invites Annie over to witness a séance firsthand. Joan seemingly makes contact with Louis, who uses a glass and a chalkboard to communicate. Joan assures Annie that she can conduct a similar conjuring herself by using a personal item from the deceased, reciting a cryptic incantation, and making sure that her entire family is in the house during the summoning. Annie hears a clucking sound while driving home afterward.

Annie wakes that night to find a swarm of ants leading to Peter’s dead body. Annie wakes from a sleepwalking trance over her son’s bed, prompting a conversation with Peter. Peter asks why Annie is seemingly scared of him. Annie involuntarily confesses that she never wanted to be Peter’s mother and tried to have a miscarriage. Annie suddenly wakes to discover she was experiencing a vision within a vision.

Annie recites Joan’s incantation with Charlie’s sketchbook while Steve and Peter sleep. Claiming she summoned Charlie, Annie excitedly wakes her husband and son for another séance. Charlie seemingly possesses Annie. Steve snaps Annie out of her trance by dousing her with water as Peter cries from confused fright.

During school, Peter sees the same strange light that Charlie previously saw in her bedroom. Peter notices that his reflection looks back at him with a different expression.

Steve admonishes Annie for Peter becoming convinced that a vengeful spirit is threatening him. Annie trashes her studio in frustration when she accidentally breaks a tiny model chair, after another voicemail from her gallery pressures her about providing new pieces.

Charlie’s spirit supernaturally draws in her old sketchbook. Peter sees a vision of his dead sister in the corner, and her head falls off turning into a recreation ball on the floor, before being choked in his bed. Peter accuses his mother of sleepwalking and attacking him again. Annie advises Peter not to tell Steve what happened. Annie goes on to explain that something supernatural is happening in the house and she is the only one who can stop it. The window above Peter’s bed has a mark that looks similar to the one in Charlie’s classroom when struck by the bird.

Realizing that the spirit she summoned is malevolent, Annie throws Charlie’s sketchbook into the fireplace. Annie’s arm mirrors the burning book by also catching fire, forcing Annie to rescue the book.

Annie returns to Joan for help, but no one’s there and she does not go inside Joan’s residence. The camera shows us Joan’s place is decked out in witchcraft paraphernalia, including a photo of Peter inside a ceremonial triangle and a symbol Annie recognizes from family photos.

Annie learns that the symbol is associated with the demon Paimon, one of the kings of Hell. Annie also finds photos of Joan with Ellen, revealing that Joan and Annie’s mother were in the same coven devoted to gaining riches by conjuring Paimon into a male body. Annie discovers Ellen’s headless corpse in her house’s attic.

Peter hears Joan shouting, “I expel you” at him from a distance at school behind a fence. During class, Peter hears Charlie’s cluck. Peter acts possessed and suddenly bashes his head into his desk, snapping out of his trance with cries of terror and pain.

Annie stands in the pouring rain below the tree house with Ellen’s scrapbook, and we see that Peter’s room behind her in the real house does not exist.

Steve brings Peter home. Annie approaches the car, and is dry with no sign of the downpour. Annie tells Steve that Ellen’s corpse is in their attic, but it is now decapitated. Annie also shows Steve the photographs where Joan and Ellen are wearing the seal of Paimon. Annie explains that their family became cursed when she tried contacting Charlie. Annie also explains the connection to Charlie’s sketchbook, adding that Steve needs to destroy it in order to save Peter. Peter sleeps in his room in the background and is not awakened by the conversation.

Disbelieving her wild claims, Steve accuses Annie of digging up Ellen’s grave. When Steve refuses to burn the sketchbook, Annie throws it back into the fire, even though she presumes doing so will kill her. Instead, Steve spontaneously combusts.

With his possessed mother hovering in the corner above his bed, Peter gets up to search the house. When Peter leaves his room the ladder to the attic is withdrawn missing. Peter finds his father’s charred corpse. Possessed, Annie chases Peter to the attic. The ladder to the attic is now down. Annie jumps up and furiously pounds her head on the attic door after Peter climbs the ladder and retracts it into the upstairs ceiling.

In the attic, Peter finds flies, candles, and a photo of his face with the eyes punched out. Ellen’s body is gone. Annie suddenly hovers above Peter before severing her own head. Confronted by this horror and three undressed devil worshipers, Peter jumps out the window.

Peter’s head hits the ground below, which seemingly knocks him out. Peter rises after the oddly glowing light seen previously hovers around his body. Peter follows his mother’s headless corpse as it floats into the tree house.

Five Michigan State University students venture into the hills to spend a weekend in an isolated cabin. There they find the Book of the Dead (a Babylonian and Sumerian text, unrelated to the Egyptian Book of the Dead), otherwise known as the Morturom Demonto.

While searching the basement of the cabin, the students find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting slumbering demons that thirst for revenge. The professor also mentions that his wife was possessed by the risen demons and that the only way to insure possessed individuals are stopped is to dismember their corpses. The characters are gradually possessed one by one, beginning with Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) after she is brutally raped by the evil force (using the nearby trees) in sequences of intense, bloody violence and horrifying voice-overs.

Cheryl makes it home to the cabin but nobody believes her ordeal. Her brother Ash (Bruce Campbell) then decides to drive her into town where she can stay the night. They discover that the only road bridge is completely destroyed and the supports are bent into the shape of a hand. Soon after, Cheryl becomes a demon and stabs Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil. They lock her in the cellar, but soon after Shelly (Theresa Tilly) becomes possessed and attacks Scotty (Richard DeManincor) who dismembers her with an axe. They wrap the dismembered body-parts in a blanket and bury them, after which Scotty leaves to find a trail out of the woods.

Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds her to be possessed also. Scotty returns, but is mutilated by trees. Before losing consciousness he tells Ash there is a trail in the woods. After Linda tricks Ash by returning to (seemingly) normal, Ash drags her outside. He goes back to check on Scotty, who dies. Linda later returns and tries to stab Ash, but she falls on the dagger. Ash drags her outside to cut her up with a chainsaw, but he simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and Ash beheads her with a shovel. The head soon comes back to life and taunts him, and the body arises and chases Ash back to the cabin.

He returns to find the cellar door open. Cheryl jumps at the window and tries to break in. Ash shoots her, but she doesn’t die. Ash barricades both the front and back doors. He runs back into the cellar to find a box of shotgun shells and experiences a strange series of events including the cellar filling with blood and hearing things in his mind.

A white background. Red drops begin to fall past the opening credits. The drops become a red sauce on a plate. A slab of meat is cut with a knife and garnished with raspberries, then placed on a table. The camera moves over various dishes, most of which are very small and look very expensive. The restaurant is furnished in pinks and greens, and everyone is well-dressed. Waiters tell customers ridiculously decadent specials like squid ravioli and swordfish meatloaf.

The setting is New York City, sometime in the 1980s. The vice-presidents of Pierce and Pierce, a Wall Street financial institution, are seated around a table. They include Timothy Bryce (Justin Theroux), Craig McDermott (Josh Lucas), David Van Paten (Bill Sage) and Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). Bryce says “This is a chick’s restaurant. Why aren’t we at Dorsia?” McDermott replies “Because Bateman won’t give the maitre d’ head.” Bateman flicks a toothpick at him. They discuss various people in the restaurant, including who Bateman believes to be Paul Allen across the room. Van Paten returns from the bathroom and says that there’s no good place to do coke in. They discuss the fact that Allen is handling the Fisher account, which leads McDermott to make racist remarks about Allen being Jewish. “Jesus, McDermott, what does that have to do with anything?” says Patrick. “I’ve seen that bastard sitting in his office spinning a fucking menorah.” Bateman rebukes him. “Not a menorah. A dreidel, you spin a dreidel.” McDermott replies “Do you want me to fry you up some potato pancakes? Some latkes?” “No, just cool it with the anti-Semitic remarks.” “Oh I forgot. Bateman’s dating someone from the ACLU!” Bryce calls Bateman the voice of reason. Looking at the check he remarks “Speaking of reasonable, only $570.” They all drop their Platinum American Express cards on top of the bill.

At a nightclub, Bryce takes some money out of a clip and gives it to a man in drag, who lets them inside. As some 80’s pop music plays from overhead, the men dance while strobe lights flash and some women on stage wave around prop guns like something out of a grind house flick. Bateman orders a drink and hands the bartender a drink ticket, but she tells him drink tickets are no good and that he has to pay in cash. He pays, and then when she’s out of earshot, he says “You’re a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, then play around with your blood.” He takes his drink with a smile.

The camera pans through Bateman’s apartment the next morning. Everything is shades of white, with black counters and shelves. It is sparsely decorated, but looks expensive. “I live in the American Gardens building on West 81st street, on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman. I’m 27 years old.” He describes his diet and exercise routine, and his meticulous daily grooming rituals, which involves no less than 9 different lotions and cleansers. “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman,” he says while peeling off his herb-mint facial mask. “Some kind of abstraction. But there is no ‘real me’. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.”

Sweeping over the skyline of downtown New York, the song Walking on Sunshine starts playing. Walking down the hallway to his office, Bateman listens to this song on his headphones with absolutely no expression on his face. Someone passes by him and says “Hey Hamilton. Nice tan.” Everyone in the hallway has expensive suits and slicked-back hair. He walks by his secretary, Jean (Chloe Sevigny), to his office door. She’s dressed in a long coat and shirt that are too big for her. “Aerobics class, sorry. Any messages?” She follows him into his corner office. She tells him someone cancelled, but she doesn’t know what he cancelled or why. “I occasionally box with him at the Harvard Club.” She tells him someone named Spencer wants to meet for drinks. He tells her to cancel it. “What should I say?” “Just say no.” He tells her to make reservations for him at a restaurant for lunch, as well as dinner reservations at Arcadia on Thursday. “Something romantic?” “No, silly. Forget it. I’ll make them. Just get me a mineral water.” She tells him he looks nice. Without looking at her, he tells her not to wear that outfit. “Wear a dress or a skirt. You’re prettier than that.” The phone starts ringing, and he tells her to tell anyone who calls that he isn’t there. “And high heels.” She leaves. He puts his feet up and starts watching Jeopardy on his office TV.

A taxicab makes its way through Chinatown. Inside, Bateman is trying to listen to the new Robert Palmer album on his headphones, but his “supposed” fiancée Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon) keeps distracting him with ideas for their wedding. He says he can’t take the time off work to get married. “Your father practically owns the company. You can do anything you like, silly. You hate that job anyway, I don’t see why you don’t just quit.” “Because… I want… to fit… IN.” The cab drives up to a restaurant called Espace. “I’m on the verge of tears as we arrive, since I’m positive we won’t have a decent table. But we do, and relief washes over me, in an awesome wave.” Bryce it already seated next to two punk-rock teens smoking cigarettes. “This is my cousin Vanden and her boyfriend Stash,” says Evelyn. Bryce kisses Evelyn on both cheeks, and then starts kissing her neck, slightly crossing the line. Bateman looks at his blurry reflection in a metal menu. As they eat sushi, he remarks “I’m fairly certain that Timothy Bryce and Evelyn are having an affair. Timothy is the only interesting person I know.” Bateman doesn’t care because he’s also having an affair with Courtney Rawlinson, her best friend. “She’s usually operating on one or more psychiatric drugs, tonight I believe it’s Xanax.” She’s also engaged to Luis Carruthers, “the biggest doofus in the business.” Courtney and Luis are seated beside him, and Courtney, slurring her words, asks Stash whether he thinks Soho is becoming too commercial. “Yes. I read that,” says Luis. “Oh who gives a rat’s ass,” says Bryce. “That affects us,” says Vanden. “What about the massacres in Sri Lanka, honey? Don’t you know that the Sikhs are killing like, tons of Israelis over there?” Bateman tells him there are more important problems to worry about than Sri Lanka. He tells them they include Apartheid, nuclear arms, terrorism, and world hunger. “We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal right for women. We have to encourage a return to traditional moral values. Most importantly, we have to promote general social concern, and less materialism in young people.” Bryce almost chokes on his drink as he starts laughing. “Patrick, how thought-provoking,” Luis says, feigning tears. Patrick takes a swig of his whiskey.

It’s nighttime. Patrick takes some money out of an ATM. A woman walks by and he starts following her. They stop at a crosswalk and he says “hello”. She hesitantly says hello back. The sign changes to walk and they cross the street.

The next day, Bateman argues with an old Chinese woman who runs a dry cleaners. Another Chinese man is looking at some bed sheets with a huge red stain on them. Bateman is trying to tell her that you can’t bleach that type of sheet, and that they are very expensive. She continues to babble in a language he can’t understand. “Lady, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth, I will kill you.” She is shocked, but still won’t speak English. “I can’t understand you! You’re a fool! Stupid bitch-ee!” A woman comes in the door and recognizes him. Her name is Victoria. He says hi to her. “It’s so silly to come all the way up here,” she says, “but they really are the best.” “Then why can’t they get these stains out?” he says, showing her the sheets. “Can you get through to them? I’m getting nowhere.” “What are those?” she says, looking wide-eyed at the stains. “Uh, well it’s cranberry juice. Cran-apple.” She looks skeptical. He tells her he has a lunch date in 15 minutes, and she tries to make plans with him. He tells her he’s booked solid. “What about Saturday?” “Next Saturday? Can’t. Matinee of Les Mis.” He promises to call her, and then leaves.

Patrick paces his apartment in his underwear, on the phone with Courtney Rawlinson (Samantha Mathis). A porno movie is playing on his TV. “You’re dating Luis, he’s in Arizona. You’re fucking me and we haven’t made plans. What could you possibly be up to tonight?” She says she’s waiting for Luis to call. “Pumpkin you’re dating an asshole. Pumpkin you’re dating the biggest dickweed in New York. Pumpkin you’re dating a tumbling, tumbling dickweed.” She tells him to stop calling her pumpkin. He insists that they have dinner, and when she says no, he says he can get them a table at Dorsia. This perks her interest. He tells her to wear something nice. He calls the restaurant, and asks if he can make a reservation for two at 8:00 or 8:30. There is a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the man on the other end starts laughing uncontrollably. Patrick hangs up.

In a limo, Patrick listens to Courtney describe her day, while she is almost passing out from her medication. “Is that Donald Trump’s car?” he asks, looking out the window. Patrick’s face is blurred through the plastic divider of the limo. She tells him to shut up. He tells her to take some more lithium, or coke or caffeine to get her out of her slump. “I just want a child,” she says, absently looking out the window. “Just two… perfect… children.”

At the restaurant, she nearly falls asleep at the table and Patrick touches her shoulder and wakes her up. “Are we here?” she asks sleepily. “Yeah,” he says, sitting down. “This is Dorsia?” “Yes dear,” he says, opening the menu which clearly says Barcadia across it. He tells her she’s going to have the peanut butter soup with smoked duck and mashed squash. “New York Matinee called it a ’playful but mysterious little dish. You’ll love it.” He orders her the red snapper with violets and pine nuts to follow. She thanks him, and then passes out in her chair.

A conference table at P&P the next day. Luis thanks Patrick for looking after Courtney. “Dorsia, how impressive. How on Earth did you get a reservation there?” “Lucky I guess,” replies Patrick. Luis compliments him on his suit. “Valentino Couture?” “Uh-huh.” Luis tries to touch it, but Patrick slaps his hand away. “Your compliment was sufficient Luis.” Paul Allen comes up to them. “Hello Halberstram. Nice tie. How the hell are ya?” Narrating, Patrick explains that Allen has mistaken him for “this dickhead Marcus Halberstram.” They both work at P&P and do the same exact work, and wear the same glasses and suits. “Marcus and I even go to the same barber. Although I have a slightly better haircut.” Allen and Patrick discuss accounts. He asks him about Cecilia, Marcus’ girlfriend. “She’s great, I’m very lucky,” replies Patrick. Bryce and McDermott come in, congratulating Allen on the Fisher account. “Thank you, Baxter.” Bryce asks him if he wants to play squash. Allen gives him his card out of his case. An audible tremor goes through the room. “Call me.” “How about Friday?” says Bryce. “No can do. I got an 8:30 rez at Dorsia. Great sea urchin seviche.” He leaves. Bryce wonders how he managed to swing that. McDermott thinks he’s lying. Bateman takes out his new business card, which reads “Patrick BATEMAN - Vice President”. “What do you think?” “Very nice,” says McDermott. “I picked them up from the printers yesterday.” “Nice coloring,” says Bryce. “That’s ‘bone’. And the lettering is something called ‘silian rail’.” “Cool Bateman. But that’s nothing,” says Van Paten, laying his card down next to Patrick’s. “That is really nice,” says Bryce. “Eggshell with romalian type. What do you think?” Van Paten asks Patrick. “Nice,” Patrick says, visibly jealous. “How did a nitwit like you get so tasteful?” says Bryce. Biting his nails, Patrick can’t believe Bryce prefers Van Paten’s card. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” says Bryce, taking out his own card. “Raised lettering, pale nimbus, white.” Another tremor goes through the room. Holding back his rage, Bateman tells him it’s very nice. “Let’s see Paul Allen’s card.” Bryce takes it out of his pocket and hands it to Bateman. It shines with an ethereal glow in the dim light of the conference room, even though it is basically identical to the rest of their cards. Narrating, Patrick says “Look at the subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God. It even has a watermark!” He drops the card on the table. “Something wrong?” asks Luis. “Patrick? You’re sweating.”

Nighttime. Patrick walks by a courthouse on his way home. Steam rises from underground vents. He walks through an alley, a black shadow under a pale streetlight. He stops and looks behind him, to see a homeless man by some piles of trash. “Hello. Pat Bateman. Do you want some money? Some food?” He starts taking out some money. “I’m hungry,” says the bum. “It’s cold out too isn’t it? If you’re so hungry, why don’t you get a job?” The bum says he lost his job. “Why? Were you drinking? Insider trading? Just joking.” He asks him his name, and the bum says his name is Al. “Get a god-damn job, Al! You have a negative attitude. That’s what’s stopping you.” He promises to help him get his act together. Al tells him he’s a kind man. He puts his hand on Patrick’s arm, and Patrick pulls it off, visibly disgusted. “You know how bad you smell? You reek of shit. You know that?” He laughs, and then apologizes. “I don’t have anything in common with you.” He bends down and opens his briefcase. “Oh thank you mister, thank you. It’s cold out here…” “You know what a fucking loser you are?” Patrick suddenly takes a knife out of the briefcase and stabs the bum three times in the stomach, than pushes the shocked man to the ground. The dog barks at Patrick, so he stomps it with his foot, hard enough to kill it. He picks up his briefcase and walks away down the alley.

A health spa. A young Asian woman rubs some lotion on Patrick’s face. She compliments him on his smooth skin. Later, another Asian woman gives him a manicure. “I have all the characteristics of a human being. Flesh. Blood. Skin. Hair. But not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed, and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside me, and I don’t know why.” He is lying in a tanning bed now. “My nightly bloodlust has overflowed into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.”

A Christmas party. A short man in an elf costume hands out glasses of champagne. ‘Deck The Halls’ is playing in the background. Patrick takes one, scowling at the bizarre costumes. Someone comes up to him and calls him by the wrong name. “Hey Hamilton. Have a holly-jolly Christmas,” says Patrick. “Is Allen still handling the Fisher account?” He points to Paul Allen across the room. “Of course. Who else?” Evelyn comes up to them. “Mistletoe alert! Merry X-mas Patrick. You’re late honey.” “I’ve been here the entire time, you just didn’t see me.” A man behind him puts cloth antlers on Patrick’s head without him noticing. “Say hello to Snowball. Snowball says ‘hello Patrick’”, she says in a childish voice. “What is it?” Patrick looks with disgust at the creature in her arms. “It’s a little baby piggy-wiggy, isn’t it? It’s a Vietnamese potbellied pig. They make darling pets. Don’t you? Don’t you?” Patrick looks ready to vomit as she pets the animal. “Stop scowling Patrick. You’re such a Grinch. What does Mr. Grinch want for Christmas? And don’t say breast implants again.” Ignoring her, he goes to mingle with the rest of the party. ‘Joy to the World’ is playing. He says hi to Paul Allen. “Hey Marcus. Merry Christmas, how’ve you been. Workaholic I suppose?” He calls to Hamilton that they are going to Nell’s bar, and that the limo is out front. Patrick says that they should have dinner. Paul suggests that he bring Cecilia. “Cecilia would adore it.” “Then let’s do it, Marcus.” Evelyn comes up to them. Paul compliments her on the party, and then walks away. “Why is he calling you Marcus?” asks Evelyn. Ignoring this, Patrick says “Mistletoe alert!”, and kisses her while waving a leafy branch.

A restaurant. Most of the tables are empty. Patrick takes his reservation under the name Marcus Halberstram. He is led to a table where Paul is already seated, and he is arguing with a waiter. “I ordered the cilantro crawfish gumbo, which is of course the only excuse one could have for being at this restaurant, which is, by the way, almost completely empty.” Patrick ignores this and orders a J&B straight and a Corona. The waiter, who looks slightly effeminate and has a red bandana around his neck, starts to list the specials, but Paul cuts him off and orders a double Absolut martini. “Yes sir. Would you like to hear the specials?” “Not if you want to keep your spleen,” says Patrick. The waiter leaves. “This is a real beehive of activity Halberstram. This place is hot, very hot,” Paul comments sarcastically. “The mud soup and charcoal arugula are outrageous here,” replies Patrick. Paul derides him for being late. “I’m a child of divorce, give me a break. I see they’ve omitted the pork loin with lime Jell-o.” Paul says he could have gotten them a table at Dorsia instead. “Nobody goes there anymore. Is that Ivana Trump?” Patrick says, looking behind him. “Oh geez Patrick. I mean Marcus. What are you thinking? Why would Ivana be at Texarkana?” He asks how Paul ended up getting the Fisher account. “Well I could tell you that Halberstram… but then I’d have to kill ya!” He laughs. Patrick simply stares at him with a vicious smile.

They pick at their meals. Patrick says “I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane?” Paul doesn’t seem to hear him. He compliments him on his tan. When Patrick says he goes to a salon, Paul says he has a tanning bed at home. “You should look into it.” Patrick can barely suppress his rage. Paul asks about Cecilia. “I think she’s having dinner with Evelyn Williams.” “Evelyn! Great ass. She goes out with that loser Patrick Bateman, what a dork!” Patrick chuckles with inner contempt. “Another martini Paul?”

Patrick’s apartment. Paul lounges drunk on a chair with a bottle of liquor on the floor beside him. Newspapers are taped to the floor of the living room. Patrick picks up a CD. “Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?” “They’re OK,” says Paul. Patrick continues “Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when ‘Sports’ came out in ‘83, I think they really came into their own. Commercially and artistically.” He goes to the bathroom and puts on a raincoat. “The whole album has a clear crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism, that really gives the songs a big boost!” He takes a valium, washes it down, looks at himself in the mirror, and walks back into the living room. On his way back he grabs an axe. Moonwalking backwards, he says that Huey has been compared to Elvis Costello, but that Huey has a more cynical sense of humor. He puts the axe down and starts buttoning up the raincoat behind Paul. “Hey Halberstram,” says Paul. “Why are there copies of the Style section all over the floor? Do you have a dog? A little chow or something?” He laughs. “No Allen.” “Is that a raincoat?” “Yes it is!” He goes over to the CD player and presses a button. The song ’Hip to Be Square’ starts playing.”In ‘87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is ’Hip to Be Square’.” He dances over to the kitchen where he left the axe. “The song is so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics, but they should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends, it’s also a personal statement about the band itself! Hey Paul!” Paul looks around too late to see Patrick charge at him with the axe. Screaming, he swings it into Paul’s head splattering blood all over his own face. Paul falls to the floor, pouring blood all over the newspapers. Patrick yells “Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now you fucking stupid bastard!” He swings it down again, and again, screaming, decapitating him. “You… fucking… bastard!” He finally drops the axe and begins composing himself. He takes off the raincoat. He fixes his hair and lights up a cigar. ‘Hip to Be Square’ continues to play from the stereo.

Patrick drags the body through the lobby of his building in a black bag. A trail of blood pours from the bottom of the bag. The doorman looks up at him, and then goes back to writing something. Patrick hails a cab outside, and starts stuffing the bag into the trunk. A voice says his name from the sidewalk. It’s Luis. “Patrick. Is that you?” “No Luis. It’s not me. You’re mistaken.” He introduces Patrick to an attractive Asian woman. “We’re going to Nell’s. Gwendolyn’s father is buying it. Ooh. Where did you get that overnight bag?” He eyes the bag with the corpse inside it. “Jean-Paul Gaultier.” Patrick slams the trunk and heads off.

Later, he arrives at Paul’s apartment. “I almost panic when I realize that Paul’s place overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine.” He finds his suitcases and starts to pack. “It’s time for Paul to take a little trip.” He throws some clothes in a suitcase, and then goes to the answering machine. In his best imitation of Paul’s voice, he records “It’s Paul. I’ve been called away to London for a few days. Meredith, I’ll call you when I get back. Hasta la vista, baby.” He takes the suitcase and leaves.

In his office the next day, Patrick listens to the song ‘The Lady in Red’ by Chris De Burgh on his headphones. Jean comes in and tells him that there’s someone named Donald Kimball there to see him. “Who?” “Detective Donald Kimball.” He looks through the office window. “Tell him I’m at lunch.” “Patrick, it’s only 10:30. I think he knows you’re here.” “Send him in, I guess,” he says resignedly. Jean goes to get him. Patrick picks up the phone and starts having a pretend conversation with someone, giving him advice on clothes and salons. “Always tip the stylist fifteen percent. Listen John I’ve gotta go. T. Boone Pickens just walked in. Heh, just joking. No, don’t tip the owner of the salon. Right. Got it.” He hangs up and apologizes to Kimball. “No I’m sorry, I should have made an appointment. Was that anything important?” Patrick gives a vague synopsis of the call. “Mulling over business problems, examining opportunities, exchanging rumors, spreading gossip.” They introduce themselves to each other and shake hands. Kimball apologizes again for barging in. Patrick stuffs some magazines and his walkman into a desk drawer. “So, what’s the topic of discussion?” Kimball explains that Meredith hired him to investigate the disappearance of Paul Allen. “I just have some basic questions.” Patrick offers him coffee, which he turns down. He offers him a bottle of water, which he also turns down. Bateman presses the intercom button anyways and tells Jean to bring some water. “It’s no problem.” He asks what the topic of discussion is again, and Kimball repeats he’s investigating the disappearance of Paul Allen. Jean comes in with a bottle, and Patrick quickly puts a coaster down before she can put it on the desk. He tells Kimball he hasn’t heard anything. “I think his family wants this kept quiet.” “Understandable. Lime?” offers Bateman. Kimball insists he’s ok. He asks Patrick his age, where he went to school, and his address, the American Gardens building, which Kimball says is very nice. “Thanks,” Patrick says smugly. Kimball asks what he knew about Paul Allen. “I’m at a loss. He was part of that whole Yale thing.” Kimball asks him what he means. “Well I think for one that he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot of cocaine. That Yale thing.” Kimball asks what kind of person Paul was. “I hope I’m not being cross-examined here.” “You feel like that?” “No. Not really.” Kimball asks where Paul hung out. Patrick names some places including a yacht club. “He had a yacht?” “No, he just hung out there.” “And where did he go to school?” “Don’t you know this?” “I just wanted to know if you know.” Patrick tells him St. Paul’s, then says he just wants to help. “I understand.” Patrick asks if he has any witnesses or fingerprints. Kimball tells him about the message on the answering machine, and that Meredith doesn’t think he went to London. “Has anyone seen him in London?” “Actually, yes. But I’m having a hard time getting actual verification.” He tells him that someone thought they saw Paul there but mistook someone else for him. Patrick asks whether the apartment had been burglarized. Kimball tells him about the missing luggage. Patrick asks whether the police had become involved yet, but Kimball says no. “Basically, no-one’s seen or heard anything. It’s just strange. One day someone’s walking around, going to work, alive, and then…” “Nothing.” “People just disappear,” says Kimball with a sigh. Bateman says “The earth just… opens up and swallows them.” “Eerie. Really eerie.” Bateman excuses himself by telling Kimball he has a lunch appointment with Cliff Huxtable at the Four Seasons in 20 minutes. “The Four Seasons? Isn’t that a little far up town? I mean, aren’t you going to be late?” “No, there’s one down here.” Patrick promises to call him if he hears anything, and shows him the door.

Patrick does stomach crunches while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and then does some jump-rope.

Nighttime. A seedy part of town. A blonde woman in a blue coat, a hooker, stands in front of a warehouse on a street corner. She has a face that says she’s been hooker for too long. A limousine drives up. Patrick rolls the window down as the car stops in front of her. “I haven’t seen you around here,” he tells her. “Well you just haven’t been looking.” “Would you like to see my apartment?” She is reluctant. He holds out some money and asks again. “I’m not supposed to, but I can make an exception,” she says, taking the money. “Do you take a credit card? Just joking.” He opens the door and invites her in. The car drives away.

Patrick makes a phone call on a large cordless phone. “I’d like a girl, early 20’s, blonde, who does couples. And I really can’t stress blonde enough. Blonde.” He hangs up. He tells her his name is Paul Allen, and that he’s going to call her Christie. “You’ll respond only to Christie, is that clear?” She nods.

Patrick’s apartment. Patrick pours some mineral water into a bathtub, where Christie is bathing and drinking champagne. “That’s a very fine chardonnay you’re drinking.” The song ‘If You Don’t Know Me by Now’ is playing in the background. Patrick is dressed in a suit and bow tie. “I want you to clean your vagina,” he tells her. She puts down the champagne and picks up a bath sponge. “From behind. Get on your knees.” He tells her she has a nice body, playfully splashing her with water. The phone rings. It’s the second girl in the lobby downstairs. He tells the doorman to send her up. He tells Christie to dry off and choose a robe, then come to the living room.

He opens the door for the second girl, and takes her coat. “I’m Paul. Not quite blonde, are you? More like dirty blonde. I’m going to call you Sabrina. I’m Paul Allen.” He asks both girls if they want to know what he does for a living. They both say no, lewdly. “Well, I work on Wall Street. At Pierce and Pierce. Have you heard of it?” Sabrina shakes her head, and Patrick clenches his jaw. “You have a really nice place here Paul,” says Christie. “How much did you pay for it?” “Well actually Christie, that’s none of your business. But I can assure you, it certainly wasn’t cheap.” Sabrina starts to take out a cigarette. “No! No smoking in here.” He offers them chocolate truffles. “I don’t want to get you drunk, but uh, that’s a very fine chardonnay you’re not drinking.” He goes over to the stereo and puts on a Phil Collins CD. “I’ve been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, ‘Duke’. Before that, I really didn’t understand any of their work. It was too artsy. Too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collin’s presence became more apparent.” He goes and stands in the doorway of the bedroom, invitingly. “I think Invisible Touch is the group’s undisputed masterpiece.” The girls follow him into the bedroom. “It’s an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums.” He tells Christie to take off the robe, which she does. “Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of each instrument,” he says, setting up a video camera on a tripod. He tells Sabrina to remove her dress. “In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, and sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don’t you dance a little? Take the lyrics to ‘Land of Confusion’. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the abuse of political authority. ‘In Too Deep’ is the most moving pop song of the 1980s,” he continues, wrapping a scarf around Christie’s neck while Sabrina dances in her lingerie. “About monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I’ve heard in rock.” He turns the camera on and points it towards the bed. “Christie, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collin’s solo career seems to be more commercial, and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way. Especially songs like ‘In the Air Tonight’ and ‘Against All Odds’. Sabrina, don’t just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works better within the confines of the group than as a solo artist. And I stress the word ‘artist’.” He goes to the stereo and switches CDs. “This is ‘Sussudio’, a great, great song. A personal favorite.” He walks back to the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt.

He has sex with both women at once. He flexes his muscles and admires himself in the mirror while doing them doggy-style. He makes them look into the camera. They do oral sex, then missionary. Patrick flexes his muscles in the mirror again. Christie rolls her eyes. They do more doggy-style.

Patrick sleeps with a woman on either side of him. He awakens some time later. Christie’s arm touches his. “Don’t touch the watch.” He gets up and goes over to the dresser. The women get up and start to dress. He opens a drawer to reveal a collection of scissors, carving tools and other sharp objects. He takes out a coat hanger. “Can we go now?” asks Christie. “We’re not through yet.”

Some time later, he pays them and shows them the door. They take the money quickly and appear to be in tears. Sabrina’s nose is bleeding. They leave and he closes the door behind them.

McDermott, Van Paten and Bateman are seated in a bar lounge with drinks in front of them, discussing women. “If they have a good personality and they are not great looking, who fucking cares?” says McDermott. “Well let’s just say hypothetically, what if they have a good personality?” replies Bateman. There is a moment of silence, and then all three men burst out laughing. “There are no girls with good personalities!” they say in unison, high-fiving each other. Van Paten says “A good personality consists of a chick with a little hard body who will satisfy all sexual demands without being too slutty about things, and who will essentially keep her dumb fucking mouth shut.” McDermott continues: “The only girls with good personalities who are smart or maybe funny or halfway intelligent or talented, though god knows what the fuck that means, are ugly chicks.” Van Paten agrees. “And this is because they have to make up for how fucking unattractive they are.” Bateman asks them if they know what Ed Gein said about women. Van Paten: “Ed Gein? Maitre d’ at Canal Bar?” “No. Serial killer. Wisconsin. The 50’s.” “What did Ed say?” “He said ‘When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right.’” McDermott: “And what did the other part of him think?” “What her head would look like on a stick!” Bateman laughs heartily, but Van Paten and McDermott just look at each other nervously. Luis comes up to their table and says hello. He takes out his new business card and asks their opinion on it. It is a nice looking card with gold lettering. Van Paten says it looks nice. McDermott is uninterested. Bateman swallows as a dramatic crescendo of music starts. Luis leaves and walks up the stairs. Bateman watches him go and Luis gives him look back over his shoulder. Van Paten asks about dinner. “Is that all you ever have to contribute?” snaps Bateman. “Fucking dinner?” McDermott tells him to cheer up. “What’s the matter? No shiatsu this morning?” Bateman pushes his hand away as he tries to touch his shoulder. “Do that again and you’ll draw back a stub.” McDermott tells him “Hang on there little buddy,” but Bateman stands up and goes up the stairs behind Luis.

Putting on his leather gloves, he enters a bathroom with nice wallpaper and gold mirrors. He slowly walks up behind Luis who is using a urinal. Hands shaking, he slowly puts his fingers around Luis’ neck. Luis turns around, looks at Patrick’s hands, takes off one of his gloves, and plants a kiss on the back of his hand. “God. Patrick, why here?” Patrick is too shocked to say anything and he can’t bring himself to kill Luis. “I’ve seen you looking at me. I’ve noticed your… hot body,” Luis says, rubbing a finger over Patrick’s mouth. “Don’t be shy. You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted this, ever since that Christmas party at Arizona 206. You know the one where you were wearing that red striped paisley Armani tie…” Patrick walks over to the sink in a daze and starts washing his hands, with his gloves still on. He looks like he’s about to cry. Luis walks up behind him. “I want you. I want you too!” Patrick starts walking towards the door. “Patrick?” “WHAT IS IT?” he yells. “Where are you going?” “I’ve got to return some videotapes.”

He rushes down the stairs. He runs into a man holding a tray of glasses. Looking up the stairs, he sees Luis make a ‘call me’ gesture with his hand. He leaves without saying a word to McDermott or Van Paten.

Patrick walks down the hall to his office. He stops. Kimball is leaning over Jean’s desk, talking to her about any reservations Paul Allen might have made. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you, come into my office,” Patrick says, shaking his hand. “Jean. Great jacket. Matsuda?”

Inside his office. “Do you remember where you were the night of Paul’s disappearance?” asks Kimball. “Which was on the 20th of December.” “God. I guess I was probably returning videotapes.” He looks at his datebook. “I had a date with a girl named Veronica.” “That’s not what I’ve got,” says Kimball. “What?” “That’s not the information I’ve received.” “What information have you received? I could be wrong.” “When was the last time you were with Paul Allen?” “We’d gone to a new musical called ‘Oh Africa, Brave Africa’. It was laugh riot. That was about it. I think we had dinner. I hope I’ve been informative. Long day. I’m a bit scattered.” “I’m a bit scattered too. How about lunch in a week or so, when I’ve sorted out all of this information?” Patrick says okay. Kimball asks him to sort out exactly where he was on the night of the disappearance. “Absolutely. I’m with you on that one.” Kimball takes a CD out of his briefcase. “Huey Lewis and the News! Great stuff! I just bought it on my way over here! Have you heard it?” Patrick is stunned, and terrified of possibly becoming friends with this man. “Never. I mean I don’t really like singers.” “Not a big music fan, huh?” “No I like music, just they’re… Huey’s too black sounding for me.” “To each his own.” Kimball closes his briefcase. “So, lunch next week?” “I’ll be there.”

Patrick and Courtney are having sex. Patrick orgasms, then rolls off her. He pulls a stuffed black cat from underneath himself, putting it on Courtney’s lap. He gets off the bed and starts getting dressed in front of a mirror. “Will you call me before Easter?” she asks. “Maybe.” “What are you doing tonight?” “Dinner at uh, River Cafe.” “That’s nice,” she says, lighting a cigarette. “I never knew you smoked.” “You never noticed. Listen, Patrick, can we talk?” “You look… marvelous. There’s nothing to say,” he says, shutting her out. “You’re going to marry Luis.” “Isn’t that special… Patrick? If I don’t see you before Easter, have a nice one okay?” she asks, with a hint of depression in her voice. “You too.” He starts to leave. “Patrick?” “Yeah?” “Nothing…” He leaves.

A club. Androgynous men and women pack the dance floor. The song ‘Pump up the Volume’ is playing. Bryce is telling Bateman about STDs while in line to use private stalls for drugs. “There’s this theory now that if you can catch the AIDS virus by having sex with someone who is infected, you can catch anything. Alzheimer’s, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, leukemia, diabetes, dyslexia!” “I’m not sure but I don’t think dyslexia is a disease,” says Bateman. “But who knows? They don’t know that. Prove it.” Bryce snorts some white powder. “Oh God. It’s a fucking milligram of sweetener.” Patrick sniffs some. “I want to get high off this, not sprinkle it on my fucking oatmeal.” “It’s definitely weak, but I have a feeling if we do enough of it we’ll be okay,” says Bateman. Someone leans over the divider. “Could you keep it down? I’m trying to do drugs!” “Fuck you!” says Bryce. Bateman tells him to calm down. “We’ll do it anyway.” “That is if the faggot in the next STALL thinks it’s okay!” “Fuck you!” says the man. “Fuck YOU!” says Bryce. “Sorry dude. Steroids. Okay let’s do it.”

A club balcony. The song ‘What’s On Your Mind’ is playing. Three blonde women are seated across from Patrick. One of them asks where Craig went. Bryce tells them Gorbachev is downstairs and McDermott went to sign a peace treaty. “He’s the one behind Glasnost.” Bryce makes a ‘he went to get cocaine’ gesture to Bateman by tapping his nose. “I thought he was in mergers and acquisitions,” she says. “You’re not confused are you?” asks Bryce. “No, not really.” Another woman says “Gorbachev is NOT downstairs.” “Karen’s right, Gorbachev is not down stairs. He’s at Tunnel.” Bateman tells one of the girls to ask him a question. “So what do you do?” “I’m into uh, well murders and executions mostly.” “Do you like it?” “Well that depends, why?” “Well most guys I know, who work in mergers and acquisitions, really don’t like it.” He asks her where she works out.

On the street, Patrick and the girl are talking. “You think I’m dumb don’t you. You think all models are dumb.” “No. I really don’t.” “That’s okay. I don’t mind. There’s something sweet about you.” They both get in the back of a cab. Somewhere a car alarm is going off.

Patrick is lounging on the sofa in his office. He has sunglasses on. Between his fingers is a lock of blonde hair. Jean knocks on his door, and he quickly stuffs the hair into his shirt pocket. He picks up a paper and starts twirling a pen. She enters slowly, wearing a baggy brown coat and beige shirt. “Doin’ the crossword?” she asks. Every line of the crossword is filled in with either ‘meat’ or ‘bones’. She asks him if he needs any help, but he ignores her. She puts something on his desk. As she walks back to the door, he says “Jean, would you like to accompany me to dinner? That is, if you’re not doing anything.” She says she doesn’t have any plans. He sits up and crosses his legs. “Well! Isn’t this a coincidence. Listen, where should we go?” She says she doesn’t care where. “How about anywhere you want?” he tells her. “I don’t know Patrick, I can’t make this decision.” “Come on!” he says, chuckling and pointing his pen at her. “Where do you want to go? Anywhere you want, just say it, I can get us in anywhere.” She thinks for a minute. “How about…” Patrick flips through his Zagat booklet. “Dorsia?” Patrick looks up. “So. Dorsia is where Jean wants to go.” “I don’t know, we’ll go wherever you want to go.” “Dorsia is fine.” He picks up a phone and dials the restaurant. “Dorsia, yes?” says the man on the other end. Can you take two tonight at, oh, say nine o’clock?” “We’re totally booked.” “Really? That’s great.” “No I said we are totally booked!” “Two at nine? Perfect! See you then!” He hangs up. Jean gives him a quizzical look. “Yeah?” he asks, taking off his sunglasses. “You’re… dressed okay.” “You didn’t give a name.” “They know me,” he lies. “Why don’t you meet me at my place at 7:00 for drinks?” She smiles and starts to leave. “And Jean? You might want to change before we go out.”

Jean looks out the window of Patrick’s place. A telescope is pointed out the window. She’s dressed in a pretty green strapless dress. “Patrick it’s so elegant. What a wonderful view.” Patrick gets some frozen sorbet out of the fridge. Next to the sorbet is a severed head wrapped in plastic. “Jean, sorbet?” “Thanks Patrick. I’d love some.” He gives it to her. “Do you want a bite?” “I’m on a diet, but thank you,” he says. “No need to lose any weight. You’re kidding right? You look great,” she tells him. “Very fit.” “You can always be thinner… look better.” “Well, maybe we shouldn’t go out to dinner. I don’t want to ruin your willpower.” “That’s alright. I’m not very good at controlling it anyway.” He goes over to a kitchen drawer and starts running his finger over some steak knives. “So, what do you want to do with your life? Just briefly summarize. And don’t tell me you enjoy working with children.” She tells him she’d like to travel and maybe go back to school. “I don’t really know. I’m at a point in my life where there seems to be so many possibilities.” Patrick runs his hand across some stainless steel meat cleavers on a triangular base. “I’m just so unsure.” He asks her if she has a boyfriend. “No, not really.” “Interesting.” “Are you seeing anyone? I mean, seriously?” she asks. “Maybe. I don’t know. Not really,” he says with a smile. “Jean, do you feel, fulfilled? I mean, in your life?” “I guess I do. For a long time I was too focused on my work. But now I’ve really begun to think about changing myself, developing and growing.” Patrick reaches into a closet and takes out some silver duct tape. “Growing. I’m glad you said that. Did you know that Ted Bundy’s first dog, a collie, was named Lassie?” he laughs. “Who’s Ted Bundy?” “Forget it.” “What’s that?” “Duct tape. I need it for… taping something.” “Patrick, have you ever wanted to make someone happy?” She starts to put her spoon down on his coffee table. “No! Put it in the carton!” “Sorry.” He takes something else out of the closet and walks behind her. She repeats her question. “I’m looking for uh…” He holds up a nail gun and points it at the back of her unsuspecting head. “I guess you could say I just want to have a meaningful relationship with someone special.” His finger moves toward the trigger. The phone rings, and the answering machine picks it up. It’s Evelyn. “Patrick… Patrick! I know you’re there. Pick up the phone you bad boy. What are you up to tonight?” He puts the nailgun down behind the couch. “It’s me. Don’t try to hide. I hope you’re not out there with some number you picked up because you’re MY Mr. Bateman. My boy next door.” Jean sips some wine, looking at Patrick as she listens. “Anyway you never called me and you said you would, and I’ll leave a message for Jean about this tomorrow to remind you, but we’re having dinner with Melania and Taylor, you know Melania she went to Sweetbriar. And we’re meeting at the Cornell club. So I’ll see you tomorrow morning honey!” Patrick winces. “Sorry I know you hate that. Bye Patrick. Bye Mr. Big Time CEO. Bye bye.” She hangs up. Jean says “Was that Evelyn? Are you still seeing her?” He doesn’t answer. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask that. Do you want me to go?” “Yeah,” he finally says. “I don’t think I can control myself.” “I know I should go. I know I have a tendency to get involved with unavailable men.” She asks him if he wants her to go. “I think if you stay, something bad will happen. I think I might hurt you. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?” “No, I guess not. I don’t want to get bruised.” She gets up and starts leaving. On her way out, she reminds him that he has a dinner date with Kimball the next day. “Thanks. It slipped my mind completely.”

A crowded restaurant. Bateman and Kimball sit across from each other, eating some beef dishes. “So. The night he disappeared. Any thoughts about what you did?” asks Kimball. “I’m not sure. Uh, I had a shower, and some sorbet?” “I think you’re getting your dates mixed up.” “Well, where do you place Paul that night?” He tells Patrick that according to his datebook, Paul had dinner with Marcus Halberstram, thought Marcus denied it. “Does Marcus have an alibi?” “Yes. I’ve checked it out, it’s clean. Now, where were you?” “Well, where was Marcus?” “He wasn’t with Paul Allen. He was at Atlantis with Craig McDermott, Fredrick Dibble, Harry Newman, George Butner, and… you.” Patrick looks up. “Oh right, yeah, of course.” Kimball makes a ‘slipped your mind’ gesture. “We had wanted Paul Allen to come, but he had made plans. And I guess I had dinner with Victoria the following night.” Kimball says “Personally, I think the guy just went a little nutso, split town for a while, maybe he did go to London. Sightseeing, drinking, whatever. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he’ll turn up sooner or later. I mean, to think that one of his friends killed him for no reason whatsoever would be too ridiculous. Isn’t that right Patrick?” he says with an eerie smile. Patrick smiles back faintly.

Patrick takes a limo to the part of town where he met Christie. She’s standing on the same corner. He rolls down the window and calls out to her. “I’m not so sure about this,” she tells him. “I had to go to emergency last time.” He promises that this won’t be anything like last time. She says no. “Just come in the limo and talk to me for a minute. The driver is here. You’ll be safe.” He holds out some money. Reluctantly, she takes it and gets in. He hands her a drink. “Nothing like last time. I promise,” he repeats. “Alright.” He tells her she’s looking great, and asks how she’s been. “I might need a little surgery after last time. My friend told me I should maybe even get a lawyer.” “Lawyers are so complicated,” he says, writing her a cheque. She takes it and bolts from the car. The car keeps pace with her as she walks. Bateman rolls down the window and whistles at her, waving more money. She stops and looks at the wad. She tries to grab it, but he pulls his hand back. He opens the car door again, moving over to let her get back in. “Half now, half later.” He closes the door. He tells her her name is Christie again, and that they are meeting a friend of his named Elizabeth. “She’ll be joining us in my new apartment shortly. You’ll like her. She’s a very nice girl.”

Paul Allen’s apartment. Patrick breaks open a capsule of ecstasy onto a spoon, and puts it into a bottle of wine. A redhead woman in a white silk shirt and black jacket is sitting on the couch across from Christie. She tells her she looks familiar. “Did you go to Dalton? I think I met you at a surf bar, didn’t I. It was spicy. Well maybe not spicy but it was definitely a surf bar.” She talks on and on in a self-important tone, neither Patrick or Christie really listening to her. Christie tells Patrick that this place is nicer than his other one. “It’s not that nice,” he says. She asks where he and Elizabeth met. She says it was at the Kentucky Derby in 86. “You were hanging out with that bimbo Alison Poole. Hot number.” “What do you mean? She was a hot number.” “If you had a platinum card she’d give you a blowjob. Listen, this girl worked at a tanning salon, need I say more?” She sips her wine. She asks what Christie does. “She’s my… cousin. She’s from… France,” says Bateman. Elizabeth asks for the phone to call someone. She asks if Christie summers in Southampton. The person she’s calling doesn’t answer. “Elizabeth, it’s 3 in the morning.” “He’s a god damn drug dealer, these are his peak hours.” She says that the wine tastes weird. She leaves the man a message on his answering machine. She looks at Bateman when she can’t remember where she is. “Paul Allen’s.” “I want the number idiot. Anyway I’m at Paul Norman’s and I’ll try you again later, and if I don’t see you at Canal Bar tomorrow I’m going to sic my hairdresser on you.” She hangs up. “Did you know that guy who disappeared, didn’t he work at Pierce and Pierce? Was he a friend of yours?” He says no. She asks if he has any coke. He shakes his head. “Or a Halcyon? I would take a Halcyon.” “Listen,” he says. “I would just like to see the two of you get it on.” They stare at him. “What’s wrong with that? It’s totally disease-free.” “Patrick you’re a lunatic.” He asks her if she finds Christie attractive. “Let’s not get lewd. I’m in no mood for lewd conversation.” He says he thinks it would be a turn-on. She asks Christie if he does this all the time. Christie remains silent. He tells her to drink her wine. “You’re telling me you’ve never gotten it on with a girl?” he asks Elizabeth. “No. I’m not a lesbian. Why would you think I would be into that?” “Well, you went to Sarah Lawrence for one thing.” “Those are Sarah Lawrence GUYS, Patrick. You’re making me feel weird.”

Some time later, the drugs having kicked in, and Elizabeth and Christie are feeling each other up on the couch. Patrick says wistfully “Did you know that Whitney Houston’s debut LP, called simply ‘Whitney Houston’, had four number-one singles on it? Did you know that Christie?” Elizabeth starts laughing. “You actually listen to Whitney Houston? You own a Whitney Houston CD? More than one?” she laughs, falling off the couch. “It’s hard to choose a favorite amongst so many great tracks. But ‘The Greatest Love of All’ is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written, about self-preservation, dignity, its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it’s not too late to better ourselves.” Elizabeth is still laughing. “Since, Elizabeth, it’s impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, but we can always empathize with ourselves. It’s an important message, crucial really, and it’s beautifully stated on the album.”

All three have sex, Patrick on top of both of them. He moves his face down to Elizabeth’s torso, and she starts giggling. Christie rolls out from underneath them. She watches them as they fool around under the sheets, and she starts gathering her clothes. A stain begins to form on the sheets: Blood. Elizabeth is screaming. Patrick looks up at Christie with blood on his mouth and a crazed look on his face. Christie runs out of the room, and Patrick chases her naked. She runs to a door and throws it open, to reveal a closet with two dead women in plastic bags hanging on coathangers. The full horror of Patrick’s existence finally revealed to her, she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. She enters another room and almost vomits. Spraypainted on the wall is the words ‘DIE YUPPIE SCUM’ and the room is covered with blood and faeces. She backs out and sees Patrick turn the corner naked wielding a chainsaw. She cuts through a maze of doors and finally runs into a bathroom. She falls into a pool of blood next to another dead, naked woman. Patrick runs in, covered in Elizabeth’s blood and starts biting her leg. She kicks him in the face and runs. “Not the face! Not the fucking face you piece of bitch trash!” She runs through the living room and out into the hallway, pounding and screaming on neighbours’ doors, but to no avail. Patrick runs after her, stark nude, and chainsaw in hand. She runs down a circular set of stairs. Patrick reaches the top and holds the chainsaw out over the gap, waiting for the right moment. When she nears the bottom, he lets go, and the chainsaw falls end over end, finally hitting its target. He screams in victory. The chainsaw has impaled Christie through the back.

Patrick doodles a woman impaled with a chainsaw with a crayon on a paper tablecloth. He hasn’t touched his dessert. Evelyn is sitting next to him, asking him to commit to their relationship. The restaurant is crowded with middle-class looking people. “I think Evelyn, that uh, we’ve lost touch.” “Why, what’s wrong?” she asks, waving to someone. A woman flashes a gold bracelet to her, and she mouths “It’s beautiful. I love it.” “My need to engage in homicidal behaviour on a massive scale cannot be corrected, but uh, I have no other way to fulfill my needs. We need to talk. It’s over, it’s all over,” he tells her, scratching a red X over his drawing. “Touchy touchy. I’m sorry I brought up the wedding. Let’s just avoid the issue, alright? Now, are we having coffee?” “I’m fucking serious. It’s fucking over, us, this is no joke, uh, I don’t think we should see each other any more.” “But your friends are my friends, and my friends are your friends. I really don’t think it would work.” She tries to brush some food away from the corner of his mouth, but her stops her. “I know that your friends are my friends, and I’ve thought about that. You can have ’em.” She finally understands. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? What about the past? Our past?” “We never really shared one,” he replies. “You’re inhuman.” “No. I’m-I’m in touch with humanity.” She starts crying. “Evelyn I’m sorry, I just uh… you’re not terribly important to me.” She cries so loudly that the whole restaurant turns to look at her. “I know my behaviour can be erratic sometimes…” “What is it that you want?” she cries. “If you really want to do something for me then stop making this scene right now!” he snaps. “Oh God I can’t believe this,” she weeps. “I’m leaving,” he says. “I’ve assessed the situation and I’m leaving.” “But where are you going?” “I have to return some videotapes.”

Evening. Patrick stops near the lobby of a building to use an ATM. He sticks his card in the machine. Looking down he sees a stray cat. “Here kitty kitty.” He picks up the cat and starts petting it. A message comes on the screen of the ATM: ‘FEED ME A STRAY CAT’. He tries to put the cat in the card slot of the ATM, but it pushes itself away. He pulls out a 9mm pistol and points it at the cat’s head. A woman in a fur coat sees this. “Oh my God. What you doing? Stop that!” He shoots her in the chest and she falls to the ground. He lets the cat go. A siren is heard a block away, and a police car pulls up at the other end of the lobby. He takes his card and walks away. He tries to steal a car, but every car on the street is locked, and he only winds up setting off all their car alarms. He kicks the back of a Porsche and runs. Two police cars cut him off on the next street. They get out, guns drawn. “Drop the weapon! Drop it now! Get on the ground!” He starts to put his hands up, then turns the gun on the officers. They exchange gunfire. He runs behind a parked car for cover, firing and hitting one of them. He fires five more shots, and both police cars explode in a massive fireball. Stunned by his luck, he looks at the gun, then at his watch, and walks away. He breaks into a run, under the support columns of a skyscraper. He walks into the lobby of an apartment. “Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Smith? Don’t forget to sign in,” says the man at the desk. He pulls out the gun and shoots him in the head. He runs past the elevators. One of them opens and a janitor gets out. He goes around a revolving door, back into the lobby, shoots the janitor, then out the other side. He runs into another lobby. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, he goes up to the desk. Smiling at the doorman, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen, signs in, and goes up in the elevator, crying.

He reaches his office. He looks out the window, then hides from the searchlight of a passing police helicopter. Still crying, he makes a phone call. An answering machine picks it up. “Harold, it’s Bateman. You’re my lawyer so I think you should know, I’ve killed a lot of people. Some girls in the apartment uptown uh, some homeless people maybe 5 or 10, um an NYU girl I met in Central Park. I left her in a parking lot behind some donut shop. I killed Bethany, my old girlfriend, with a nail gun, and some man, some old faggot with a dog last week. I killed another girl with a chainsaw, I had to, she almost got away and uh someone else there I can’t remember maybe a model, but she’s dead too. And Paul Allen. I killed Paul Allen with an axe in the face, his body is dissolving in a bathtub in Hell’s Kitchen. I don’t want to leave anything out here. I guess I’ve killed maybe 20 people, maybe 40. I have tapes of a lot of it, uh some of the girls have seen the tapes. I even, um…” He almost can’t say it. “I ate some of their brains. I tried to cook a little.” He starts laughing. “Tonight I, uh, hahahaha… I just had to kill a LOT of people!” Crying again. “And I’m not sure I’m gonna get away with it this time. I guess I’ll uh, I mean, ah, I guess I’m a pretty uh, I mean I guess I’m a pretty sick guy.” He’s smiling. “So, if you get back tomorrow, I may show up at Harry’s Bar, so you know, keep your eyes open.” He hangs up and tries to compose himself. The helicopter can still be heard buzzing around but is getting fainter.

Morning. He showers and picks a suit from his walk-in closet. He goes to Paul Allen’s place, putting on a surgical mask because of the smell of the bodies he left there. Opening the door, he finds the place empty and repainted white. Three people are talking in one of the rooms, and the floor is lined with cloth and there is a ladder and some other redecorating equipment. He heads towards the closet where he left two bodies. It contains only paint cans, ladders and buckets. He takes off the mask, stunned. “Are you my 2:00?” asks a well-dressed 40-something woman behind him. “No.” “Can I help you?” “I’m looking for Paul Allen’s place. Doesn’t he live here?” “No he doesn’t. Did you see the ad in the Times?” “No. Yeah. I mean yeah. In the times.” “There was no ad in the times. I think you should go now.” He asks what happened here. She tells him not to make any trouble, and tells him again that he should leave. He starts to leave. “Don’t come back,” she warns. “I won’t. Don’t worry.” He closes the door behind him.

Outside, Bateman calls Jean from a payphone. He downs the rest of a bottle of pills while he waits for her to pick up. She answers. “Jean… I need help.” He sounds distraught. “Patrick is that you? Craig McDermott called, he wants to meet you, Van Paten and Bryce at Harry’s Bar for drinks.” “What did you say you dumb bitch…” he croaks. “Patrick I can’t hear you.” “What am I doing?” he laughs. “Where are you Patrick? What’s wrong?” He starts crying. “I don’t think I’m going to… make it, Jean. To the uh, office, this afternoon.” “Why?” She sounds worried. “JUST… SAY… NO!” he screams. “What is it? Patrick, are you alright?” “Stop sounding so fucking SAD! JESUS!” he screams, laughing. He hangs up, then tries to compose himself.

Jean goes to Patrick’s desk. She opens a drawer and finds a leather notebook. The first few pages have regular appointments. One page has a drawing of someone getting killed with a shotgun in the mouth.

Patrick reaches Harry’s Bar. He straightens his dishevelled hair and goes inside. Bryce, Van Paten and McDermott are sitting and drinking. McDermott tells him he looks wild-eyed. “Rough day at the office?” Bryce is drinking mineral water. “He’s a changed man! But he still can’t get a reservation to save his life.” Bateman tells them he isn’t going anywhere unless they have a reservation. They discuss various restaurants. Bateman spots his lawyer, Harold Carnes, across the room, and excuses himself. His lawyer is telling someone how the Japanese will own most of the country by the end of the ’90s. “Shut up, Carnes, they will not. So uh, did you get my message?” “Jesus yes! That was hilarious! That was you, wasn’t it! Bateman killing Allen and the escort girls. That’s fabulous. That’s rich.” He asks him what he means. “The message you left. By the way Davis, how’s Cynthia? You’re still seeing her, right?” “What do you mean?” “Nothing. It’s good to see you. Is that Edward Towers?” He starts to walk away but Bateman stops him. “Davis. I’m not one to bad-mouth anyone. Your joke was amusing. But come on man. You had one fatal flaw. Bateman is such a dork, such a boring, spineless lightweight. Now if you said Bryce, or McDermott, otherwise it was amusing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.” For some odd reason, Carnes keeps calling Patrick “Davis”. Patrick angrily stops him again. “I did it, Carnes! I killed him! I’m Patrick Bateman! I chopped Allen’s fucking head off,” he whispers with tears in his eyes. “The whole message I left on your machine was true.” Carnes tries to leave again. “No! Listen, don’t you know who I am? I’m not Davis, I’m Patrick Bateman!” He no longer sounds sure who he is. “We talk on the phone all the time. Don’t you recognize me? You’re my lawyer.” He tells Carnes to listen carefully. “I killed Paul Allen. And I liked it. I can’t make myself any clearer.” Carnes tells him that that isn’t possible. “And I don’t find this funny anymore.” “It never was supposed to be! Why isn’t it possible?” “It’s just not.” “Why not you stupid bastard?” says Patrick. “Because I had dinner with Paul Allen in London twice, just ten days ago.” “No you… didn’t.” Patrick is stunned. He begins to doubt whether he actually killed Allen or not or all those other people. Maybe it was all a fantasy. Maybe Patrick Bateman’s real name is Davis. Carnes excuses himself again and he lets him go.

Jean continues to look with horror through Patrick’s notebook. A crude drawing of a woman getting her limbs cut off with a chainsaw. A naked woman nailed to boards. The more pages she turns, the worse the images get. Page after page is filled with shocking fantasies of rape, murder and mutilation of women.

Patrick returns to the table. The guys are watching President Ronald Reagan talking about Iran-Contra on TV. “How can he lie like that?” says Bryce. Van Paten continues to ask where they have reservations, even though he isn’t really hungry. “How can he be so fucking… I don’t know, cool about it?” “Some guys are just born cool I guess,” says Van Paten. Bateman starts laughing. “Bateman? What are you so fucking zany about?” “Ha ha, I’m just a happy camper! Rockin’ and a-rollin’!” Turning back to Reagan on the TV, Bryce says “He presents himself as this harmless old codger, but inside… but inside…” “But inside doesn’t matter,”

The film opens with young Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) recieving phone calls from an unidentified caller. At first it seems as if he has gotten a wrong number, but it soon becomes clear he is toying with her, and his voice gets more and more threatening. Casey becomes frightened when she realizes her caller can see her. She begins to panic when the caller threatens to kill her, and forces her to answer movie trivia in exchange for her life and the life of her boyfriend, Steve, who she sees tied up on her back patio. After killing Steve, the caller torments Casey until finally breaking into the house and chasing her; he is dressed in a black costume with a white ghost mask over his face. He chases her across her lawn just as her parents pull up into the driveway. They do not see her, and Casey is stabbed in the chest, unable to scream. After killing Casey, the murderer strings up her body in the back yard for the parents to discover.

We then meet Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). Billy sneaks into her bedroom window and attempts to have sex with her, but Sidney is unsure and wants to remain a virgin for now. They are almost discovered by Sidney’s father, Neil (Lawrence Hecht), and he comes into Sidney’s room to discuss the fact that he is going out of town. We learn that Sidney’s mother was killed almost one year before, and that Sidney and her father are alone. Sidney’s testimony identified Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) as the killer, although Cotton swears that he is innocent.

The next day, Sidney’s school is abuzz with news of the murder, and classes are temporarily cancelled. Sidney decides that since her father is gone and she is alone, she is going to stay with her her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan). Sidney, Tatum, and BIlly sit with their group of friends, which includes Randy (Jamie Kennedy), who is obsessed with horror movies, and Stu (Matthew Lilliard), a class clown type who used to date Casey Becker.

Sidney goes home to wait for Tatum to pick her up. The phone rings and she hears a strange voice, the same one that was on the phone with Casey. At first she thinks it is Randy joking around, but the caller turns abusive and brings up Sidney’s mother. “Do you wanna die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn’t!” The killer emerges from a closet in Sidney’s house and a chase starts through out the house and Sidney locks herself in her bedroom and dials 911. Then Billy arrives, climbing through Sidney’s window again, and a cell phone falls out of his pocket. Sidney realizes that it may have been him phoning her and she runs downs stairs and out of the house only to be greeted by the police.

She is taken to the police station along with Billy, where he is questioned. At the police station, Sidney meets Dewey (David Arquette), Tatum’s older brother and the town deputy, who is considered a dolt. Outside the police station, she is confronted by nosy reporter Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox), the writer of an expose about the murder of Sidney’s mother. Gail feels that Cotton Weary was wrongfully convicted, and now Gail is following up a story about the murder of Casey Becker; she feels the murders are connected.

Tatum takes Sidney to her house, where she recieves another phone call from the killer, who tells her “You got the wrong guy, Sidney…again.” The next day at school, Sidney is threatened by the killer while she is in the bathroom, but she escapes.

School is over and a curfew is in place, so the group of friends decide to throw a party. Gail Weathers takes a cameraman to the party in an attempt to talk to Sidney, but Dewey intercepts her. The two of them talk and seem to have a mutual affection for one another. They enter the party and Dewey chooses not to bust the partygoers for underage drinking. During the party Billy and Sidney go upstairs and Sidney has sex with him. Meanwhile, Tatum is murdered in the garage by the killer, who has infiltrated the party after all.

After the interlude between Sidney and Billy, the door opens and in walks the killer, who stabs Billy in the back. Another chase starts. Dewey is stabbed. Gale, in her newsvan, swerves to avoid hitting Sidney and runs her car down a hill, striking a tree and appearing to be killed.

Sidney ends up in the house facing Randy and Stu, both claiming the other is the killer. Stu is vying to come inside and obtain the gun, while Randy wants to leave. Eventually Billy stumbles down the stairs, bloodied, and lets Randy and Stu into the house, shooting Randy and turning to reveal that the blood is fake; Billy was only pretending to be stabbed. He was aided by his accomplice, Stu; both of them are the killers. Billy also reveals that he was responsible for killing Sidney’s mother, who had an affair with his father. Billy blamed Mrs. Prescott for the dissolution of his parents’ marriage, and murdered Mrs. Prescott out of revenge. Billy and Stu also reveal that they have kidnapped Mr. Prescott, who is tied up in a closet. They have framed Mr. Prescott for the murders, and intend to wound themselves to make it look as if Mr. Prescott attacked them, at which point they will kill both him and Sidney.

Note: the characters in this film are unnamed and are referred to by descriptors.

The film opens with a woman standing in the midst of crackling flames. Her flesh burns to a crisp as screams are heard in the background.

We then see a man, “Him” (Javier Bardem), place a crystal object in his bedroom. The house then changes from burnt and rundown to completely refurbished. A young woman, “Mother” (Jennifer Lawrence), materializes in his bed and seeing his absence she calls out for Him, “Baby?” He doesn’t answer. Mother walks through the house which seems completely empty and as she steps out onto the porch to look him outside, he comes up from behind and startles her, hugging her.

Him is a noted poet suffering from writer’s block following the loss of his first wife. Mother is trying to paint one of the rooms in the house using different colors. She walks toward the wall and sees a vision of a beating heart within the walls.

Someone knocks on the couple’s front door. Him welcomes the stranger, “Man” (Ed Harris), into his house. Him is polite toward Man, but Mother is not quite comfortable with his presence. Man was directed to the house under the impression that it was some kind of bed-and-breakfast. Him shows Man his office with his written works, and Man admits to being a fan of Him’s work. Him spends most of the time chatting with Man, telling Mother it’s nice to have someone to talk to who enjoys his work, despite Mother saying she loves his work too.. Still, she allows Man to stay. However, Man has violent coughing fits that Him tends to. Mother later sees Man puking in the toilet with Him standing over Man. Mother notices a chunk of flesh missing from Man’s ribs, but Him covers it with his hand.

The next day, Mother asks Him how Man is doing. Man walks downstairs and says he feels wonderful. Moments later, another knock is heard at the door. Mother answers it to find Man’s wife, “Woman” (Michelle Pfeiffer), at the front. Him welcomes her into the house as well. Him and Man go for a hike while Mother is left alone with Woman. She bothers Mother with questions about whether or not she and Him want children, as well as Woman’s curiosity in going up to Him’s office, but Mother says nobody can go in without his permission. Upon their return, Man has another coughing fit. Him explains to Mother that Man is dying, and he and his wife are big fans of Him, so they wanted to meet him before it was too late.

Man and Woman enter Him’s office and accidentally shatter the crystal object. Him is devastated, ordering them out of the office. He holds the broken pieces in his hands, gripping them until he bleeds. Mother orders Man and Woman to leave, but they instead go into another room to get intimate. After a while, Man and Woman still have not left until Him and Mother both agree that they must leave.

As Man and Woman are getting ready to head out, their sons (Domhnall and Brian Gleeson) arrive, bickering over the state of their father’s will. Oldest Son is angry at getting less than his brother. The confrontation turns violent as Oldest Son attacks his brother before Him separates them. They run into the bedroom where Oldest Son bludgeons his brother over the head, causing his skull to crack open and bleed. Him picks up Younger Brother and carries him to the hospital with Man and Woman following.

Mother cleans up the blood on the floor, but one stain in the floor won’t come out. She presses against it and it starts leaking blood to the basement. Mother goes downstairs and sees blood leaking into a light bulb until it shatters. The sprayed blood forms around the wall. Mother breaks through and sees a furnace oil tank. Oldest Son appears from behind her, having been hiding. He simply takes something of his and leaves the house without a word.

When the others return, Him tells Mother that Younger Brother is dead. A wake is held for him in the house, with other strangers arriving to pay their respects. Mother becomes increasingly agitated with the behavior of the guests. She argues with Him over their stay until they begin to have passionate sex.

In the morning, Mother tells Him that she feels she is pregnant. Elated, Him is inspired to start writing again. He completes his work and sends it out, getting the attention of The Herald (Kristen Wiig).

Some time later, Mother is nearing the end of her pregnancy. As she cooks dinner to celebrate Him’s written works, fans of Him start showing up at the house. One woman enters with her child who wet his pants. Mother goes to the bathroom and sees a man peeing in the sink. Soon, a horde of fans start walking up to the house, including The Herald, who wants to speak to Mother. Their growing presence starts to take a toll on Mother, who experiences a pain that causes the house to shake.

Despite Mother trying to hide from the crowd, the fans start to break things and steal stuff from the house. As she moves to different rooms, people begin to act violently toward one another. Some people are tied up and have bags over their heads. The Herald walks around casually shooting them in the head before calmly talking to Mother. A massive blast goes through the room, killing The Herald. A SWAT team has entered the house, fighting against the increasingly manic crowd of fans. It quickly becomes apparent that the fans are part of a pagan cult.

Mother starts to go into labor. Him brings her into his office where she gives birth to a baby boy. Him wants to hold his son, but Mother refuses to let him go. She demands that Him send the fans away. Mother sits in the office for a whole day holding her son until she falls asleep. When she wakes up, her baby is gone. Him brings their son to show to the crowd. They start passing the baby around, even as he pees on them. The crowd then breaks the baby’s neck. Mother hears it and frantically tries running to the front of the room. When she gets there, she sees her baby has been horribly mutilated, and the fans are eating him. Mother screams in fury, causing the house’s foundation to crack. She grabs a piece of glass and starts stabbing and slashing the fans, until their leader grabs her and whacks her over the head with a candlestick. The fans start brutally beating Mother and tearing her clothes off, calling her a whore and a bitch. Him runs in to stop them, holding his wife tearfully. Mother screams at Him that they killed their baby.

Mother runs to the basement where she comes upon the oil tank. She breaks it open and lets the oil flow out before taking out a lighter. Him pleads with Mother to not do anything, but she defies him and drops the lighter. The entire house goes up in flames, burning everyone in the house to ashes before everything around the house explodes. Him and Mother survive, but Mother is terribly burnt while Him is unscathed. Him carries Mother’s body out of the basement. She asks Him who he is. He says “I am I and you are home.” She asks where he is taking her and he says “to the beginning.” When she asks what he wants, he says he wants her love. She tells Him he can have it. He digs his hands into her chest and pulls out her heart, causing her body to crumble to the burnt ash we’d expect to see from standing a the source of the fire.

Ana (Sarah Polley), a nurse, finishes a long shift at her Milwaukee County hospital and returns to her peaceful suburban home. She and her waiting husband Louis (Justin Louis) make love and go to sleep, missing warnings beginning to trickle through the local media concerning a mysterious and rapidly-spreading contagion which turns its infected hosts into reanimated flesh-eating ghouls.

The next morning they are awoken by their zombified neighbor, a young girl, who bites Louis in the throat. Ana locks the zombie out of the room, but despite her frantic efforts, Louis dies. When Ana unsuccessfully attempts to call 911 for help, Louis immediately awakens as a reanimated zombie, and chases Ana into the bathroom. Ana escapes out the window and flees from her now chaos-torn neighborhood in her car, before a failed hijacking attempt sends her crashing into a tree. The opening credits roll, showing the worldwide collapse of human civilization.

Ana meets Kenneth (Ving Rhames), a grim police sergeant traveling to Fort Pastor, a nearby US Army base. With the route to the base blocked by zombies, they and three others - jack-of-all-trades Michael (Jake Weber), petty criminal Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant Russian wife Luda (Inna Korobkina)- break into the nearby Crossroads Shopping Mall. Inside the mall, a scuffle with a zombified mall security guard results in Luda getting a minor bite-wound and Kenneth getting a cut on his arm.

They confront three living security guards - C.J. (Michael Kelly), Bart (Michael Barry) and Terry (Kevin Zegers) - and give up their weapons in exchange for refuge. After the group secures the mall, they head up to the mall’s roof to dispose of bodies and paint SOS signs. There, they “meet” another survivor, Andy (Bruce Bohne), who is stranded alone in his gun store, across the mall’s zombie-infested parking lot.

The next day, a delivery truck arrives at the mall, carrying the driver Norma (Jayne Eastwood), jerkish Steve (Ty Burrell), working man Tucker (Boyd Banks), elderly Glen (R.D. Reid), trampy Monica (Kim Poirier), bitten Frank (Matt Frewer) and his teen daughter Nicole (Lindy Booth), and an anonymous (and severely-injured) obese woman (Ermes Blarasin). These newcomers report that Fort Pastor has been overrun by zombies and no help is coming. Shortly after, the obese woman dies, reanimates and is killed by Ana, who thrusts a metal fireplace poker into her eye. The group determines that bites are how the zombies multiply their numbers; after Ana and Michael argue about what to do with the rapidly-deteriorating Frank, the man is isolated in a store with guard Kenneth, allowing him “every single second” before expiring. Michael and Ana achieve an awkward reconciliation, which is interrupted by Kenneth’s shotgun blast as he destroys Frank’s reanimated body.

Though the mall provides many material distractions and the survivors begin pairing off romantically (Ana and Michael, Terry and Nicole, Steve and Monica), the undead surround the refuge in ever-increasing numbers. Finally the malls power goes out and Michael, C.J., Bart and Kenneth enter the underground parking garage to turn on the emergency generator. They meet a friendly dog (Blue) who appears unharmed nor infected. They question this when a zombie suddenly bites Bart, which attracts more zombies that forces the group to flee. While trying to avoid the horde, Michael and Kenneth reach the generator compartment and C.J. joins them when Bart is overwhelmed and killed by the zombies. They eventually work together to douse the zombies with gasoline and set them ablaze.

Andre, faced with the fact that Luda will soon die, sinks totally into denial, and has his heavily-pregnant and infected wife tied to a bed in the mall’s children’s store. As she gives birth, she dies and reanimates. Norma checks on the couple, discovering the zombie-Luda and the demented Andre clutching a small bundle of blankets. Norma shoots Luda, causing Andre to snap completely; they exchange more gunfire and both are killed. Ana arrives on scene and opens the bundle to reveal a zombie baby. She pulls her revolver and a single shot rings through the mall.

At an impromptu memorial, Kenneth says anything is better than “sitting around waiting to die”. The remaining mall-dwellers thus plot to fight their way to the local marina, and from there travel out on Steve’s small yacht to an island in Lake Michigan. They reinforce two small shuttle buses from the parking garage, removing the seats, welding on a snowplow, attaching metal bars and floodlights, stringing barbed wire, boarding up the windows, and cutting slits for the deployment of weapons. Chainsaws, propane tanks and other supplies are also loaded on board. Meanwhile, Andy is starving, and will not have the strength to join the escape (and contribute much-needed ammunition), so the mall survivors strap a pack of food on “Chips”, the dog from the basement, and lower him into the parking lot in a sling. Unfortunately, while Chips makes it safely to the gun-shop, a zombie sees the dog and gets in as well and bites Andy. Nicole, distraught over Chips, takes the delivery truck and barges her way into the gun store, where a now-zombified Andy traps her in a closet.

Kenneth, Michael, C.J., Terry, and Tucker gather their meager weapon supply and go into the sewers, while Steve is assigned guard-duty on their exit door. They reach the gun store, where they kill Andy, rescue Nicole and stock up on weapons and ammunition. A detonated propane tank is used to clear a path back to the sewers, but the zombies pursue them. Along the way, Tucker breaks his legs and, despite C.J.’s desperate attempts to pull him to safety, is attacked by the perusing zombies, forcing C.J. to shoot him dead out of mercy. Thanks to Steve’s negligence, the zombies force open the exit door. The survivors pile into the buses and smash out into the parking lot, where another propane bomb is used to clear a path through the waiting horde. When Glen moves to take out a last hitchhiking zombie with a chainsaw, a sudden swerve sends the weapon slashing into Monica’s shoulder. The resulting splatter of blood covers the windshield, causing driver Kenneth to lose control and crash. Glen and Monica are killed, while Steve flees the toppled bus and is attacked by the hitchhiking zombie.

The others scramble for the second bus, meeting zombie-Steve en route. Ana shoots him dead, then must linger long enough to get the boat keys off his corpse, allowing more zombies to catch up with them. Ana flees back to the bus, where Michael helps her in. After a short struggle, they pull away and speed to the marina dock, where they crash the bus and dash for the boat. Cornered in the bus by their pursuers, C.J. detonates a final propane tank blowing up the vehicle, the zombies, and himself. The remainder of the group gets on the boat, except for Michael; he was bitten while helping Ana. Ana futilely pleads with him to come, and the boat sets sail with Terry, Ana, Kenneth, Nicole, and Chips. Ana watches unflinchingly as Michael draws his pistol, places it under his chin, and a final gunshot rings out over the water.

In a group text, Athena Stone anticipates an upcoming hunt of “deplorables” at a manor. Later, on her private jet, she kills a man who staggers out from the cargo hold.

Eleven captives wake up gagged, in a forest, for the hunt. In a clearing, they find a cache of weapons and keys to their gags, but upon retrieving them, five are killed by an unseen enemy.

Three captives escape over a barbed-wire fence to a service station. The station’s owners, an elderly couple consisting of Miranda “Ma” and Julius “Pop”, identify their location as a point on Route 31 near Elaine, Arkansas. The three escapees, each kidnapped from a different part of the United States, realize their situation’s similarity to the “Manorgate” conspiracy theory. One of the three eats a poisoned donuts and collapses, while Ma and Pop (who are among the captors’ ranks) kill the rest with poison gas. They then clean up the station for the next person to come in.

A fourth captive, Crystal Creasey, arrives. Asking for cigarettes and their location, she makes conversation with Ma and Pop, and the latter get nervous. Crystal then attacks and kills the couple with a sawed-off shotgun the couple had under the counter; she reveals that the cigarettes were too expensive for Arkansas.

Inspecting the pickup truck outside, she finds a Croatian license plate underneath a fake Arkansas plate, and a booby-trap wired to the driver’s door. She later encounters another captive; a conspiracy theorist pod-caster named Gary, and warns him from taking the truck. They board a train car full of refugees, whom Gary believes to be crisis actors; the train is then raided by Croatian soldiers. When Gary tries to convince the soldiers of Manorgate and the refugees’ perfidy, a refugee, “Crisis Mike” admits to Gary that he and only he is an actor and one of the hunters, but says the raid was not planned for, and offers a head start for Gary’s cooperation. Gary uses a grenade the actor had hidden to kill him, and Crystal is taken to a refugee camp.

Crystal meets another escaped prisoner named Don at the camp, and Oliver, an envoy from the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, arrives to take them to the embassy. On the drive there, Oliver probes into why they were selected for the hunt; suspicious, Crystal kicks Oliver out of the car and runs him over. She and Don find Gary’s body in the trunk with a box marked “bribe money” and a map. The faux envoy was one of the hunters.

Crystal tells Don the story of “the Jackrabbit and the Box Turtle,” a version of The Tortoise and the Hare in which the Jackrabbit kills the Box Turtle after losing. At the envoy’s intended destination (which is shown to be close to where the captives originally found the weapons cache and were subsequently killed), Crystal kills the hunters she finds and wounds their tactical consultant Sgt. Dale. Athena calls out to Don via radio, asking if he killed Crystal. When Don refuses to disarm, Crystal kills him. Crystal tortures the wounded Sgt. Dale to get Athena’s location and then kills him.

A flashback reveals that Athena’s group text exchange was a joke. However, it was leaked on the internet, creating furor over “Manorgate”. Subsequently, the group text’s participants, whose careers were ruined, decide to make Manorgate come true. They abducted people who shared and produced internet materials relating to Manorgate. Athena is personally offended by a social media post Crystal had made about her, and insists on her inclusion, nicknaming her “Snowball”.

Derry, Maine, October 1988

Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) helps his little brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) make a paper sailboat, calling it the S.S. Georgie. Georgie wants to go outside to sail it in the pouring rain, but Bill is too sick to join him. The brothers hug before Georgie runs out to play.

Georgie sails his boat down the street. He chases after it and accidentally runs into a roadblock. The boat sails to the end of the street until it falls into the sewer. Georgie runs to try and get it, worried that Bill will be mad. As he looks into the sewer, a pair of yellow eyes emerge. They belong to an entity calling itself Pennywise the dancing clown (Bill Skarsgard). Pennywise playfully speaks to Georgie before offering him his boat back. Georgie reaches for it, only for Pennywise to grab his arm and sink his massive teeth into it. The creature rips off Georgie’s arm and leaves him crying for Bill before dragging him down into the sewers.

Eight months later. June 1989

We meet Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) as his grandfather Leroy (Steven Williams) is making him kill a sheep with a nail gun. Leroy lectures the boy before doing the deed himself.

It’s the last day of school. Bill and his friend Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff), who all form The Losers Club, are heading out to start their summer. Unfortunately, they run into the school’s psychopathic bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and his goons Patrick Hockstetter (Owen Teague), Victor Criss (Logan Thompson), and Belch Huggins (Jake Sim). Bill tells Henry he sucks after the punk mocks his friends, and Henry approaches Bill threateningly until he sees his father, Officer Bowers (Stuart Hughes), standing behind Bill. He walks away, but not before licking his palm and smearing it on Bill’s face.

A girl named Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) is smoking in the bathroom. A group of mean girls led by Gretta (Megan Charpentier) taunt her and accuse Bev of being a slut. One girl fills a trash bag full of water and dumps it on Bev, but she covers her head with her book. On her way out of the building, Beverly meets the new kid, Ben Hascom (Jeremy Ray Taylor). He gets picked on for his weight and he doesn’t have any friends. Bev signs his yearbook, and Ben appears to develop a crush on her.

When Bill gets home, his father Zach (Geoffrey Pounsett) scolds him for creating a model with tubes of the sewer system in Derry since he still believes that Georgie is only missing. Zach tells him to accept that Georgie is dead.

Mike goes to the butcher shop to make a delivery. Behind the door around the alley, he hears what sounds like screaming and pounding. The door opens and several burnt hands start sticking out. Mike then sees Pennywise, but is nearly run over by the Bowers gang in a car. Mike flees.

Stan is at the synagogue studying for his bar mitzvah. There is a painting in the rabbi’s office that creeps him out showing a woman with a distorted face. The painting falls, and when Stan picks it up, the woman is gone. He turns around and IT manifests as the woman with a fanged smile. Stan runs away.

Ben is at the library looking up Derry’s history. From a series of articles, he learns that children in Derry have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances for centuries. The book contains a depiction of Pennywise and a missing boy’s head in a tree. Ben is then lured into the basement where he sees the headless boy before getting chased out by Pennywise.

On his way home, Ben is attacked by the Bowers gang. Henry’s goons hold him against the bridge railing. Patrick wants to burn Ben with a lighter and bug spray, but Henry plans to carve his name into Ben’s stomach. An old couple drive by and see this but do nothing (it’s implied that IT is there with the presence of a red balloon). Henry only cuts an H before Ben kicks him in the nuts and rolls over the bridge and into the woods. The punks chase after Ben. Meanwhile, the Losers are near the sewers as Bill has convinced his friends to help him find Georgie. Ben falls into the water near them, and the boys grab him and bring him to safety.

Patrick runs into the sewers to try and get Ben, splitting from his friends. He encounters demonic-looking children that make him run, but he comes across a dead end. A bunch of red balloons appear before him, and they all pop to reveal Pennywise, who promptly devours Patrick.

The boys go to the pharmacy to get cotton balls and bandages, but they are short on money. Beverly is there buying tampons when she runs into the boys. After hearing their problem, Bev pretends to flirt with the pharmacist, Mr. Keene (Joe Bostick), to distract him. He comes off as a creep to her, but she manages to distract him long enough for the boys to steal their supplies, and for her to sneak away some cigarettes. Bev goes outside and joins the boys when she sees the boys tending to Ben.

Beverly goes home to her father (Stephen Bogaert), who is an even bigger creep than Mr. Keene. He comes onto his daughter, causing her to run into the bathroom crying. She then proceeds to cut off her hair until it’s at a shorter length.

The boys (now joined by Ben) are at the quarry ready to jump into the lake, but no one is eager to go first. Bev shows up and jumps first, leading the others to join. They have fun while swimming and hanging out. Later, Ben tells everyone what he read about in Derry’s history.

Eddie is walking home when he passes the abandoned house on Neibolt Street. He is suddenly attacked by a leper (Javier Botet), causing Eddie to run through the house’s yard. As he reaches the fence, he sees Pennywise trying to lure him toward him. Eddie runs under the fence and escapes.

Bev is in her room with a postcard with a poem written on it by a secret admirer. She thinks it’s Bill but it was actually Ben that wrote it. From her bathroom, Bev hears the voices of children. She looks into the sink where the voices are, and clumps of hair start reaching out to grab her before a fountain of blood gushes all over the bathroom. Mr. Marsh comes in to see Bev horrified, but he cannot see the blood. He simply comments that her hair makes her look like a boy.

Bill is walking around the house when he sees what looks like Georgie running around. Shocked, he follows Georgie to the basement, which is flooding. Georgie steps out and invites Bill to join him, saying “We all float down here. You’ll float too.” He repeats “You’ll float too” until he yells and decomposes. Pennywise then emerges from the water and tries to get Bill, but he runs out of the basement.

The next day, the kids are riding their bikes when they see Mike’s bike and the Bowers gang’s car. They go down by the creek to find the punks harassing Mike for being black. Bev throws a rock at Henry’s head, which initiates a rock-throwing war between both groups. Mike runs over to the Losers side while Vic and Belch run away as Henry is knocked unconscious.

As the kids walk away with Mike, Bill mentions what he saw in his house. Eddie backs him up on having seen Pennywise. Mike mentions what he saw and talks about how his old house was burnt down by racist goons, and his parents died trying to break the door down to his room, with their skin having melted to the bone. Richie is the only one that hasn’t been haunted, but he admits to being terrified of clowns.

The kids go to Bill’s garage where they look over a map of Derry through a projector. They see that the sewers are linked to the Neibolt house, where IT lives. The projector then starts working itself, showing pictures of Bill and Georgie with their parents, but with Pennywise’s face appearing over their mother. They knock the projector over, but it keeps playing until Pennywise fully emerges from the screen and tries to get the kids. They manage to get out of the garage before he can harm them.

The Losers go to the Neibolt house to face IT head-on. Bill, Richie, and Eddie enter the house while the others stay outside as lookouts. Richie sees a missing poster of himself and he freaks out, but Bill reminds him it’s not real. Eddie gets separated from his friends when Pennywise finds him. He falls through the floor and lands in the kitchen, breaking his arm. Bill and Richie try to reach him through three doors. The first door they open reveals a headless girl. The second door traps Richie inside with a room full of clown dolls. He sees a coffin with a dummy of himself in it. He shuts it, and Pennywise jumps out. He tries to attack Richie, but he runs out of the room. Pennywise returns his attention to Eddie, but Bill and Richie get to him before the clown eats him. Beverly then shows up to drive a spear through Pennywise’s head, forcing him to retreat.

Eddie’s mom forbids the Losers from hanging out with him after she sees his broken arm. Bill and Richie then get into a fight when Richie says this whole pursuit of Georgie has nearly gotten them killed. The Losers part ways as the other boys are too terrified to keep going.

It’s now August, and the kids have continued going about their lives. Eddie goes to the pharmacy to pick up his asthma medication, only for Gretta (who works behind the counter) to tell him that they are placebos. She then writes “LOSER” on his arm cast.

Henry is with Vic and Belch shooting things with his dad’s gun. He orders Belch to bring him a cat to shoot, but Officer Bowers shows up to take the gun from Henry. He then shoots the ground around Henry’s feet to humiliate him in front of his friends and expose him as a coward. Later, Henry sees a red balloon on his mailbox. Inside is a knife, sent by IT. He goes inside as his father is asleep with the TV on. On the screen appears a woman with children, all urging Henry to kill his father. He does so by sticking the knife in his neck and letting him bleed out. The kids on TV (all of IT’s victims) then start chanting “KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL!”

At the Marsh house, Beverly’s dad attempts to act upon his lust toward his daughter. She fights him off and runs into the bathroom. When Mr. Marsh gets there, Bev whacks him across the face with a toilet lid, killing him. Just as she is about to leave, Pennywise finds her and takes her.

Bill goes by Bev’s house and finds her father dead in the bathroom, and sees “YOU’LL DIE IF YOU TRY” written on the wall in blood. He realizes Bev has been taken by IT, so he goes to make amends with his friends to rescue her. When they get Eddie, his mom forbids him from leaving and joining his friends, but he defies her when he confronts her over the placebos. He ditches her and joins his friends.

The boys go to the Neibolt house and find a well where IT dwells. They climb down a rope, but before Mike can head down, Henry shows up and attacks him. He starts pulling the rope up to prevent the boys from climbing back up. Henry tries to kill Mike with the nail gun that he brought, but Mike fights him off and manages to push him down the well, sending him to his apparent death.

Going further into the well, Stan is attacked by IT as the woman from the painting. She munches on his head, but the boys scare IT away and comfort a mortified Stan.

All the boys head further into the well where they find IT’s lair. All the children he’s taken are floating up in the dead-lights under some kind of trance. The boys find Bev floating. They pull her down, and Ben kisses her to break her out of the trance. Bill then sees Georgie emerge from the shadows. Georgie tells Bill he missed him and was waiting for him to come for him. Bill hugs his brother, but he knows it’s not really Georgie, and he shoots him in the head. His body writhes on the ground until he turns into Pennywise. The clown tries to kill the kids, but they fight him off until he has his hold on Bill. Pennywise gives the others the option to die together, or leave him with just Bill. Bill tells them to run, but Richie is the first to fight back. The kids then start beating the crap out of Pennywise until he is powerless, unable to hurt them because they no longer fear him. Before Bill can strike the fatal blow to the clown’s cracking skull, Pennywise retreats into the darkness and thus escapes. The kidnapped children then float downward. Bill then finds Georgie’s raincoat. He realizes that Georgie truly is gone. Bill breaks down in tears as his friends gather around and hug him.

It is now September. The Losers swear a blood oath to return to Derry in 27 years should IT ever return. They hang out for a while until each of them gradually leaves, with only Bill and Bev stay behind. She is going to move to Portland now. As she walks away, Bill runs up to her and kisses her.

The opening credits appear in front of a large planet with rings. Out in the far reaches of deep space the Nostromo, a commercial towing space vehicle, carrying a refinery with twenty million tons of mineral ore, is en route to Earth with a crew of seven. Inside, the ship appears eerily quiet, but suddenly, the on-board computer is activated. Lights inside the ship are activated, and a room with seven biobeds is illuminated. The canopies open to awaken the crew. Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt) is the first to awaken from hypersleep. They congregate in the mess hall, where they cheerfully enjoy a meal. Chief Engineer Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Engineering Technician Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) take the opportunity to discuss the bonus system, which they find unfair, as they get paid less than the officers. Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) is called away by MOTHER, the ship’s computer, before they can have a meaningful conversation. Dallas enters the MOTHER console room, and tries to assess the situation, as the rest of the crew gets in the cockpit of the ship to determine their location. They quickly deduce that they are nowhere near home yet. Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) finds out that they are at Zeta II Reticuli, an outlying system. When Parker and Brett return from their round of the lower deck, complaining about their colleagues’ attitude and the bonus system, Dallas briefs the crew: the ship is not even halfway home, and has altered its course because it has picked up an unknown signal, which repeats every 12 seconds. The crew has been awoken from hypersleep to investigate. Parker protests, arguing that they’re not a rescue team and that they should be compensated for the extra work, but Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm) stipulates that per Company contract, the crew is obliged to investigate any signal from an intelligent source; non-compliance will result in loss of pay, which quickly puts Parker in a more cooperative mood.

The crew assembles in the cockpit to listen to the signal. It sounds very strange and unearthly, perhaps like a voice. Lambert homes in on it and finds that it comes from a planetoid, 1200 km in diameter, with a two-hour rotation and some gravity.

The Nostromo approaches the planet, which is close to one enormous ringed planet and two smaller ones. The ship separates from the refinery, and sets course to the planet’s surface. It descends toward the planet, but the landing is rough, causing damage that will take some time for Parker and Brett to repair (although they allot themselves several more hours than their own estimate). The planet is windy, and visibility is low. As the source of the signal is 2000 meters away and the sun is coming up, Dallas and Kane decide to investigate on foot. A reluctant Lambert is ordered to join. Ash takes place behind an outer window with a communication console, as the team puts on their space suits and leave the ship to investigate the signal on the planet’s windy surface. In the meanwhile, Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has gone to the lower deck to inspect the repairs. Parker and Brett ask if there will be a bonus for any discovery which is made on the surface; Ripley assures them that the law guarantees them a share, before returning upstairs, as they keep teasing her. Outside, the team walks between the rocks, through the planetoid’s inhabitable atmosphere. Inside the ship, Ash tells Ripley that MOTHER has not yet deciphered the signal; she volunteers to give it a try. Ripley accesses a console and starts working on the strange signal.

Outside, the sun is up and the wind has died down. The team clears the rock formation, and makes a fascinating discovery. Near the horizon, they see a derelict spacecraft of unknown origin. It is lying against the rocks, vaguely shaped like a horseshoe. Despite Lambert’s hesitation, they approach it, losing contact with the Nostromo upon entering the massive ship through an opening at the side. Inside, they find hallways with walls textured like bones. At the end is an elevated platform. It carries the remains of an enormous alien creature in a large chair, now fossilized. Upon initial examination, there is evidence of some unknown trauma to its chest: its ribs are bent outward, as if it exploded from the inside. Lambert wants to leave. Kane then draws the others’ attention to a large hole in the floor. Meanwhile, analysis of the unidentified transmission suggests that it is not an SOS, but a warning. Ripley wants to go after the search party, but Ash talks her out of it, reasoning that by the time she gets there, the search team will probably know what the signal means.

Kane is lowered into the hole by means of a winch. He finds an enormous tube-like chamber down below, divided into sections and basins. He nears one basin, discovering thousands of leathery objects that resemble large eggs. He also discovers a strange light and mist covering the eggs that reacts when broken. He trips and falls into the pit, but is uninjured and moves in to investigate further. Kane touches one of the eggs, which seems to give a shriek. He illuminates the egg from behind with a flashlight and discovers movement inside. He grabs a pistol: a strange, spider-like organism is the resident. The egg has flaps on top which open, revealing its insides. As Kane moves into for a better look, the strange lifeform inside suddenly leaps out, attaching itself to Kane’s helmet, melting his faceplate.

Ash is looking towards the planet’s surface, when he sees Dallas and Lambert carrying the unconscious Kane back to the Nostromo. They enter the airlock and ask Ripley to let them in, while Ash waits at the inner airlock door to open it. They inform Ripley that an organism has attached itself to Kane’s face. Ripley hesitates, citing quarantine protocol: for the safety of the crew, Kane should first be decontaminated for 24 hours before being brought on board. Dallas fears for Kane’s life and orders her to open the door, but she refuses, despite Dallas trying to pull rank. However, Ash disregards Ripley’s decision and lets them in.

In the infirmary, Dallas and Ash cut Kane’s helmet open: they find that a spider-like creature has attached itself to Kane’s face, with eight finger-like legs, and a long tail tightly wrapped around his neck. Despite his mouth being blocked, Kane is breathing normally. Parker, Brett and Lambert observe through a window. Ripley joins them, and is angrily slapped by a furious Lambert for not allowing them to re-enter the ship; the men break the women apart. Dallas berates Ripley for disobeying a direct order, but Ripley furiously replies that she was just following the rules of quarantine protocol. Ash attempts to remove the creature from Kane’s face with a pair of forceps, but it merely tightens its grip, and is holding on so tight that it will tear Kane’s skin off with it. Kane is examined with a sophisticated medical scanner, which shows that the creature has inserted a tube into Kane’s throat and is feeding him oxygen. Ash deduces that since Kane is comatose and the parasite is feeding him oxygen, removing the creature may kill Kane, however Dallas is willing to take the risk.

Ash tries to cut off one of its legs with a scalpel, but a yellowish fluid pours out of the wound and begins to eat through the floor. Out of concern that the acidic fluid will breach the hull, the crew runs several floors downstairs, and find that the stuff’s corrosive effect is neutralized after burning through several decks. Dallas says the substance resembles molecular acid, and Brett comments the creature must be using it for blood. “Wonderful defense mechanism - you don’t dare kill it”, growls Parker. Dallas orders everyone back to their posts, as Kane is left in his coma to be tended by Ash.

Parker and Brett resume their repairs, commenting that they should never have landed on the planet. As Kane’s situation remains unchanged, Ash is collecting data on the creature. He is startled by the sudden presence of Ripley in the infirmary. She wants to know what he has found out yet. Ash can only confirm that the creature’s skin is made up of polysaccharides, which it is slowly replacing with silicon to toughen its hide against the new environment it finds itself within. Ripley then confronts him with his decision to let it aboard, ignoring the quarantine law; Ash defends himself by stating that he did it out of concern for Kane’s life, and that he temporarily forgot the fact that Ripley is the officer in charge when Dallas and Kane are away. Ripley replies that by allowing this breech of protocol, he has put all of their lives at risk, which is not appropriate behavior for a science officer. Ash coldly lets her know that he is perfectly capable to make that decision, and she should stick to her own job. Ripley leaves.

Dallas is sitting in the Nostromo’s escape shuttle, the Narcissus, listening to music, when he is called to the infirmary by Ash, because something has happened to Kane. The creature has detached from Kane’s face on its own, and has disappeared. Dallas, Ripley and Ash search the infirmary, and find it when it suddenly drops from an overhead compartment on Ripley; it appears to be dead, only showing basic reflexes. They take a closer look at it, and confirm it is dead. Ripley wants to get rid of it, fearing that it may become even more harmful when dead; Ash strongly disagrees, given the uniqueness of the specimen. He wants to take it back to Earth for more tests, as it is harmless now. Dallas shares Ripley’s sentiment, but leaves the decision to Ash, to Ripley’s amazement.

Ripley tries to talk some sense into Dallas, who is unwilling to listen to her arguments, replying that he only runs the ship, and Ash has the final word on all things concerning the Company’s science division. Ripley asks if Dallas has ever worked with Ash before. Dallas mentions that he did five tours with the same science officer, but this person was suddenly replaced two days before the Nostromo left Thedus dock back on Earth. Ripley admits she doesn’t trust Ash, but Dallas responds that he doesn’t trust anybody. He asks about the status of repairs, which are still underway, but appear completed enough to leave the planetoid. Even though Ripley does not recommend it, Dallas prefers to leave as soon as possible. After a successful take-off and despite some minor technical errors, the ship docks with the refinery and cargo in orbit. The Nostromo then resumes its course for Earth.

The crew is back in the mess hall, bickering again about what to do with Kane. Dallas decides they will all get back into hypersleep. Lambert has calculated that it will take another 10 months to get back to Earth, which spoils their moods even further. Ash suddenly calls Dallas to the infirmary. Kane has awoken, still groggy but seemingly unharmed. He remembers very little of the event, apart from a nightmare about smothering, but is starved and wants to eat. The crew decides to have one last meal before they re-enter hypersleep. During the meal, the crew is finally having a good time again, joking and enjoying the food. Kane is eating like he has not had food in ages, sharply observed by Ash. Suddenly, Kane begins to choke. After initially thinking he has swallowed something bad, the mood suddenly changes when Kane starts to groan and convulse violently. While he lies writhing and screaming on the table, the crew tries to help and stabilize him, but a bloodstain suddenly appears on the front of Kane’s shirt. The executive officer then violently thrashes about several times despite the crew’s efforts to help him, and with one horrified scream, he goes silent. A small head about the size of a man’s fist bursts through the front of Kane’s chest. It silently observes its surroundings. Parker moves in to kill it with a knife, but he is stopped by Ash. The creature screeches, then uses its tail to propel itself clear of the table and disappear down a hallway, leaving the crew stunned and horrified.

A quick search through the deck yields no results whatsoever. After a short funeral for Kane, where his body is jettisoned into space, the crew members separate into two teams to capture the small creature. Brett assembles a weapon similar to a cattle prod, while Ash rigs together a tracking device. Parker, Brett and Ripley investigate one of the lower decks, finding that the power has been disrupted despite repairs having been finished. Picking up a signal, they think they have the creature cornered in a cabinet. They prepare to catch it in a net, only to be startled by the discovery that it is the crew’s cat, Jones, who had found a quiet place inside the cupboard, and runs away. Realizing they might pick up the cat on the tracker again later, Parker sends Brett off to catch Jones. As Brett is searching for Jones, he finds a mysterious object resembling a shed reptile skin on the floor. He continues on to a hold housing one of the ship’s landing struts, eventually catching up with Jones. Unknown to Brett, a strange creature is hanging in the chains above him, seemingly observing him. As Brett tries to coax Jones out, the cat hisses when a huge shape drops down behind him. It is the creature, now a six-foot scaly monster with four limbs, an elongated head, and rising to its full height behind the engineer. Brett turns around, and is mesmerized while looking at the creature opening its mouth, revealing a second set of teeth which quickly extends from the mouth, biting Brett in the head, and dragging him, bloodied and screaming, above into an airshaft. Ripley and Parker hear him and arrive just in time to catch a glimpse of the monster as Brett disappears and blood drips down.

Parker and Ripley can only confirm the creature is big and escaped through the air ducts. Brett is assumed dead. The crew debates their next move. They all agree that the alien is using the air shafts to move around, so if they could drive it from the ducts into an airlock, they might be able to blow it out into space. Ripley asks Ash if he can offer some helpful information as a scientist; Ash suggests the alien may be afraid of fire, as most animals are. Fortunately, there are several flamethrowers on board. Ripley volunteers to enter the air shafts, but Dallas overrules her by volunteering himself. Dallas enters the MOTHER console once more. He tries to get the MOTHER computer to evaluate their procedure to get rid of the alien, but MOTHER simply cannot provide an answer, due to lack of input. He tries to get MOTHER to offer suggestions, but again, the computer cannot compute, due to lack of available data. Finally, Dallas types “What are my chances?” The computer replies that it cannot compute.

The main airlock is prepared by Ripley and Ash for the decompression procedure, while Parker and Lambert position themselves where they can measure movement inside the ducts. The main duct is opened and Dallas enters the network of air shafts with a flamethrower, allowing the crew to remote-close valves behind him as he proceeds. Lambert uses a motion tracker to get his location, when she suddenly catches another signal going towards him. Assuming it is the alien, Dallas uses the flamethrower to make sure that one of the ducts leading down is safe. He ascends a ladder to the lower duct, but the alien’s signal is lost in the meanwhile. Lambert instructs Dallas to hold position until she can reacquire the Alien’s signal, which he does. Next to him, he finds a puddle of slime on the floor. Lambert assures him that the alien cannot be far, so he uses the flame thrower around him to scare it out of hiding; nothing is there. Dallas is disoriented in the cramped space and starts to panic, deciding to try again later. Suddenly Lambert picks up the Alien’s signal again, moving at higher speed to his location. Lambert desperately urges him to move away. He descends another ladder and turns around, but finds himself facing the screaming creature, stretching its arms towards him. Static and feedback interrupt the line, and then there is only silence.

Parker puts Dallas’ flamethrower on the table, saying it was just laying in the duct: “no blood, no Dallas.” Lambert looks as if she is near a nervous breakdown, while Ripley is desperately trying to hide her apprehension. She suggests that in absence of a better idea, they should continue with Dallas’ plan. Lambert disagrees vehemently, and suggests abandoning the ship with the shuttle; however, the shuttle cannot sustain four people. Parker also opposes the idea, and wants to kill the creature; even if this means entering the entire duct system again, and blowing the alien out of the airlock. He leaves on Ripley’s orders to refill the flamethrower. Ripley once again tries to get helpful information from Ash, but he says he is still analyzing. She scoffs at him for being so little help, and decides to go and try MOTHER for answers, since she now has access in light of Dallas’ absence.

Ripley accesses the MOTHER console, and queries MOTHER for answers as to why they are unable to neutralize the alien. MOTHER responds that she cannot clarify. Ripley asks MOTHER to explain why not. MOTHER replies that she cannot, referring to Special Order 937, which is only meant to be read by the science officer. Ripley uses an emergency command override to force MOTHER to explain what Special Order 937 entails. MOTHER displays the following shocking text: “Nostromo rerouted to new coordinates. Investigate lifeform. Gather specimen. Priority one: insure return of organism for analysis. All other considerations secondary. Crew expendable.” As she contemplates the cold, hard words, she suddenly finds Ash sitting next to her, saying there is an explanation for this. Furiously, she grabs and shouts at him, sobbing uncontrollably. She leaves the console, summoning Parker and Lambert, but she finds that Ash is closing all doors leaving the mess hall, preventing her from leaving. She demands that he open the doors, but Ash simply stares at her. She notices a drop of white liquid running down his face, and he starts to have facial twitches. Unnerved, she tries to run away, but he suddenly grabs her hair; Ripley breaks free, pulling out a lock of hair, and tries to run. Ash quickly catches up and throws her against a few walls. While she is barely conscious, Ash uses a rolled-up magazine in order to suffocate her. She starts to struggle fiercely as Ash starts to twitch and make incoherent noises. Suddenly, Parker and Lambert arrive, both trying to drag Ash away from Ripley. Parker howls in pain as Ash grabs a piece of skin on his chest, forcing him to let go. Parker quickly grabs a fire extinguisher and hits Ash with it in the back. Ash starts to convulse and shriek violently, making very inhuman sounds while spitting out white liquid. Parker gives him another blow with the extinguisher, dislodging Ash’s head, revealing Ash is an android. He keeps pounding Ash until he is on the floor, white liquid gushing from its insides. Ash’s movements start to decrease and Parker settles down, but suddenly, the decapitated body grabs him and forces him onto a table; Lambert finally grabs the electric prod and screams as she stabs Ash in the back with it, finally rendering the android lifeless.

With Ash disabled, Ripley theorizes that the Company sent him along to bring an alien back for their weapons division, as Ash was always very protective of the creature. They reconnect his disembodied head to see if he can give them any advice on how to deal with the creature. Ash confirms that his order was to bring back the lifeform, even if it meant sacrificing the crew. Ripley asks how they can kill the creature. He tells them simply, ‘You can’t’, as it is “the perfect organism”. He has a silent admiration for it, “a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse and delusions of morality”. Ash taunts their chances against the creature, infuriating Parker and causing Ripley to disconnect him again. The three survivors decide to follow Lambert’s earlier suggestion; set the Nostromo to self-destruct and escape in the shuttle, leaving the Alien to die on the main ship. As they leave the room, Parker turns the flamethrower on Ash’s corpse, incinerating his remains. Ripley will prepare the shuttle for launch, while Parker and Lambert go to gather coolant for the shuttle’s life-support system.

While prepping the shuttle, Ripley hears Jones meowing on the ship’s open intercom system, and realizes the cat is still left behind. Lambert and Parker are in the hold gathering equipment. They proceed to a small room where the coolant is stored, and start to pressurize the coolant bottles. Ripley ventures out alone, into the hallways of the Nostromo to find Jones the cat. Expecting the alien at every turn, Ripley finally locates the cat in the cockpit, where he startles her as he suddenly jumps into view. She puts him into his traveling container.

In the storage room, Parker and Lambert are so focused on the supplies, that neither of them sees a large shadow that has appeared inside the room. It is the Alien, and it corners Lambert against a wall where she had been filling coolant bottles. Ripley can hear Parker over the open intercom, shouting to Lambert to get out of the way, but the alien has cornered her against the wall. Parker is unable to get a clear shot at it with the flamethrower without risking harm to Lambert, as it is hulking over her. Finally, he charges at the creature, but it rapidly spins, whipping the flamethrower out of his hands with its long tail, and grabbing him with its large claws. Parker fights against the creature’s grip while shouting a warning to Lambert to get out, but she is frozen with fright and does not move. The Alien spreads its outer jaws to reveal the pistonlike inner throat and penetrating teeth, and as Parker screams a warning the creature’s teeth penetrate Parker’s skull, killing him. As Ripley rushes towards their position, she is powerless to prevent the creature from turning back to Lambert. It curls its tail around her, and the final thing that Ripley can hear from the intercom are the sounds of Lambert, crying, sobbing, gagging and screaming - followed by silence. Ripley finds their bloodied and lifeless bodies in the storage room, with no sign of the alien.

In terrible shock, Ripley dashes towards the emergency room without stopping. Between the sobs, she locates the ship’s self-destruct mechanism and quickly completes the entire procedure to activate it. The voice of MOTHER now announces that the self-destruct mechanism has been activated, and the ship will detonate in 10 minutes; however, the self-destruct can still be canceled during the first five minutes. Ripley takes a ladder to the lower deck, where she hears a soft groan. She inspects the hold, and finds a strange organic structure adhering to the walls and machinery. Shocked, she finds Dallas stuck within the adhesive, barely alive. On the opposite wall, she notices a shape which vaguely resembles Brett; he seems to be dissolving, transforming into an object like the eggs seen in the derelict ship. Dallas very weakly begs Ripley to kill him. After some hesitation, she grants his dying request: she burns them both with the flamethrower and rushes out of the chamber.

Ripley crawls up a ladder, and runs towards the shuttle with Jones in the container. She briefly rests against a wall, when she suddenly hears the alien stirring around the corner. Terrified, she drops the cat container and carefully retraces her steps along the wall, as the alien slowly comes into view around the corner. It shows interest in Jones. The alien slams the container against a wall. Ripley races back to the self-destruct mechanism and tries to override the procedure; however, she is too late, as the mechanism is already starting to activate. She restarts the cooling unit, but MOTHER announces that it is too late to stop the countdown, and the Nostromo will explode in five minutes, much to Ripley’s frustrated anger. With sirens blaring and steam releasing from the vents, Ripley runs back to the shuttle loading area, ready to make her best attempt to fight off the alien and get into the lifeboat. The alien is nowhere to be seen, only the cat container lying on its side. As fires start to erupt, she picks up Jones and boards the shuttle with only one minute to abandon ship. She quickly runs through the launch sequence, and the shuttle lowers to launch position as MOTHER starts counting down the last 30 seconds of the Nostromo’s life. The shuttle’s engines ignite and the shuttle races away, leaving the Nostromo in the distance. Three massive explosions follow as the Nostromo’s engines detonate, destroying the ship, the refinery and ore it had been towing, and, apparently - also the Alien.

Ripley gives Jones a hug and prepares one of the biobeds for hypersleep, putting Jones in it. As she makes final preparations for the shuttle, a hand suddenly reaches out to her from a wall; she shrieks, and in horror, she sees the alien lying in an alcove. In fact, it had stowed away aboard the shuttle, its external physicality making it blend in with the ship’s machinery. She flees into a locker with space suits inside, and notices the alien is not following her; it remains lying in the alcove, seemingly unable to do something. Suddenly, Ripley gets an idea, and stealthily dons one of the space suits. Exiting the locker, she arms herself with a harpoon gun, then straps herself into a chair while singing “You Are My Lucky Star” to calm her nerves. Opening a series of air vents above the alien’s head, Ripley tests them one at a time, and then finds one that directly blasts high-pressure steam onto the alien, driving it shrieking from its hiding spot. As she is activating several buttons, she does not notice the monster creeping up to her from the side, until it is standing next to her to its full, menacing two-meter height, ready to attack with its inner jaw. Screaming, she opens the shuttle’s airlock door. Everything not secured, including the alien, blasts towards the door. However, the alien grabs the edges of the doorway to prevent itself from being sucked outside. Ripley quickly fires her harpoon before the creature is able to haul itself in; it pierces the screaming alien, which lets go of the doorway and blasts outside, the wire connecting the gun to the harpoon pulling the gun out of Ripley’s hands. However, the door slams shut, jamming the wire under it. Still tethered to the door by the wire, the alien undauntedly attempts to re-enter the shuttle by climbing inside one of the heat thrusters. However, Ripley sees the opportunity and fires the engines, incinerating the alien, and sending it drifting into space, where the incredibly tough creature finally succumbs to differential pressure and blows apart.

In the Gap Junction, a plane between universes, America Chavez and Doctor Strange race to the Book of Vishanti while attempting to evade a Ribboned Creature. Strange’s attempts to contain the monster prove futile, leading him to attempt to steal Chavez’s power of multiversal travel, while knowing that the process would kill her. However, the demon kills Strange during the process, and Chavez, in fear, inadvertently opens a portal to Earth-616 which she and Strange’s corpse fall through.

Doctor Strange wakes up, believing this vision to be a nightmare and continues about his day. He dresses up to attend Christine Palmer’s wedding, there he reminisces about the time they previously spent together, but Palmer insists that the relationship would’ve failed regardless. During the celebration, an invisible entity begins to terrorize the streets of New York. Strange is forced to respond and reveals the entity as a Gargantos, a gigantic tentacled monster. Also present is Chavez, whom Strange recognizes from his “nightmare” and rescues her. Wong arrives at the scene from Kamar-Taj, and together they kill Gargantos by gouging its eye out. Strange and Wong question Chavez, and she explains that the demons were hunting her for her powers. As proof of her claims, she takes them to the alternate Strange’s corpse to prove that Strange’s “nightmare” was actually a peek into his counterpart across the Multiverse.

Upon further inspection of the corpse, Strange discovers runes of witchcraft that he realizes were also present on the tentacled creature. Knowing that this isn’t his area of expertise, he visits Wanda Maximoff at her farm to ask her about what she knows about the Multiverse, but he soon discovers that the farm is a chaos magic conjuration created by Maximoff herself. With the Darkhold in her possession, Maximoff reveals herself as the one who sent the demons after Chavez originally, believing that she could reunite with Billy and Tommy once she is able to take over the Multiverse. She gives Strange before sundown to surrender Chavez at Kamar-Taj.

With Chavez is over at Kamar-Taj, the Masters of the Mystic Arts fortify the area in preparation for Maximoff’s assault with a magic shield and various other defenses. However, Maximoff’s telepathy targets one sorcerer and disables his magic, leading the shield to collapse, allowing her to shred through the resistance of Kamar-Taj. Strange entraps her within the Mirror Dimension, which proves to be ineffective as she escapes using reflections. Cornered, Chavez accidentally opens a portal, allowing herself and Strange to flee across the Multiverse. They land in Earth-838, in a futuristic New York City, where they walk towards the New York Sanctum in search of Strange’s counterpart in this universe, but as that counterpart had died defeating Thanos previously, they are instead greeted by this universe’s Sorcerer Supreme: Baron Mordo.

Mordo invites both of them to sit down for tea, and the two warn him of the Scarlet Witch’s incoming threat. They soon pass out, as Mordo had poisoned the tea, and awaken in a facility elsewhere. There, they meet that universe’s Christine Palmer, who works at the facility as a scientist that helps with managing different Multiversal threats. Strange is brought forth before the Illuminati for his trial, consisting of Mordo, Captain Peggy Carter, Blackagar Boltagon, Captain Maria Rambeau, Reed Richards and Charles Xavier. They believe that Doctor Strange remains the greatest threat in the universe, revealing that their universe’s counterpart of Strange had used the Darkhold to look for alternate ways to defeat Thanos. He found the Book of Vishanti, which the Illuminati used to kill Thanos on Titan. But Strange confessed that he had caused an incursion, an event in which a reality is destroyed, and thus volunteered to be executed to prevent further destruction.

Meanwhile, Maximoff makes use of the Darkhold to dreamwalk into her Earth-838 counterpart in Westview to interact with her children. However, Sara Wolfe manages to destroy the Darkhold, so Maximoff burns her alive in retaliation. She also threatens to kill other sorcerers if Wong does not reveal another method to dreamwalk, leading him to reveal that the book was a copy. He takes her to a castle on Mount Wundagore where the Darkhold was first transcribed. Maximoff uses the castle’s power to dreamwalk back into her Earth-838 self and raids the Illuminati Headquarters in search of Chavez. Before they could vote to execute Strange, Carter, Black Bolt, Rambeau and Richards leave to respond to the attack, but Maximoff easily kills them. Xavier enters Maximoff’s mind and attempts to liberate her from the Scarlet Witch, but fails as she snaps his neck. Mordo votes to kill Strange himself, who tricks him into destroying his restraints before escaping.

The Illuminati’s efforts have also bought Palmer enough time to free Chavez and the two escape into the sewers, where they rendezvous with Strange. Maximoff continues to pursue them into the Gap Junction, where Strange retrieves the Book of Vishanti. However, Maximoff quickly destroys it and takes control of Chavez, using her to send Strange and Palmer into another universe. She takes Chavez back to Earth-616, abandoning her alternate self who returns home to Westview. Maximoff then prepares a ritual to take her powers. Elsewhere, Strange and Palmer land in a universe that is being destroyed by an incursion and head towards its New York Sanctum. There, they find a sinister counterpart of Strange who had been corrupted by his copy of the Darkhold and possessed a third eye because of it.

When questioned about the Darkhold, this sinister counterpart warns against using it, however Strange still engages in a musical battle in order to retrieve the book, believing it to be the only way to stop Maximoff. The fight ends with Strange killing his evil counterpart, and Palmer reluctantly agrees to assist him as he dreamwalks into the other alternate Strange’s corpse back on Earth-616. As he travels to Mount Wundagore, the spirits of the damned inhabiting the Darkhold attempt to attack Strange in both universes, but Palmer is able to protect Strange as he binds them into a cloak. He reunites with Wong, and they attempt to fight Maximoff, but are easily defeated.

Despite their loss, Strange manages to inspire Chavez into refining her abilities against Maximoff, which results in her using her powers to send Maximoff back to Earth-838. There, she attacks her counterpart and attempts to comfort her kids, but they openly reject her. This causes Maximoff to collapse into tears, but her counterpart comforts her, breaking her out of the Darkhold’s corruption. Realizing the destruction she had caused, Maximoff sacrifices herself to destroy the castle and every copy of the Darkhold within the Multiverse as Wong and Chavez return to Kamar-Taj. Before they both return to their home universes, Strange admits to Palmer that while he has always loved her, he was too insecure about committing to a real relationship.

Kamar-Taj begins to rebuild as Chavez starts her training in the mystic arts, while Strange returns to New York and repairs the watch his Palmer had gifted to him. He takes a walk afterwards, only to collapse and cry out in pain as his third eye opens.

Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) and friend Teddy Craft (Haley Joel Osment) host the popular podcast The Not-See Party, where Wallace finds videos of people doing humiliating things and shows them to Teddy while they make fun of the people on the videos. Their latest victim is the Kill Bill Kid, (Douglas Banks) who accidentally slices his right leg off with a katana. Wallace then announces his plans to fly to Canada to interview (and make fun of) him. In flashbacks spread through the film, its revealed that Wallace was originally an unpopular standup comic who became popular with his increasingly vicious podcasts, which upsets his girlfriend Ally León (Genesis Rodríguez) and leads to fights accusing him of selling out.

Upon arriving in Manitoba, Wallace learns the Kill Bill Kid has accidentally killed himself when arriving at his funeral. Upset that he’s flown to Canada for nothing, Wallace decides to stay an extra day with the intention of finding another weirdo to interview. When using the restroom at a bar, he comes across a handbill from someone offering a room in his home for free and the guarantee of hearing a lifetime of interesting stories. His interest piqued, Wallace arrives at the stately home of Howard Howe (Michael Parks), an older man in a wheelchair, who offers tea and several of his interesting stories at sea. The one Howe is most passionate about telling is when one of the ships he served on crashed when looking for a legendary great white shark and how a walrus he named Mr. Tusk saved him from drowning. As Howe tells his story, Wallace passes out from drugs laced in his tea.

The next morning, Wallace wakes up to find himself strapped into a wheelchair and his left leg amputated. Howe tells him he saw a Recluse spider crawl out of his pant leg and a local doctor had to amputate it to save Wallace’s life. Wallace finds the story incredulous and finally realizes Howe’s insanity when he makes a joke about the spider over dinner, where Howe not only reveals his ability to walk, but his plans for Wallace: having a frightening obsession with the walrus, he plans to fit Wallace into a perfectly constructed walrus costume. His attempts to contact Ally and Teddy - having an affair behind Wallace’s back - fail when neither answer their phone before Howe beats him in the back of the head with an oosik telling him his human life is over.

Now fully aware of the danger Wallace is in, Ally and Teddy fly to Canada to look for him, turning up numerous failed leads. Back at the mansion, as Howe continues to mutilate and alter Wallace, he tells his backstory as a Duplessis orphan and how years of physical, psychological and sexual abuse throughout his childhood have driven him completely mad and cemented years of hatred towards humanity. Howe’s work completed, Wallace is sewn into a horrific walrus pelt made of human skin, the tusks made of the tibia bones from Wallace’s severed legs. Howe revels at the return of his beloved Mr. Tusk in his monstrous aberration of man and walrus.

Local detective Frank Garmin puts Ally and Teddy in touch with Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp), an alcoholic Quebec ex-cop who has been hunting Howe for years, once finding him by chance a few years before under a different name and living situation. He reveals that Howe, nicknamed The First Wife by the police for his horrific M.O., has been kidnapping and murdering people for years (though unaware of his walrus creations) and believes Wallace may still be alive, but not as they remember him. They eventually find Howe’s address through two convenience store clerks Wallace had annoyed earlier.

As the three arrive at Howe’s home, Wallace’s psyche has been completely broken and conditioned to be like that of a walrus. Howe then reveals his other secret: his real obsession comes from killing and eating Mr. Tusk six months after living on the island and, out of guilt for his human qualities, has changed all these people into his beloved savior in a chance to relive their last day and give him another chance at survival. Dressed in his own homemade pelt, Howe and Wallace engage in a messy walrus fight that ends in Wallace going full walrus and killing Howe with his tusks. Ally and Teddy find the enclave and are horrified by Wallace’s altered appearance. As he bellows at them like a walrus, Guy Lapointe enters and aims a shotgun at it.

Former teacher and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) interviews for a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel in an effort to rebuild his life after his volatile temper lost him his teaching position. The hotel manager, Mr. Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), warns Jack that he and his family will be snowbound through most of the winter and of the potential risk for cabin fever. He drives the point home by recounting a season when the caretaker, Charles Grady, went crazy and brutaly killed his wife, his two girls (Lisa Burns and Louise Burns), and finally himself. Given his own desperation and the opportunity to pursue his true passion, writing, Jack acknowledges the warning, but accepts the job.

Meanwhile, Jack’s son Danny (Danny Lloyd) has a seizure while talking to his imaginary friend Tony about the Overlook Hotel. He has a vision of blood splashing out of an elevator in the hotel, an image which is revisited several times throughout the film.

Upon Danny’s arrival at the hotel, head chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) recognizes that Danny is telepathic, and speaks to him mentally to offer him some ice cream. He explains that he and his grandmother both had the gift; she referred to this communication as “shining.” He also counsels Danny about the hotel, hinting that something terrible had happened there and left a trace, “as if someone burned toast,” which only people who can “shine” will perceive. Danny questions Dick about what went on in the hotel, and about Room 237 in particular as Danny can sense that Dick is especially afraid of that room. Though he strives to assure Danny that the images he sees in the hotel are just “like pictures in a book” and can’t hurt him, Dick sternly warns Danny to stay out of that room.

Jack’s mental health deteriorates rapidly once the family is alone in the hotel. He has writer’s block, sleeps too little, and is irritable. Danny has visions of the two murdered Grady girls, but tells no one. He continues to wonder about Room 237.

While the weather is still relatively warm, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and Danny walk through a maze of tall hedges, making a game out of it, stopping at dead ends and fixing their mistakes.

One day, a ball rolls toward Danny as he plays with his toys. It appears to have come from the open door of Room 237, which Danny enters. At that moment, Wendy comes running from the basement at the sound of Jack’s screams in the lounge. He tells her that he had a nightmare in which he used an axe to chop Danny and her to pieces. As a disconcerted Wendy promises that “Everything’s gonna be okay,” Danny appears at the other end of the room, looking disoriented and sucking his thumb. His sweater is ripped and there are bruises on his neck. He does not answer when Wendy asks what happened. She angrily accuses Jack of hurting Danny and takes the child back to their suite.

Jack is furious about the accusation. He storms around the hotel, making his way to the Gold Ballroom. Sinking defeatedly onto a stool at an empty bar, his head in his hands, Jack declares that he would sell his soul for one drink. When he looks up he discovers a bartender (Joe Turkel), who serves him a drink. Jack is nonplussed by the sudden appearance of the bartender and even addresses him by his name, Lloyd. In the course of telling his troubles to Lloyd, Jack reveals that he unintentionally dislocated Danny’s shoulder, the same accident Wendy mentioned to Danny’s pediatrician earlier. Notably, Jack states that the injury happened three years ago, while in explaining the same story to the pediatrician, Wendy said that Jack, who vowed to quit drinking immediately following the accident, has currently been sober for only five months.

A frantic Wendy enters, finding Jack seemingly alone at the bar; she pleads with him to investigate Danny’s claim that “a crazy woman” attacked him in the bathtub of Room 237. Jack, who acts a bit tipsy, grudgingly agrees to go have a look.

As Jack approaches the door to Room 237, Danny appears to be having a seizure in his own room. Dick, back at his home in Florida, stares wide-eyed as he picks up on a signal Danny is sending.

Jack cautiously enters Room 237. The bedroom is empty and he proceeds to the bathroom. He watches lustfully as a young, beautiful, naked woman (Lia Beldam) pulls back the shower curtain and steps slowly out of the bathtub. The two approach each other and embrace in a passionate kiss. Jack catches a glimpse of their reflection in the mirror and sees the woman is actually a rotting corpse. He recoils in horror– the young lady standing before him has transformed into an elderly woman (Billie Gibson); a walking corpse with rotten, sagging skin. She cackles madly while reaching for him with outstretched arms. Stunned, Jack staggers out of the room, locking the door after him.

When he reports back to Wendy, Jack denies anything amiss in Room 237. Wendy suggests they take Danny to a doctor. Jack becomes irate, lecturing Wendy on her thoughtlessness and blaming her for everything that’s gone wrong in his life. Insisting that they can’t leave the hotel because of his obligation to his employers, he storms out, returning to the Gold Room, which is now the scene of an extravagant party with guests dressed in 1920’s fashion. Lloyd serves him a drink and Jack strolls through the crowd. He doesn’t get far when a butler carrying a tray runs into him, spilling advocaat on his jacket. The butler convinces Jack to come into the bathroom to clean up.

The butler introduces himself as Delbert Grady (Philip Stone). Jack remembers the story Mr. Ullman told him about a former caretaker named Grady murdering his family and confronts Grady with the information. Grady denies that anything of the sort took place and furthermore insists that Jack has “always been the caretaker.” Jack is confused, but seems to accept Grady’s story. Grady goes on to tell Jack that Danny has “a great talent” and is using it to bring an “outside party” into the situation, referring to Dick Halloran with a racial slur. Grady advises Jack on how to “correct” Danny, and how to deal with Wendy if she interferes.

Back in Florida, Dick has had no luck contacting the people at the Overlook Hotel. Worried about Danny, he books the next flight to Colorado.

At the Overlook, Wendy arms herself with a baseball bat and looks for Jack, intent on leaving the hotel with Danny whether or not Jack agrees to come. Entering the lounge, she spots Jack’s manuscript left unattended next to the typewriter. She reads what Jack has been writing: hundreds of pages of repetitions of a single sentence: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” She realizes that Jack has gone mad.

Jack approaches from behind and asks sarcastically, “How do you like it?” Wendy shrieks with alarm and wheels around to face him. A confrontation ensues as Jack demands to know her intentions regarding leaving the hotel with Danny, while Wendy retreats, brandishing the bat. She screams at Jack not to hurt her, and he swears that he will not; instead, he intends to kill her. Wendy hits Jack on the head with the bat at the top of a flight of stairs, causing him to lose his balance and tumble down the staircase, injuring his ankle in the process.

Wendy drags Jack’s limp body to the pantry and locks him inside, just as he regains consciousness. Jack tells her he has sabotaged the radio, as well as the snow cat, stranding them all there. She goes outside to check on the snow cat, and confirms what he told her.

A few hours later, Jack is roused from a nap by the sound of Delbert Grady’s voice. Grady expresses disappointment and a lack of confidence in Jack, but Jack assures him he can get the job done if given one more chance. The pantry door then suddenly unlocks.

Wendy has fallen asleep in her room. Danny is in a trance, carrying a knife and muttering “redrum” repeatedly. He takes Wendy’s lipstick and writes “REDRUM” on the bathroom door. He begins shouting “REDRUM,” which wakes Wendy. She clutches him to her, then sees the reflection of the bathroom door in the mirror. Reversed, it reads: “MURDER.” At that instant, banging sounds start coming from the door to the hallway.

The sound is Jack swinging an axe at the locked door. Wendy grabs Danny and locks them in the bathroom. She opens a tiny, snow banked window and pushes Danny out; he slides safely to the ground. She tries to get out the same window, but cannot fit. She tells Danny to run and hide.

Meanwhile, Jack has chopped his way through the front door and calls out “Wendy, I’m home!” Jack then knocks politely on the bathroom door. Wendy holds the knife and tries to steady herself as Jack begins chopping into the door. After chopping away one of the panels, he sticks his head through and screams “Heeeere’s JOHNNY!” (a reference to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)). Jack sticks his hand through the door to turn the lock. Wendy slashes at him with a knife, cutting Jack’s hand and sending him recoiling in pain. Jack continues to hack at the door with the axe until they both hear the low rumble of an approaching snow cat engine. He stalks out.

The snow cat driver is Dick. Inside the hotel, he calls out, but gets no reply. Jack, hiding behind a pillar, leaps out and swings the axe into Dick’s chest, killing him. Danny, hiding in a kitchen cabinet, screams, revealing his location. He clambers out of the steel cabinet and runs outside.

Meanwhile, Wendy has ventured from the bathroom and begun to search for Danny. The hotel has sprung to life and now even Wendy encounters its ghosts, sights that shock and horrify her. At the same time, axe-wielding Jack turns on the outdoor lights and follows Danny into the hedge maze.

Danny realizes he is leaving a trail of footprints in the snow for Jack to follow. He carefully retraces his steps, walking backwards in the same prints he’d just created in the opposite direction, then covers the rest of his tracks and hides behind a hedge. When Jack arrives, he sees that the trail of footprints ends abruptly, giving him no clue as to which direction Danny took. He chooses a path and lurches deeper into the maze. Danny comes out of his hiding spot and follows his own footprints back to the maze’s entrance.

Wendy makes her way out of the hotel just as Danny emerges from the maze. Relieved, she flings down the knife and embraces him. Jack bellows his frustration from within the maze. Danny and Wendy waste no time escaping in the snow cat that Dick used to get to the hotel. Jack, hopelessly lost in the maze, freezes to death.

In the opening scene, a young black man named Andre is walking alone at night through a perfectly-manicured suburban street. A little sports car pulls up and starts slowly tracking him. Andre gets spooked, says, “fuck this shit”, and changes directions to briskly walk back the way he came. When he turns to see what the car did, he sees it’s parked where it was, but the door is open. From out of nowhere, a man in a medieval helmet attacks Andre, renders him unconscious, and drags his body to the car.

Rose arrives at her photographer boyfriend Chris’ (Daniel Kaluuya) apartment with pastries and coffee. They’re getting ready to go away for the weekend to visit her family and he’s concerned that they don’t know she’s dating a black guy. She assures him that, while they will likely say some stupid things, they are incredibly progressive. Her dad would have even voted for Obama a third time if he could have. Chris asks if he’s the only black guy she’s ever dated and she says he is, but she’s confident that her parents will be totally cool.

On the ride to her parents’ home, Chris goes for a cigarette, but Rose takes it and throws it out the window, warning that her parents would hate that she dates a smoker. Chris calls his buddy Rod, a TSA agent at the local airport, and reminds him to take care of his dog and not to feed him “people food.” Rod, disapproving of Chris dating a white woman, berates him and says visiting the white folk is a bad idea. He also flirts a bit with Rose, and Rose thinks it’s sweet when Chris gets a bit jealous. While they’re deep in conversation and not entirely paying attention to the road, a deer darts out in front of the car and is hit.

They pull over to investigate and call the police, who ask what they’re doing in the area. Rose tells them that they’re visiting her family who live nearby. The officer asks to see Chris’s ID, but Rose steps in and says that because he wasn’t driving there’s no need for that. The officer lets them go, and Chris tells Rose that it was hot the way she stood up for him against the racist policeman.

Chris and Rose arrive at her parents’ home. Her father, Dean Armitage, is an affable neurosurgeon who, yes, tells Chris that he would have voted for Obama a third time if he could have. Her mother, Missy (Catherine Keener), is a strangely cold hypnotherapist. She offers to cure Chris of his nicotine addiction through hypnosis, but he doesn’t feel cool with people tooling around in his head.

The Armitages also have two on-site black helpers: Walter (Marcus Henderson), the groundskeeper, and Georgina (Betty Gabriel), the maid/housekeeper. Dean acknowledges that it looks bad, two wealthy white people having two helpers who are black, but they were hired to take care of his parents and Dean would have felt bad letting them go. There’s definitely something off about both Walter and Georgina. They have a definite stiff Stepford artificial politeness about them. They also both speak using dated vernacular.

Dean gives Chris a tour of the house and shows him old family photos. Dean claims that his father was a track runner who was beat out by Jesse Owens to compete in the 1936 Olympics in front of Hitler. And while that was sad for his dad, it was still great to have Hitler’s Aryan idealism proven wrong. There are also photos of Rose’s brother who will be joining them later. He’s a surgeon like his dad, but he went through a rough patch.

The family gets together for afternoon tea. Missy stirs her tea and lightly taps her spoon against the teacup three times (super important later). Missy asks about Chris’ parents. Chris claims that his father left when he was young and his mother died after being hit by a car when he was 11. Georgina sort of short-circuits while pouring tea, and Missy tells her to go lie down and get some rest. The Armitages tell Rose that they’re having their big party tomorrow. She’s surprised and they remind her that it’s the same day every year. Rose’s brother Jeremy arrives. He’s an aggressive spoiled rich kid.

That night at dinner a drunk Jeremy starts talking to Chris about MMA fighting, saying that Chris would be a natural at it becomes he comes from hearty stock. He wants to spar, but Chris says that he has rules about play-fighting with drunks. Dean and Missy tell Jeremy that maybe it’s time for him to go to bed.

Chris and Rose retire to their room where she apologizes for her family and they go to sleep. In the middle of the night, Chris gets up and decides to sneak out for a cigarette. While outside he sees something in the distance charging at him. It’s Walter! He heads straight for Chris, but makes a sharp turn at the last moment and runs off in another direction. Inside the house, Georgina is staring out a window. It turns out she’s looking at her own reflection, not Chris. She adjusts her hair and Chris decides to head back inside.

Before Chris can make it back to his room, Missy startles him by turning on a light. She says smoking is a bad habit and offers again to help him quit. He sits but mocks the notion of hypnotism, unaware that she IS slowly hypnotizing him, using her teaspoon as a focus object. She takes him back to the night his mom died when he was 11, and he tells her that his mother didn’t come home from work and he was too scared to do anything, like call the police, that would make it real, so he just sat watching TV, nervously digging his nails into his bedposts. Present-day Chris is doing the same thing, digging his nails into the arms of the chair. She taps her teacup with her spoon three times and tells him to sink. Eleven-year-old Chris sinks into his bed, while present-day Chris sinks into blackness, seeing himself and Missy far above. His consciousness has left his body, which is paralyzed in the chair.

He wakes in the morning and checks his phone. Rod has sent Chris a picture of him pretending to give his dog beer. His battery is low, so he plugs it in. Chris tells Rose that he thinks her mom hypnotized him last night; he has vague recollections of the evening.

The Armitages’ wealthy friends arrive for the big party. It’s mostly older white people who say many inappropriate things to Chris: how he has a good build; because Tiger Woods golfs he must have a good swing too; are black guys better in bed, etc. Chris sneaks off and finds a blind man named Jim Hudson (Stephen Root) who says that all the people at the party are ignorant. He’s an art dealer and Chris is well aware of who he is. Jim says that he’s a fan of Chris’s work. He recognizes the irony of a blind art dealer, but tells him that he has a really good assistant who is great at describing pieces. He envies Chris’s eye. Jim says that he himself tried photography, but was never very good at it.

When Chris goes back to mingling with the guests, he discovers another black guy. He’s about Chris’ age and Chris tries to bond with him, but he too is stiff and unnatural like Walter and Georgina. But something about him seems familiar to Chris. (Note: the sharp eye will notice that this is Andre from the opening scene.)

Chris decides to check in with Rod again, and he finds his phone unplugged again. He plugs it in, calls Rod, and tells him everything that’s been going on. Rod warns him that white people love to have sex slaves and he needs to get out of there. Rose finds Chris and he tells her how weird everything is and that his phone was unplugged again. She tells him he’s just being paranoid because he’s in an uncomfortable situation. He agrees and she leaves. Rod tells Chris to take a picture of the black guy and he will see if he remembers him. As Chris is about to leave, he’s blocked by Georgina who apologizes for unplugging his cellular phone; she lifted it up while dusting the nightstand, and when it came unplugged she didn’t want to mess with it further. He says that it’s fine and that he didn’t mean to rat her out. She doesn’t understand. So he clarifies that he didn’t mean to get her in trouble. She gets super weird and lets out a single tear while telling him that the Armitages treat her like family.

Chris goes back outside and tries to discreetly take the familiar black man’s picture with his cell phone, but has forgotten to turn off the flash. As soon as his phone flashes, the man changes. He goes from overly prim and proper to raving. His nose starts bleeding and he jumps at Chris telling him, “Get out! Get the fuck out while you still can!”

Rose is freaked out now too. She asks her dad what happened and he explains that the flash just caused the man to have a seizure. The man comes out and apologizes for upsetting everyone and says he must return home. Chris and Rose go for a walk and Chris tells her that he’s sure he recognized the guy and that something strange is definitely going on. She agrees by saying that it did not seem like a seizure at all. Chris says that he’d really like to go home now. Rose reluctantly agrees. She says she will make up something to tell her parents.

Back at the house, Dean is holding a silent auction with his guests, who hold up bingo cards to bid. Next to him is a picture of Chris. Jim Hudson wins the auction. The other guests all go home.

Chris goes to pack his belongings and gets a call from Rod, who tells him that the guy in the picture is a guy they knew named Dre, who used to work at a movie theater but went missing some weeks ago. The phone battery dies. Chris notices that the closet door is open. He looks inside and finds a box filled with photos of Rose posed romantically with many other black guys. There are also photos of her with both Walter and Georgina, who don’t at all resemble the robotic versions Chris has met. Apparently Chris isn’t the first black guy Rose has been with after all!

Rose returns and Chris says that he needs the keys to put their bags in the car. She looks for them in her purse as they make their way out of the house. Suddenly, Jeremy appears, blocking the front door. Dean and Missy are there too. Jeremy is ready to attack, but Missy and Dean tell him to calm down. Chris keeps telling Rose to get the keys. Missy and Dean tell Chris that they don’t want him to leave. Chris asks for the keys again and Rose says, very calmly: “You know I can’t give you the keys.” Chris finally realizes that Rose too is in on whatever this is. Jeremy attacks Chris. Dean yells and Missy clinks the teaspoon on her glass causing Chris to sink back into the dark void again.

Meanwhile, Rod keeps trying to call Chris, but it keeps going straight to voicemail. He looks up the picture of the guy in the photo and sees that he went missing some time ago, so he goes to the police. He tells a female officer that his boy was kidnapped by white folk to be a sex slave just like the missing guy in the picture. She calls in two more officers to listen to Rod’s story. When he finishes, they all burst out laughing. Nobody will take him seriously.

Chris wakes up to find himself strapped to a chair in front of a mounted deer head and an old TV set. He watches a video made by Dean’s father that talks about immortality, etc. Chris sees that his fingernails have clawed through the leather arm of the chair and exposed the padding. The teacup and spoon appear on the screen again. TING TING TING and he’s out.

Rod tries Chris’s phone again and Rose answers. She lies by saying that Chris left two days ago and she’s concerned about his whereabouts too. She claims that he left in a taxi or maybe an Uber. Rod tells her that he went to the police and she seems concerned. He starts to realize that something is wrong, so he tries to record the call, but when he starts talking to her again, she tells him she knows he has the hots for her. He tells her she’s a crazy bitch and hangs up.

Chris wakes up and Jim Hudson is on the screen. He tells Chris that they’re going to swap brains. The other people at the party were all about being black, but Jim couldn’t give less of a shit about that; what he really wants is to be able to see the world through Chris’s eyes. Dean has perfected the neurosurgery to make this all possible. And Missy hypnotizes the body donors to prep them for the procedure. He will continue existing in the dark void, but will be able to continue on as sort of a “passenger.” The flashing is an unfortunate side effect as they saw earlier at the party. TING TING TING of the teaspoon and Chris is out again.

Dean and Jeremy prep Jim Hudson for a brain transplant. Dean tells Jeremy to go get Chris. Jeremy goes down the hall – we see now they were in the basement of the house – and finds Chris unconscious. He takes off his restraints and gets an I.V. ready. Chris wasn’t unconscious after all – he’d stuffed padding from the chair in his ears to block the sound of the teaspoon. He knocks out Jeremy.

Dean calls for Jeremy and goes out of the lab area to look for him. Chris rushes him and impales him with the deer antlers from the other room. He knocks over a candle that ignites the blanket covering Jim Hudson too.

Rose has earbuds in and isn’t aware any of this is going on. While she listens to music, she is googling images of handsome-looking black men with good physiques.

Chris goes upstairs and finds Missy. She goes for the teacup and spoon, but Chris beats her to them and smashes the cup. Instead she attacks him with a knife, but he turns it on her and stabs her to death. Chris goes for the front door again, but Jeremy has returned and puts him in a choke hold. Twice Chris struggles to pull open the front door, but Jeremy kicks it shut. On the third try, as Jeremy kicks the door, Chris stabs him in the leg and breaks his skull with brutal head stomps. He runs outside and gets into Jeremy’s car. On the passenger seat is the medieval helmet from earlier. He starts down the driveway but hits Georgina. He can’t just let her lie there like he did his mom, so he gets her in the car and continues down the driveway. She wakes up and attacks him. In the process her wig falls off and we see she has a scar across her head from a brain transplant too. They crash into a tree and she dies. Rose hears this through her earbuds.

Suddenly, the rear view mirror is blown away. Rose is coming after Chris with a rifle. He begs her to stop, but she sees Georgina and refers to her as ‘grandma.’ Rose shoots again and misses Chris. From out of nowhere, Walter runs past Rose in pursuit of Chris, and Rose says, “Get him, Grandpa” as he tackles Chris. They wrestle on the ground, and Chris takes his picture. Flash! Walter turns and asks Rose for her rifle. She gives it to him, and he shoots her in the stomach, before turning the rifle on himself.

Rose is on the ground bleeding out. She tries to reach for the rifle, but Chris bats it away. As he bends over her, Rose puts a hand on his cheek and tells Chris that she loves him. Chris starts to choke Rose, but stops; he can’t go through with it.

Opening in the year 1989, inside the Le Domas mansion, siblings Daniel (Etienne Kellici) and Alex (Chase Churchill) are running around while being followed by a man. Daniel hides Alex in a closet before he is approached by the man, Charles (Andrew Anthony), the new husband of the boys’ Aunt Helene (Elana Dunkelman). Charles pleads with Daniel to help him, as he has just been wounded and is being hunted. Instead, Daniel alerts the rest of his family to Charles’s presence. Helene tries to save her husband, but the family drags Charles into a room to his grisly fate.

30 years later

Alex (now played by Mark O’Brien) is getting married to a woman named Grace (Samara Weaving). She is nervous but eager to join his family’s gaming “dominion”, which is how they came about their enormous wealth. The couple go for a photo-shoot prior to the ceremony, along with other members of Alex’s family. Daniel (now played by Adam Brody) is joined by his wife Charity (Elyse Levesque), who is open about the fact that she only married Daniel for his family’s money. Their father Tony (Henry Czerny) is visibly disapproving of Grace, but not nearly as much as Helene (now played by Nicky Guadagni), who shoots Grace a death glare. More approving is Alex and Daniel’s mother Becky (Andie MacDowell), who tells Grace that only Alex’s opinion matters. Moments later, everyone gathers for the ceremony, and Grace and Alex are married.

Later, Grace and Alex are trying to get intimate, but they are interrupted by Helene, who reminds Alex that he needs to join the family for something. Alex then explains to Grace that as per tradition with every new addition to the Le Domas family, she has to join the family for a game at midnight.

Grace and Alex reconvene with the family, who are now joined by Alex and Daniel’s coke-head sister Emilie (Melanie Scrofano), her husband Fitch Bradley (Kristian Bruun), and their sons Georgie (Liam MacDonald) and Gabe (Ethan Tavares). Everyone gathers around a table while one of the maids, Clara (Hanneke Talbot), is reading the boys a bedtime story. Tony explains to Grace that this tradition was started by his great grandfather Victor, who made a deal with a mysterious benefactor known as Mr. Le Bail. He granted Victor and his future generations their wealth, as well as a special box, while Victor was told to give his own part in the bargain. The family passes Grace the box to draw a card from it and pick the game. Charity said she got Chess, while Fitch got Old Maid. Grace draws Hide and Seek, and the room falls silent.

Tony instructs Grace to stay hidden until dawn in order to win, which does not sound appealing to her at all. As she goes to hide, the family arms themselves with guns, except for Helene and Fitch, who get an ax and crossbow, respectively. Grace goes to hide in a dumbwaiter, and Alex chooses to sit this out. As the family goes off to find Grace, Alex leaves his room to go warn her, which Charity finds out about. Grace leaves the dumbwaiter and wanders before she is found by Alex, who covers her mouth and tells her to be quiet. Clara is walking around, as Georgie has gotten out of bed. As she looks for him, a gunshot rings out, and Clara’s face is blown off. Emilie fired the shot, thinking it was Grace, but she realizes her error. Tony, Helene, Daniel, and Becky come in to help move Clara’s body. Grace sits in horror at what she just witnessed. Alex pulls her into another room to explain the truth to her. Hide and Seek, for the Le Domases, means that they think they need to hunt Grace and kill her before dawn, or else they will die. Alex admits that he didn’t tell her about this because he feared that she would leave him, but he promises to find a way to get her out safely.

Grace trades her heels for tennis shoes and tears off the bottom of her dress to move around more easily. She starts to walk out but is immediately spotted by Tony, Helene, and Daniel. They try to incapacitate her, but Emilie, fresh off another line of coke, starts wildly firing at Grace and misses. She runs for it, and the others realize that Grace knows the truth now. She is also found by Daniel, but he could not care less about the hunt, so he gives Grace a head start before alerting everyone.

The family gathers together to come up with a new plan, when another maid, Tina (Celine Tsai), comes in trying to tell Tony that she saw Grace. Emilie, who was given Fitch’s crossbow, accidentally fires an arrow through Tina’s head. Helene chops Tina’s head off when she won’t stop groaning. She then suggests to Tony that they turn on the cameras to locate Grace, but Tony is against it since it’s not part of the tradition.

Grace finds a rifle and ammo, and she loads up. She hides in the kitchen while Alex tries to turn on the cameras and disable the locks on the doors and windows. The butler, Stevens (John Ralston), enters the kitchen to make tea. He hears Grace loading her rifle, and she is soon spotted. She tries to shoot Stevens, but he tells her the ammo is just for display. This doesn’t stop her from smashing the teapot over his face and managing to evade him. Alex succeeds in unlocking the doors and windows, and Grace manages to get outside. Tony and Daniel find Alex in the control room, and Tony attacks him. Alex fights back but is talked down by Daniel, which only gives Tony a chance to knock Alex out. They handcuff Alex in his bedroom to prevent him from helping Grace. Meanwhile, she is outside on the roof but can overhear Tony and Helene talking. They know Alex has always rejected their tradition, being the “good son”, but Helene thinks that Alex will come to accept his place in the family like she did when Charles was killed. She tried to fight it at first, but then realized she should have killed him herself, and she believes Alex will eventually follow in his family’s footsteps.

Grace is almost out of the house when she is spotted by the third maid, Dora (Daniela Barbosa), who is hiding in the dumbwaiter. She tries to call out to the family now that she has found Grace, but Dora then accidentally shuts the dumbwaiter, causing her to be crushed in it. Grace then flees once again.

Grace makes it outside and runs to the stable. She sees Georgie walking there and thinks he will help her, but he draws a gun on her and shoots a hole through her hand. In response, she punches him in the face and knocks him out cold. Grace is then startled by a goat, leading her to fall into the Goat Pit, where the corpses of goats and unlucky family members are disposed. Grace climbs up to the top as the ladder starts breaking under her feet. She reaches the top but has a nail go through the hole in her hand. She manages to muster up the will to pull herself out, and then use part of her dress as a bandage. She runs back outside and manages to break through the front gate. She tries to flag someone down, but he is a prick and drives away from her. Not long after, she is found by Stevens, who tries to capture her. Grace fights him and attempts to strangle him with a piece of her dress. She takes his car, but doesn’t see that he is still alive.

Becky orders Daniel and Emilie to dispose of the maids in the Goat Pit, since the others think they have been doing more harm than good to the hunt. Daniel is fed up with the family, but Emilie is adamant in sticking to the tradition so her boys won’t be hurt.

Grace drives Stevens’s car away and talks to a customer service agent, Justin (Nat Faxon), to get help. Unfortunately, since the car was already reported stolen, Justin shuts the car down, which leads to Stevens finding Grace and tranquilizing her. He drives back toward the mansion while video-chatting with the family to let them know he has Grace. He starts to play classical music over the radio and doesn’t see Grace waking up, but the family does. They try to warn Stevens, but he doesn’t see Grace as she kicks him twice in the head, causing him to roll the car over into a field. Stevens is dead, but Grace survives. She gets out and is found by Daniel. He says he can’t let his family down, so he knocks her out and takes her back to the mansion.

Becky goes to Alex’s room to try and talk to him. She thinks that while he loves Grace, he will ultimately stick to his family’s wishes. Alex tells her that he will kill her if anything happens to Grace.

The family places Grace on an altar to begin the ritual to sacrifice her to Mr. Le Bail. They pass around a chalice and drink from it, but then they start violently puking just before Tony kills Grace. Daniel gave everyone something to make them sick, and he frees Grace from the altar. He tries to help her get out, but they are found by Charity. Knowing that he is no longer on their side, she shoots Daniel in the throat. Grace fights Charity and takes the gun from her. The bullets are gone, so she pistol-whips Charity. Grace tries to help Daniel, but he tells her to go. Alex breaks free from his cuffs and finds Daniel dying. He tries to save his brother, but it is too late. Tony then goes for Grace and tries to kill her himself, but she hits him over the head with a lantern and drops it, causing the curtains to catch fire. Grace is then found by Becky, who misses with her arrow but then tries to strangle Grace. Grace pulls the tablecloth down and grabs Mr. Le Bail’s box, and she knocks Becky off of her before bludgeoning her to death with the box. Alex then comes across the scene and tries talking to Grace. He realizes that she may well not stay with him now, he turns on her and gives her up to his family.

Everyone continues with the ritual by holding Grace down themselves. Just as Alex is about to plunge the dagger into his wife, Grace breaks Helene’s grip by clawing her hand, before letting the dagger go into her shoulder. She gets off the table and holds the dagger toward the family while screaming. They then see that the sun has come up, meaning it is now too late. As they recoil in horror for their impending death, nothing happens. However, Helene plans to kill Grace anyway. She grabs the ax, when suddenly…BOOM! Helene explodes. Outside the room, the Hide and Seek record begins playing again of its own volition. Fitch explodes next, followed by a begging Charity. Emilie tries to get away with Georgie and Gabe, but she dies too as soon as they’re out the door (only blood is seen). Tony tries yelling about how he followed the rules, but he turns into paste as well. Alex then tries to weasel his way into getting Grace’s forgiveness, but she hands him her ring and says she wants a divorce, just as the song finishes its hide and seek countdown and ends. BOOM goes Alex. The fire from the curtains then spreads around the house, and for a brief moment, Grace sees the spirit of Mr. Le Bail sitting in his chair, before he disappears in a fiery puff.

Milo (Sran Todorovi) is a semi-retired Serbian porn star with a beautiful wife, Marija (Jelena Gavrilovi), and young son, Petar. Although he is strapped financially and his home life is happy, his biggest problem comes in the form of the jealousies of his brother, Marko (Slobodan Beti), a corrupt police officer who envies Milo’ family life.

Seeking one last big payday to make a clean break from pornography and secure his family’s financial future, Milo is intrigued when one of his former co-stars, Lejla (Katarina uti), approaches him with an offer to star in an “art film” being directed by Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovi), a well-connected, independently wealthy pornographer who wants to cast Milo for his legendary ability to get and maintain an erection with no visual or physical stimuli. When Vukmir offers Milo a large sum of money to star in the film, Milo reluctantly agrees, ambivalent towards Vukmir’s insistence that he must remain ignorant as to the plot of the film until shooting begins. As Milos jogs to get himself back in shape for filming, Marko visits Milos’ home. He talks suggestively to Marija in the kitchen while Petar eats ice cream. Marko says that he misses female company, then goes to the bathroom, clearly frustrated, and masturbates into the basin. At the next meeting with Vukmir, Milos passes an older bald headed man with two large security guards, and regards them warily.

Milo is picked up the next morning and taken to an orphanage where he is supplied an earpiece by Vukmir’s driver, Raa (Miodrag Krmarik). A voice speaks to him from the earpiece, giving him instructions. A film crew follows him around with cameras and puts him in various sexual situations to see how he will react. Milo is fellated by a female in a dark room, while two televisions show independently: a teenage girl eating an ice lolly, and the same girl putting make-up on. After this Milo phones Marko to check into police files on Vukmir. During this conversation Marko is also fellated by a female while watching Milo’ home movies, and then one of Milo’ previous porn films. Milo is then led into a room and instructed to have sex with a physically abused woman while a young girl dressed like Alice from Alice in Wonderland watches. Milo becomes enraged and refuses to continue, but is grabbed from behind. The adult woman threatens Milo by biting on his erection, forcing him to carry on with the ‘scene’.

Milo meets with Marko to find out what is in the police files on Vukmir: He has been a psychologist, a children’s TV producer, and has worked for state security. Marko’s opinion in that Vukmir is a well educated man. Later, Vukmir shows Milo another one of his projects: a film of Raa helping a woman give birth to a baby girl; Raa then proceeds to rape the newborn in what the director calls “newborn porn”.

Milo storms out to his car and drives away. At a road junction, he is approached by Vukmir’s doctor, an attractive woman, who begins to seduce him. Milo suddenly wakes up in his bed three days later, bloodied and beaten and with no memory of what has happened. He returns to the set and finds a number of tapes. Viewing them, Milo discovers that over the course of the previous three days, he was fed a mixture of drugs to induce a perpetually aggressive, sexually aroused, and suggestible state. Under the influence of the drugs, and at Vukmir’s insistence, Milo brutally beats and rapes a nude woman handcuffed to a bed while Vukmir tells Milo that she deserves it for cheating on her husband, a Serbian war hero. In the climax of this scene, Milo is instructed to beat the woman, and eventually handed a machete with which he chops her head off in order to induce rigor mortis as he continues to have sex with her body. Another tape contains a scene in which Milo is naked and chained to a bed face down. Two men enter the room, one holding a camera. The one without the camera begins sodomizing the unconscious Milo. The final tape depicts Lejla chained and hanging in the middle of the room, all of her teeth having been removed; a masked man enters the room, forces his erect penis down her throat and pinches her nose until she suffocates.

Milo follows clues from the tapes he has seen only to remember more horrific details about the three days he cannot remember. Milo was taken into a room and made to sodomize a body hidden under covers. The masked man enters and begins to have sex with another body beside the one Milo is raping. The masked man is revealed to be Milo’ brother Marko, and the body he is raping is a drugged Marija. The covers are taken off of the body Milo is raping to reveal his own son, also drugged and bleeding profusely from his rectum. A melee ensues during which Marija regains consciousness and Milo manages to wrest a gun from one of Vukmir’s bodyguards. Marija bludgeons Marko to death with a sculpture, while Milo beats Vukmir’s head against the concrete floor and manages to shoot all but one of his bodyguards, with one surviving two shots to the chest. As he is dying, Vukmir praises Milo’ actions, saying “that’s cinema.”

Steve, a ladies’ man, and Dennis, a married father, work together as paramedics. They are called out to a series of cases where people are either dead in strange circumstances or whose stories are incoherent. The cases are linked to a new designer drug called Synchronic.

At a domestic abuse call, they find a stabbing victim and an old sword embedded in the wall. While Steve tends to an injured man, he is accidentally stuck by a dirty needle. Being tested for possible infections leads to the discovery of cancer in his underdeveloped and non-calcified pineal gland. The second call, a burn victim, is a completely burned body. The third call is a bite from a venomous snake no longer found in the area.

On a call to a drug party, they find a dead boy, and a girl says there was a third girl, Brianna, Dennis’s teenage daughter. The next morning. Steve goes to a local smoke shop and buys all the Synchronic, which he learns is discontinued. As he leaves, Steve declines a man’s offer pay triple its worth. The next morning, Steve catches the man breaking into his house. He says he is the chemist who created Synchronic, which alters the pineal gland’s perception of time. Children, who have a non-calcified pineal gland, pass through time. Adults seem to only partially move through time like ghosts.

During their next call, a victim of a sword fight dies. Steve, who is a fan of the history of science, quotes Einstein on the meaninglessness of time when faced with his friend’s death. Under the stress of Brianna’s disappearance, Dennis’s marriage deteriorates. When he learns someone has been stealing morphine, he misinterprets Steve’s poor health and use of painkillers as evidence he is a morphine addict. The two come to blows while treating a crazed patient.

At home, Steve takes Synchronic, travels back to when the area was covered in a swamp, and is attacked by a conquistador. Steve records his observations, stating Synchronic allows traveling backwards though time for seven minutes in the same geographical location. When he travels back to the ice age, he determines his location when taking the pill determines the destination year.

During his next attempt, he takes back his dog, Hawking. When he moves from the original location due to a hostile man, he loses Hawking and is unable to bring him back. At the location where Brianna disappeared, he discovers several tribal men, who chase him up a tree. He discovers that Brianna may have wandered off before taking Synchronic, and objects from the present can anchor him to the present.

The film begins with Jennifer Hill driving to a shop to pick up the keys to a cabin she has rented for a few months and to get directions. She is going to the cabin in the woods down south in an unnamed Deep South state to write her second novel. On her way to the cabin, she gets lost and pulls into a gas station where she encounters a group of grease heads. She accidentally spills some fluid on the head of the group, Johnny, and hits the panic button on her car, scaring him. The other guys make fun of him for getting scared. Jennifer drives off into the gravel road to the cabin. A few days pass and nothing strange happens. One night, she begins to hear noises every so often that make her uneasy. Her first visitor is Matthew, a local simpleton handyman, who is sent to the cabin to fix the broken toilet. His reward is a kiss from Jennifer, and the shy Matthew runs out of the cabin. He later meets up with the group, and the guys begin to talk about Jennifer. They have a thing against fancy city girls who are too good for them.

Nightfall comes and Jennifer begins to hear noises around the house. She checks and finds nothing. But the next day, Jennifer’s fears are realized when the gang from the gas station arrives at the cabin to get Matthew laid. After they mess with her, making her perform fellatio on bottles and a gun, she is able to escape the cabin and runs off into the woods. She bumps into the sheriff and Earl, the old man she rented the cabin from. The sheriff tells Earl to stay put while he brings Jennifer back to the cabin acting like he is going to help her. He finds wine and a joint and begins to interrogate her. After an improper pat down, the boys come through the door and she realizes that they are in cahoots. They hold her down, so Matthew can rape her. After he is done, she just gets up and walks out the cabin and into the woods. She is confronted by the gang again, this time they each have a turn raping her. The sheriff analy rapes her, She gets up again and walks out of the woods and onto a bridge. Just when the sheriff is going to shoot her, Jennifer jumps into the river. The gang searches for her body but have no luck finding her and begin to get rid of any evidence left behind.

A month passes before Jennifer returns. She has survived in the woods for a month eating, as she explains later, bugs and other things and has been staying in a run-down cabin in the woods. She starts playing games with the group who all think Matthew has lost it when they start to find signs of Jennifer around that appear to be left as a sign of the crime. Jennifer’s first victim is Matthew, the slowest of the bunch who has a crush on her and is the only one that feels remorse for his actions. When she finally reveals herself to him in a cabin and invites him to sit on a couch next to her, he sobs and says he’s sorry repeatedly as he clings to her waist and lies next to her. She listens for a time, then pulls a noose tight around his neck. As he struggles for air and again says he’s sorry, her face crumples and she says that’s not good enough, then drags him outside by the rope.

Her second and third victims are the group’s two lackeys. Stanley, the fat one, steps in a bear trap, and Andy, who gets knocked out with a baseball bat. Jennifer uses fish hooks to keep Stanley’s eyes open while she pulls out a fish and guts it, and spreads the guts all over his face. This is all being recorded on his camera; the same camera he used to film her being raped. The fish guts attracts crows, who begin to peck on his face and eventually his eye balls. Andy is tied up lying on a few boards over a bath tub being filled with water. Jennifer throws in some lye and removes one of the boards forcing him to use his strength to stay out of the base. Eventually his face hits the base filled bath tub. Each time he pulls himself up we see his base burned face, with his tongue dissolved.

The next day, Jennifer goes to the local gas station where she attacks and knocks out Johnny and brings him back to her cabin. There, she strings Johnny up by his wrists to the ceiling of the cabin, strips all the clothes off him and begins to pull out his teeth one by one with pliers. Then she pulls out the hedge clippers and cuts off his penis and sticks it in his mouth, leaving him to bleed to death.

After Jennifer is done with Johnny she goes to visit the sheriff’s family. Pretending to be his daughter’s school teacher, she talks to him on the phone. The sheriff races home to find Jennifer is no longer there. He finds out she has taken his daughter to the playground. The sheriff races there to find no one, except Jennifer in the back seat of his cop car.

Father Lancaster Merrin (Max Von Sydow) is an elderly Catholic priest on an archeological dig in Iraq. Merrin has a sense of foreboding and encounters a number of strange omens, including the unearthing of a series of confusing items, a near miss with a runaway horse drawn carriage, and a clock that stops ticking in mid-stroke. Finally, Merrin discovers a statue of a bizarre demonic figure; although the film does not mention it, it is a representation of a demonic figure known as Pazuzu.

Back in the United States, in Washington D.C.’s upscale Georgetown neighborhood, a successful actress named Chris McNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins experiencing strange phenomena. Chris lives with her twelve-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair), her personal assistant Sharon (Kitty Wynn), and two housekeepers. Regan’s father is estranged for reasons unknown. There are mysterious, unexplained sounds in the attic of the house, which Chris attributes to rats. Regan slowly begins to exhibit strange behavior, undergoing behavioral changes much like depression and anxiety. She turns up in Chris’s bed one night, complaining that her own bed was “shaking”.

Chris is working on a new movie in Georgetown with a director known as Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran). While filming a scene one day, she notices a young Catholic priest watching her; his name is Damien Karras (Jason Miller). Father Karras has a background in psychology and counsels parishoners at a nearby church; Chris also notices him while walking home from the shoot one day.

Karras is a thoughtful, conflicted man. He discusses his vocation with a superior and asks to be transferred because he feels he is losing his faith. He also has an elderly mother who lives alone in a slum in New York; he visits her and is reminded of how lonely her life is, and he feels guilty that she has to live in such poor surroundings.

The strange occurrences in the McNeil house begin to increase. Regan reveals that she has been playing with a Ouija board and claims that she has the ability to communicate with a spiritual entity all by herself. A nearby Catholic church is desecrated, a statue of the Virgin Mary painted crudely and adorned with conical clay additions made to resemble breasts and a penis. Regan also works with clay and paint, making small animal sculptures.

Meanwhile, Father Karras’s mother falls ill and, due to a lack of funds, she is placed in a very shabby hospital and resigned to a ward full of mental patients. Father Karras is distraught when he visits her and she seems to blame him for her situation. Later, she passes away under these conditions, adding to his sorrow.

Chris has an elaborate party at her home with a number of affluent guests. One of her guests is another Jesuit named Father Dyer (Rev. William O’Malley), and Chris asks him about Karras, having noticed him and referring to him as “intense”. She finds that Karras and Dyer are good friends. During the party, Regan appears happy and social, but she reappears after being sent to bed, dressed in her nightgown and urinates on the carpet in front of the guests while making an ominous statement to a prominent astronaut (“You’re gonna die up there”). After the guests leave, Chris bathes Regan and puts her to bed, but is startled by a loud sound from Regan’s bedroom. She rushes back down the hall and discovers Regan’s bed shaking violently, rising up off the floor with Regan on it. Chris jumps on the bed and it still levitates.

Chris subjects Regan to a series of medical tests to discover what the problem is. The doctors are unable to discover anything, despite putting Regan through some grueling, painful procedures. The best they can come up with is that Regan may have a lesion on her brain, but ultimately they are frustrated when nothing appears on her brain scan. At Chris’s house, Regan suffers what appears to be a seizure, and two doctors visit to assist. They find her rising and falling up and down on the bed in a way that seems impossible for a human being. When they try to sedate her, she hurls them across the room with abnormal strength, speaking to them in what seems to be a male voice: “Keep away! The sow is mine!” Eventually they sedate her.

Out of options, they advise Chris to search for a psychiatrist, but they also reluctantly discuss another possibility: they mention the phenomenon of demonic possession and the rite of exorcism. While they seem to hold professional contempt for it, they do admit that it has been known to solve problems such as what Regan is going through. Chris is skeptical, having no real religious affiliation of her own.

The situation worsens when Chris is out one evening; she returns to find the house deserted except for Regan, who is alone in her bedroom and appears to be in deep sleep. The bedroom is freezing cold, the window standing wide open, and she is uncovered. Sharon returns and Chris is furious with her for leaving Regan unattended, but Sharon explains that she left Regan in the care of Burke, who was visiting the house, while she went to the pharmacy to get Regan’s medication. Burke’s absence is unexplained until the doorbell rings and an associate of Chris’s breaks the news that Burke has just died on the steps outside Chris’s house.

Shortly after this, Chris is visited by a kindly detective named Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb), who seems suspicious of Burke’s death. He questions Chris about the events of that evening, and Chris is nervous, hesitant to tell him about Regan’s problem. While he is visiting, he notices a few small animal figures that Regan has crafted; they are similar in style to the desecration of the statue in the church. Kinderman leaves and immediately a violent disturbance comes from Regan’s bedroom. Chris hears a deep male voice bellowing at Regan to “do it”, and Regan screaming in protest. In the bedroom, Chris finds Regan plunging a crucifix violently into her vagina. When Chris tries to stop her, Regan assaults her with impossible strength, and furniture around the room starts to move on its own. As Chris watches in horror, her daughter’s head turns completely around backwards, and she speaks to Chris in Burke’s voice, saying to her “Do you know what she did? Your cunting daughter??” Chris then realizes that Regan is responsible for Burke’s death.

Desperate, Chris arranges to meet with Father Karras, and when she mentions the notion of exorcism, Karras is almost amused. He tells her that exorcism is nearly unheard of, and that he doesn’t know anybody who has ever performed one. Chris is distraught and convinces him to meet with Regan anyway. Karras is shocked by the girl’s appearance; she is tied to the headboard of her bed, her face misshapen and covered in lesions, her voice deep and gravelly. Regan announces that she’s the devil, and toys with Karras in a number of ways, seeming to make a drawer next to the bed open all by itself, then speaking to Karras in a number of languages. She also conjures up the voice of a subway vagrant that Karras has encountered alone earlier. Karras remains unconvinced, and when Regan claims “Your mother’s in here with us”, Karras asks her what his mother’s maiden name is. Unable to answer, Regan vomits spectacularly all over him.

Chris cleans Karras’s sweater and discusses Regan with him. Karras is still not convinced that Regan is possessed, especially because Regan says she’s “the devil”, and he recommends psychiatric care for her. Chris pleads with him to help her obtain an exorcism, swearing that the “thing” in the bed upstairs is not her daughter.

While Karras thinks it over, he is approached by Kinderman, who questions him about the fact that the desecration of the church could be connected to Burke’s death; what he was unable to tell Chris was that Burke’s body was found with his head turned completely around backwards, and the police department considers it a homicide. Kinderman knows that Karras suspects something unusual about the McNeil house, but his confidentiality as a priest prevents him from discussing it with Kinderman.

Karras visits Regan again and records their conversation, during which he sprinkles Regan with water. He tells her it is holy water and she begins to writhe in pain, seemingly going into a trance and speaking in a strange language. Later he tells Chris that it will be difficult to make a case with the Bishop for possession; the water he sprinkled on Regan was simply tap water, and was not blessed. The Bishop, and Karras himself, would consider Regan to be mentally ill and not possessed. Chris confides in Karras and tells him that Regan was the one who killed Burke Dennings. Later, Karras uses his tape recordings of Regan’s seemingly incomprehensible babble to discover that she is really speaking backwards, in English. A phone call from Sharon interrupts him; she summons him to the house to see Regan, not wanting Chris to see that’s happening: as they look at Regan’s unconscious body, the words “help me” begin to materialize on her stomach, rising up in her skin like scar tissue.

Karras reluctantly agrees to try and get an exorcism for Regan, although he seems to have more in common with the doctors who recommended it as a form of shock therapy. The church calls in Father Merrin to perform the exorcism, with Karras assisting. Merrin has performed exorcisms in the past, including a difficult one that “nearly killed him”, according to the Bishop. When Merrin arrives at the McNeil house, Regan bellows his name from upstairs, as if she knows him, and she makes strange animal sounds. He warns Karras about conversing with the demon, and reminds him that the demon will mix lies with the truth to confuse and attack them.

When they enter Regan’s bedroom, she immediately begins with a string of obscenities. Merrin and Karras recite the ritual of exorcism and Regan manifests strange phenomena such as levitation, telekinesis, an abnormally long tongue, and strange vomiting. She constantly curses the priests and emits evil laughter and verbal abuse. Regan begins to talk to Karras in the voice of his mother, and he starts to break down. Merrin sends him away; when he returns, he finds Merrin dead on the floor, the victim of a heart attack. Regan cackles gleefully, infuriating Karras, who grabs her and shouts at the demon, “Come into me! Take me!” The transference works almost immediately; Karras begins to transform and Regan returns to her normal self. Before Karras can harm her, his “normal” personality breaks through for a split second and he commits suicide, hurling himself out Regan’s window. Just as Burke did, he tumbles down the stairs outside Regan’s window and lays dying in the street below. By chance, Father Dyer happens upon the scene and administers the last rites to his friend.

Sherrie and Trudie (Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes), two high schools girls, are stalked and then brutally killed by Ghostface, but this is the opening scene to “Stab 6”, which Rachel and Chloe (Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell) are watching. Rachel nags on about horror movie cliches, then Chloe gets out a knife and stabs her, twice. This is the opening to “Stab 7”, which Jenny and Marnie (Aimee Teegarden and Britt Robertson) are watching. After Jenny pranks Marnie, she is killed. Jenny is threatened over the phone by a voice, and then chased through the house by Ghostface himself, leading to her demise in the garage.

Ten years since the events known as “The Woodsboro Massacre,” Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to her hometown as one of the stops on her book-signing tour. However, things do not go well when Dewey Riley (David Arquette, who is now the town’s Sheriff) interrupts the signing, claiming that the murder of Jenny and Marnie are linked to a cellular phone somewhere in the bookstore’s vicinity. Everyone is surprised when the phone is found in the trunk of Sidney’s rental car, along with bloody handprints.

While Dewey intends to find out what is going on, the incident quickly spreads across the town like wildfire. Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox, who is Dewey’s wife), gets her old spark back and in an effort to be in the spotlight again, intends to investigate what happened.

Dewey assigns a police detail to patrol the place where Sidney will be staying, which happens to be the residence of her aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell), and cousin Jill (Emma Roberts). It is here that Sidney has a deja vu moment, in going to her cousin’s room, only to see her cousin’s ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella) sneaking out a nearby window after Jill has asked him to leave.

Later on that evening, Jill and her friend Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) are watching a movie, when Kirby gets a call from someone sounding like ‘Ghostface.’ The voice claims he’s hiding in the closet, which Kirby checks, but finds no one. The voice then claims that he isn’t standing in Jill’s closet. In the house next door, their friend Olivia (Marielle Jaffe) is shocked when the killer bursts from HER closet and gruesomely kills her. Sidney hears what’s going on, and breaks into Olivia’s place, attempting to stop the killer. However, he escapes just as the police arrive.

Sidney is taken to the local hospital to be checked over, but is upset when her book-signing’s publicist Rebecca (Alison Brie) claims that these new killings can help the sales of Sidney’s self-help book. Sidney fires Rebecca on the spot, who heads to the facility’s parking garage, only to be menaced and then killed, before her body is thrown off the top of the garage onto the roof of a nearby news van.

Gale is still trying to get to the bottom of the mystery, and convinces Sidney to come with her to the local ‘Cinema Club’ at the high school, run by Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) and Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen). The two claim that if the killer is attempting to kill people in a ‘remake’ fashion. While some things may be similar, the killer’s style is not going to be exactly like the first time, and that to make the situation even more intense, they may even be recording the murders to post them on the internet.

When someone brings up that the end of the murder-spree the first time was at a house party, Charlie and Robbie immediately assume that the killer may strike at their upcoming ‘Stab-a-Thon,’ where they’ll run all the movies in the ‘Stab’ series (based on the original murders). Some question why hold the ‘Stab-a-Thon’ in the first place, but the guys assume that they aren’t the only party in town, as teenagers on a Friday night have plenty of other party options.

Gale manages to find the party, and disguising herself, sets up cameras to view what’s going on in the party. However, as she watches from her car, the cameras start to get covered up. Gale places a call to Dewey, before sneaking back into the party. While attempting to fix the camera in the rafters, she comes across a remote webcam, before being stabbed by the killer. Dewey shows up just as Gale collapses to the ground floor, but the killer has once again eluded capture. She survives and it taken to the local hospital.

Meanwhile, two police officiers, Ross and Perkins, (Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson) who are on watch outside Kate’s house, are both killed by Ghostface. Sidney finds out the Jill snuck out and went to Kirby’s. When Kate gets back from shopping Sidney tells her that Jill went to Kirby’s. Kate attempts to call her, she does not answer. As the two attempt to go over and get her, the killer appears and kills Kate. Sidney manages to escape, and rushes over to Kirby’s place. The killer manages to get to Kirby’s house before she arrives.

Jill, Kirby, Charlie, and Robbie are relaxing at Kirby’s place when Trevor shows up. Jill claims he wasn’t invited, but Trevor claims he got a message from Jill’s phone. Jill explains this to be impossible, as her phone has been missing recently. Kirby suggests that Jill should go to her room to look for it, and Trevor follows her.

Robbie indulges in some alcohol, and ends up going outside, where he is killed. Back inside, Kirby reveals to Charlie her penchant for horror movies, and that she finds him attractive. However, the moment is interrupted when Trevor reappears. Charlie and Trevor leave the living room, leaving Kirby alone. Jill comes from downstairs, and Sidney comes into the house, telling Jill and Kirby of Kate’s death. Ghostface appears, and chases them through the house, where Jill hides under a bed and Kirby hides in the basement.

When Sidney comes down to the basement to find Kirby, they both find Charlie on the porch, covered in blood. Ghostface appears and ties him to a chair. Kirby’s phone rings, and the killer claims he wants to play a game with her, testing her horror movie knowledge. With the killer busy, Sidney runs up the stairs to try to find Jill, to find her missing. When the voice on the phone stops, Kirby rushes out, and attempts to untie Charlie…only to have him stab her, upset that it took til’ now for her to find him attractive, which leaves her for dead.

Sidney is then attacked by Charlie with the knife, but manages to escape and she starts running to the front door and is then stabbed by Ghostface, confirming that there is a second killer. Ghostface removes his mask…and it is revealed that Jill is also in on it! Jill then lets loose a torrid of hatred at Sidney, claiming that her cousin’s fame was always rubbed in her face, and how sick she was of it. Jill now claims that soon, Sidney will die, and in the wake of the killer’s spree, she’ll become famous instead. Charlie also assumes he’s going to be part of the plan, but is shocked when Jill kills him as well. She then kills Trevor with a gun, and supposedly kills Sidney.

Jill then sets up the situation as if her ex-boyfriend Trevor was the true killer, planting the knife, mutilating herself, leaving bits of her hair in his hand, and smashing and breaking things around the room. Dewey and the other officers eventually reach Kirby’s place, and immediately, when it seems that Jill is still alive, the press descend and peg her as a ‘survivor.’

In the hospital, Dewey visits with Jill, who claims that maybe one day she can write a book with Gale, since they have the same injuries. Dewey also explains to Jill that Sidney will recover,revealing that she is still alive, and everything will be fine.

A man (Logan Miller) is seen trying to escape a collapsing room by solving a puzzle.

Three days prior, shy physics student Zoey (Taylor Russell) attends a lecture on the Quantum Zeno Effect theory, which states “a system cannot change while you are watching it.” Her professor challenges her to take a risk over the Thanksgiving break.

Ben (Logan Miller), seen earlier in the collapsing room, is a stock boy at a grocery store with a smoking habit frustrated at his boss’ refusal to promote him to a better role and higher salary.

Jason (Jay Ellis) is a young stockbroker respected among his co-workers for his fast-paced and go-getter lifestyle.

Zoey, Ben, and Jason are all gifted a puzzle box addressed from a trusted acquaintance: Zoey’s professor, Ben’s boss, and Jason’s client. After solving the puzzle, a clue invites them to the Minos Escape Room for a chance at $10,000 should they successfully escape.

War veteran Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll), former miner Mike (Tyler Labine), and escape-room enthusiast Danny (Nik Dodani) arrive and join Zoey, Ben, and Jason in what appears to be a waiting area. When Ben tries leaving the room to smoke, the door handle breaks off, locking the inside and revealing an oven temperature gauge.

After Mike finds a copy of Fahrenheit 451, Zoey sets the temperature to 451°F. Embedded heat panels progressively turn on bringing the room to increasingly hot temperatures, causing panic among all except Danny who refuses to believe the heat is authentic. Zoey notices Amanda’s uneasiness and tries to calm her with water from the water cooler. The group receive a phone-call advising them to follow posted rules.

Zoey sees a sign asking for coasters to be used for drinks and the group notice an escape vent to the next room opens when they simultaneously push down on six coasters. Jason escapes first, followed by Mike and Amanda while Zoey realizes filling a glass with water will hold down a coaster long enough for her to escape the room. Ben and Danny rush to cover all coasters with glasses until not enough water remains since Amanda drank a glass earlier. Ben empties his flask into the final glass and the two escape just in time as the room engulfs in flames.

In a mountain cabin, the group, barring Danny, grow concerned at how real the game is becoming. The cameras in each room do nothing when the group needs help. Jason seeks a seven-lettered name connected to “You’ll Go Down in History” to unlock the cabin door. Ben has a flashback where he was driving with friends singing “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” just before a head-on collision. Ben gives RUDOLPH as the code and the group exit and enter frigid temperatures on a frozen stream just as the cabin doors and windows lock shut. Searching their surroundings, Jason locates a door needing a key and the others find a compass, fishing rod, magnet, and ice fishing hole. Jason grows concerned when he recognizes a red parka the group find and take turns wearing to stay warm.

The group fish out a key encased in a cube of ice. Danny attempts to retrieve Ben’s lighter to melt the cube but falls into the ice with the lighter and drowns. The group are distraught at the loss of Danny and alarmed at how calculated his death was, noting he fell into the ice when he grabbed the lighter. Fearing hypothermia, Jason convinces the group to huddle and use their collective body heat to melt the ice. Once they retrieve the key Jason manages to turn the lock, but the door does not open. The group escape across the stream into a new door that opens just as all the remaining ice collapses beneath them.

The third room is an inverted bar with pool tables. As the group enter, they feel the entire room elevate to a new altitude. They notice a door without a doorknob; Mike thinks the eight-ball missing from the pool table must be the doorknob hidden somewhere in the bar. A telephone cord drops from the ceiling and the call warns the group to watch their steps. Music begins to play followed by an ear-piercing dial-up sound. Each time the sequence is repeated, a portion of the floor falls away. Amanda climbs up the wall behind the bar and finds a safe with a four-digit code. The group find the numbers they need in a sliding tile puzzle solved by Zoey but cannot open the safe.

Zoey briefly falls unconscious and has a flashback to a plane crash where she was the lone survivor left upside down while everyone was strapped to their seat. All pieces of the floor fall and Mike, Ben, Jason, and Zoey congregate near the exit. Zoey tells Amanda to enter the numbers inverted and in reverse to replicate the room conditions. Amanda successfully unlocks the eight-ball but cannot safely climb across to join the group. Sacrificing herself, Amanda manages to throw the eight-ball to Jason just as she plummets to her death.

The group enter a hospital ward containing beds identical to ones each of the game’s players were treated in after being declared as sole survivors: Zoey survived a plane crash, Mike was the only miner pulled alive after a cave-in, all of Ben’s friends were killed after he drove drunk, and only Jason was found by the Coast Guard after he and his college roommate’s boat overturned in frigid waters. The group learn Danny’s entire family was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning and Amanda was the only soldier in her unit to survive an IED blast in Iraq. The remaining survivors realize deliberate planning led to them all arriving at the escape room-to see who would be the luckiest out of the lucky-and aspects of the game have been modeled on their lives.

A TV broadcast states the group has five minutes to live unless they put their heart into it; when time is up, the room will be filled with poison gas. Jason, Ben, and Mike locate an EKG machine to find the optimal heart rate that will lead to the next room. Zoey, wanting to outsmart the game-makers, employs the thinking of the Quantum Zeno Effect and disables all the cameras in the room with the hope of finding a way out. Believing a high heart rate will save the group, Jason inadvertently kills Mike by blasting him several times with a defibrillator. Once poisonous gas begins to leak into the room, Jason hooks himself up to the EKG and lets the poison lower his rate to below 50 BPM. The pathway to the next room opens and Jason and Ben escape, but Zoey refuses to follow along, purportedly collapsing and dying after disabling the final camera.

Jason and Ben enter the fifth room with walls and furniture decorated by optical illusions. Enraged at how Jason callously killed Mike and did not bother helping Zoey, Ben feels Jason was not a sole survivor by choice. Given his behavior in the game, Ben guilts Jason into admitting he deliberately killed his roommate at sea for himself to survive using the red parka. When opening a hatch leading to the next room, Jason and Ben are contaminated by a hallucinogenic substance. Ben finds the antidote injection intended for one recipient and the two fight to the death. Jason breaks Ben’s leg but is killed on impact when Ben kicks him into a table corner. Ben escapes into the final room.

The final room returns to the opening sequence of events in the film. Ben manages to contain the flames in the fireplace and use it as a crawlspace to avoid being crushed. He emerges in the final space and is greeted by the Gamemaster, who designs the escape rooms. The Gamemaster explains the purpose of the game, revealing a connecting theme picks the competitors (i.e. college athletes, lone survivors, etc.) followed by individuals betting on winners. Ben hopes he may now leave having won, but the Gamemaster tries to kill Ben to stop the secrets of the game from being revealed.

Zoey manages to have survived by taking an oxygen mask from the hospital bed and connecting its tubing through one of the openings created by the disabled cameras. Feigning death when two cleaners enter Room #4 to remove evidence, Zoey incapacitates them and flees. Zoey manages to save Ben before both kill the Gamemaster and escape.

In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Perron move into a dilapidated, old farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island with their five daughters. During the first day, the family moves in smoothly except for the dog, who refuses to come into the house. That night, the children play a game called hide-and-clap; while playing, one of the daughters finds the boarded up entrance to a cellar. After Roger inspects the basement with a match, the family goes to bed. Carolyn expresses concern because the dog is barking outside, and one of the daughters feels someone pulling at her feet.

In the morning, Carolyn wakes up with a mysterious bruise and their dog Sadie, is found dead. Over the next couple of days, various paranormal activities occur; doors open and close seemingly by themselves and Carolyn hears clapping when nobody is there. At night, their young daughter Cindy sleepwalks into the eldest daughter’s bedroom, where she bangs her head repeatedly against an old wardrobe. The activity culminates in the eldest daughter being attacked by a spirit that looks like an elderly woman. Carolyn seeks the help of Ed and Lorraine Warren, noted paranormal investigators, to validate their concerns. Lorraine senses that a particular malevolent spirit has latched on to the family. They conduct an initial investigation, and conclude they should get involved, explaining to the Perron family that the house may require an exorcism. However, this cannot be done without further evidence and authorization from the Catholic Church.

During the process of researching the house’s history, Ed and Lorraine find out that the house belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba. When Bathsheba’s husband caught her sacrificing their week-old infant, she climbed to the top of a tree on the property, cursed all those who would take her land, and proclaimed her love for Satan before committing suicide. This is followed by reports found of numerous murders and suicides in houses that have since been built upon the property.

Ed and Lorraine return to the house with a police officer, and another paranormal investigator, Drew. They set up thermal cameras, and alarm systems throughout the house in an attempt to prove the spirit of Bathsheba is inhabiting the house and receive authorization from the Catholic Church. For the first night, nothing happens, and the clocks do not stop at 3:07AM. The next day, they all eat breakfast together and Roger Perron thanks Ed Warren for doing what they can to help. Ed explains that with every exorcism they do, a little piece of his wife Lorraine is taken, but he promises they will do what they can to help them.

During another night of investigation, nothing seems to happen until nightfall, when Cindy begins to sleepwalk again. While walking upstairs, thermal cameras observe a temperature drop around her as she enters into the wardrobe, whereupon the door slams shut behind her. The others force their way into the room and find a secret passage behind the wardrobe. After Cindy is taken out, Lorraine enters the wardrobe and falls through the floor boards down into the cellar. There, she sees the spirits of people whom Bathsheba has possessed, and realizes Bathsheba’s purpose: to possess mothers and use them to kill their children.

After Lorraine escapes the cellar, she and Ed take their evidence to Father Gordan to organize an exorcism while the Perron family takes refuge at a hotel. Their relief is interrupted when Carolyn suddenly drives back to the house with two of the daughters. Ed and Lorraine rush to the house, where they find Roger and the police officer struggling with Carolyn as she tries to stab one of her daughters with a pair of scissors. Ed suggests they call the priest, but Lorraine reminds him that the priest is too far away, forcing Ed to perform the exorcism himself. While the others hold the tormented Carolyn down, Ed continues the exorcism.

Carolyn seemingly stops struggling, and for a brief moment it seems the excorism was successful. Suddenly, her chairs flips over end and she is held upside down. Ed yells for the demon to put her down, and after a few tense moments, she is released onto the ground. Ed rushes over to Carolyn, and tells the demon to leave her body. Carolyn slowly turns to Ed and says, “She’s already gone.”.

Meanwhile, Drew finds April hiding under the floorboards in the kitchen. He yells down the cellar that he found her, and this alerts the Demon inside Carolyn and she dashes up cellar stairs to find April, in order to complete the sacrifice. Ed and Lorraine Warren, along with Roger, rush up the stairs after her in order to stop her from going through with it. The possessed Carolyn chases after April thru a tunnel underneath the floorboards. Carolyn grabs a hold of April, but at the same time, Lorraine reaches down through the floor and grabs Carolyns head. She tells Carolyn to remember how much her family means to her, and to remember what she told her about how special they were to her and that they mean the world to her, and what she would leave behind if she went through with it. This seems to get through to Carolyn, as her face relaxes, and her breathing returns to normal. The demonic presence in her eyes seems to fade, and she puts April down.

The scene changes to Carolyn being helped out of the front door, to a now sunny morning. As she crosses from threshold of the door into the sunlight, the bruises on her skin fade away and she returns to her normal self. Roger and Carolyn rejoice with their family in the front yard, embracing one another, knowing that it’s finally over.

Day 89

Amid the many, tattered missing persons fliers; a family quietly tiptoes barefoot through an empty store of a ghost town. The family’s mother, Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt), carefully looks through a cluster of uncollected prescription bottles for her eldest son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), who is sick. Evelyn gives Marcus some medication and uses sign language to reassure her Deaf daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), that her brother is okay. Regan then checks on her younger brother, Beau (Cade Woodward), who is drawing a picture of a rocket on the floor. He signs to Regan, “Rocket. That’s how we’ll get away.”, then climbs the mostly empty shelves and reaches for a space shuttle toy. The toy falls from the shelf, but Regan scrambles to catch it before it hits the floor. Meanwhile, the family’s father, Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), has scavenged some electronics for a radio which will boost its signal as well as some cutting pliers for Regan. Evelyn signs to her family that “It’ll be dark soon” and they prepare to leave when looks of horror come across their faces. Beau has the electronic space shuttle toy in his hands which Lee carefully takes from him removing its 2 AA batteries. He signs to his youngest son, “It’s too loud.” As the family departs, Regan sneaks the toy back to Beau who then grabs the batteries on his way out. The Abbotts silently walk back home on a trail of sand they’ve created. As they come to a walking bridge, they suddenly hear the electronic sound of the space shuttle toy from Beau who is pulling up the rear. A horrified Lee races back toward his son, but it’s too late, an alien creature quickly seizes and kills Beau.

Day 472

The Abbotts are home on their family farm. Lee is in the basement of the farm house where he has set up an extensive surveillance system of cameras and monitors as well as his radio and electronics which he uses in the hope of contacting any other survivors. There are also scores of various news clippings which report of an alien invasion, as well as notes from Lee that read, “blind”, “attack sound”, and “armour”. Evelyn, meanwhile, is in a cellar where she hangs a mobile she has crafted. Evelyn is pregnant. She sets up an oxygen tank which is connected to an infant breathing mask. It sits next to a covered, sound-proof baby crib. Lee has moved up to the top of his grain silo where he looks through pictures of Beau.

Evelyn asks Regan to tell her father that dinner is ready, which she reluctantly does. After silent prayer, they eat quiet foods on leaves of lettuce instead of plates. Afterwards, Regan and Marcus play Monopoly when he accidentally knocks over a lantern which sets the rug on fire. Lee quickly puts it out, and they quietly wait for the consequences. It seems as though they’ve dodged a bullet but then hear a loud noise on the roof. Lee looks out the window and is startled, but relieved, to see a raccoon fall from the roof. He heads down into the basement to work on a cochlear implant processor which will help his daughter hear. Evelyn comes down where they share a smile and a set of ear buds as they slow dance to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon.

Day 473

While Lee is pouring down more sand on their walking paths, Evelyn is in the cellar checking her blood pressure. Her due date is just a couple weeks away. She places a stethoscope to her abdomen revealing a strong, healthy heartbeat. Regan enters the house being careful to walk only on the marked parts of the floor which don’t creek and wants to go down into the basement, but her dad stops her. He has added small amplifiers from a stereo to her new cochlear implant processor and wants to put them on Regan, but she stops him and signs that they never work. Lee, disheartened, hands them to her instead and starts to set out on an excursion. He wants Marcus to come with him, but the boy is scared and doesn’t want to go. Instead, it’s Regan who wants to go, but Lee tells her to stay and take care of her mom. She runs to her room and tries on the new cochlear implant processor. When they don’t work, she’s devastated. Regan packs a bag which includes her cutting pliers and a wrapped object from her dresser, then leaves the farm.

Lee has taken his son to the river where he teaches him that making small sounds is okay as long as louder sounds are nearby. Next to a waterfall they can speak freely to each other w/out fear of being heard. Marcus asks his dad why he didn’t let Regan come and if he blames her for what happened to Beau, because she blames herself. When Lee says it was no one’s fault, Marcus tells him if he still loves her, he should tell her. During this conversation, Regan has arrived at the walking bridge where a makeshift memorial has been constructed for Beau. She unwraps the object from her dresser which we discover is the space shuttle toy, then uses the pliers to cut a wire which enables the toy to light up w/out making any noise. Back at home, Evelyn is carrying a laundry bag up from the basement when it gets snagged on the stairs. She manages to pull it loose causing her to fall and exposing the point of a nail sticking up from the stair.

On the way back home, Lee and Marcus are startled by an old man coming out of the woods, and then notice the dead body of his wife on the ground nearby. Lee implores the old man to stay silent, but instead he lets out a primal scream. Lee grabs Marcus and runs as the man is quickly scooped up and killed by an alien. Back home, Evelyn’s water breaks. She heads down to the basement and impales her foot on the exposed nail coming up from the stair. She manages not to scream out, but drops the picture frames she was holding which draws an alien into the house. Evelyn pulls her foot off the nail, switches on the red light-bulbs which run across the property and serve as a warning signal, and searches the shelves for a mechanical kitchen timer. The alien slowly walks down the stairs into the basement listening for any evidence of life. When the timer goes off, the alien attacks it as Evelyn runs upstairs. She sees another alien in the front yard. Evelyn goes upstairs into the bathroom and sinks into the tub. She’s starting to give birth as the alien comes upstairs.

Lee has returned home and is horrified to see that the red lights have been switched on. He signs the word “rocket” to his son. Then tells him, “I need you to make a sound louder. You can do it.” Lee grabs his shotgun as Marcus sprints to a designated area and lights a fuse which sets off a series of fireworks. Lee searches the house and walks into the bathroom where he sees an empty bathtub covered in his wife’s blood. He starts to weep believing Evelyn is dead, then discovers that she is safe and hiding in the shower w/ their new baby boy. Marcus, meanwhile, is walking back toward the house when he hears an alien. He makes a run for it into the cornfield, but runs straight into a tractor wheel, knocking himself unconscious.

Regan has returned home and notices the beam of Marcus’ flashlight coming out from the cornfield, but cannot hear the alien coming up behind her. But as the alien moves closer, Regan’s cochlear implant processor starts producing a high-pitched feedback which distresses the alien causing it to run off. Regan finds Marcus and they retreat to the top of the grain silo. Lee has taken Evelyn to the cellar and placed his new son into the sound-proof crib. Evelyn thinks about Beau and regrets that she didn’t carry him on that fateful day, then, before getting some much needed sleep, makes Lee promise that he will protect their children. Lee leaves to look for the kids as we see water rushing down into the cellar. Later, Evelyn wakes to find that the cellar has flooded. On top of this, an alien has climbed down inside the room, and the baby is sleeping in the sound-proof crib but the top is open. Evelyn carefully picks up her baby and slinks to the back of the cellar behind the waterfall flooding the room.

On top of the silo, Marcus signs, “Don’t worry, he’ll come for us.” but Regan shakes her head replying, “He’ll come for you.” All of a sudden a hatch on the top of the silo breaks causing Marcus to fall inside of it. As he’s slowly drowning in the grain, the alien in the cellar w/ Evelyn is drawn out by the noise. The hatch breaks away completely and falls into the silo just missing Marcus. Regan, herself, jumps into the silo and successfully saves her brother by pushing the hatch towards him so he can grab hold of it. However, she herself quickly sinks into the grain. Marcus climbs onto the hatch and pulls out his sister to safety. Regan and Marcus both sit safely atop the silo door, but then they hear a crash on top of the silo. The alien from the flooded cellar jumps in the silo as the kids cover themselves with the hatch door. They seem doomed until Regan’s cochlear implant processor once again lets out a piercing feedback forcing the alien to crash out the side of the silo.

Regan and Marcus crawl out of the silo and into a pickup truck. Lee has arrived on the scene and grabs an ax, but is quickly attacked by the alien which causes Marcus to scream. Upon hearing this, the alien heads for the truck and starts ripping it open. This time when Regan’s processor starts its piercing feedback, she turns it off. Now the alien can safely resume its attack on the truck. Lee, who is badly injured, makes eye contact with his daughter and signs, “I love you. I have always loved you.” He then lets out a yell to sacrifice himself and save the kids. They put the truck into neutral and roll it back to the house where they reunite with their mother.

Evelyn and the kids hear the alien approaching, so they retreat back into the house and head down to the basement. Regan, who was never allowed down there, sees (for the first time) the evidence of all the work her father put into repairing and creating her cochlear implant processor. She is overwhelmed with emotion just as the lights begin to flicker. The alien walks down into the basement and has them cornered. Regan, however, scans a handwritten scribbling from her dad which read, “What is their weakness?”, then takes a quick glance at the hearing aids on his workbench. And Eureka! She switches on her cochlear implant processor creating feedback, and causing the alien to shudder. Regan then amplifies the feedback by holding the processor up against a microphone. The alien collapses then slowly staggers back up on its feet, but Evelyn has grabbed Lee’s shotgun and blows its head to pieces. When they see on the surveillance monitors that this little brouhaha has seemingly brought every alien in the county to their home, Regan turns up the speakers while Evelyn pumps the shotgun wearing a wry grin on her face.

Lucie (Jessie Pham), who has been missing for over a year, is found hysterical by the side of the road. She leads police to the derelict slaughterhouse where evidence suggests she was held captive. Although there is no evidence of sexual abuse, Lucie bears the signs of repeated injury and neglect. Traumatized and uncommunicative, Lucie is unable to tell the authorities anything further about her time in captivity or the people who kept her there.

Over time, Lucie makes friends with Anna (Erika Scott), another girl in the youth home where she lives. Anna looks after Lucie and eventually gains her trust. Lucie appears to be haunted by something or someone - a shadowy, rasping female figure (Isabelle Chasse) who apparently mutilates Lucie. After one such episode, Lucie makes Anna promise not to tell anyone about the creature haunting Lucie. Meanwhile, with the help of the doctor (Tony Robinow), the police even questions Anna, so as to know whether Lucie has communicated something to her. Anna says that Lucie cannot usually remeber anything about her captivity period.

At this point, the film moves ahead 15 years, and shifts its attention to the Belfond family. Mom (Patricia Tulasne) is fixing a sewer line in the yard, Dad (Robert Toupin) is making breakfast, and son Antoine (Xavier Dolan) and daughter Marie (Juliette Gosselin) are wrestling over a love note Antoine received. As everyone sits down to breakfast, the doorbell rings - it’s Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), who shoots the father to death with a shotgun. The mother follows in short order, and then Lucie hesitates, asking Antoine how old he is and if he knew what his parents have done. When she doesn’t get an answer, she kills Antoine. Marie hides upstairs, but Lucie finds her and kills her as well. Panicked, Lucie calls Anna (Morjana Alaoui) at a public phone to come and help her. Lucie claims she has “done it”. Anna, shocked at hearing what Lucie says asks if she’s sure these are the people who kidnapped her. Lucie confirms and they complete their phone call. Lucie’s creature reappears and tries to attack Lucie some more. Lucie explains that she’s “killed them”, and so the creature can leave her alone now. The creature continues to attack her. Lucie escapes the creature out of the house and runs straight into Anna.

Lucie frightened tells Anna not to go into the house as “she’s” still in there. Anna says she has to and heads inside. She is horrified at the sight of what Lucie has done to the Belfond family. After nearly throwing up she starts working on moving the bodies. Lucie falls asleep in the daughter’s bedroom and wakes to strange noises in the house. She sees Anna burying the bodies outside. Anna returns inside to collect another body and takes a break in the room they have moved the bodies to. She then discovers the mother is still alive. The mother yells awaking Lucie again. Lucie heads downstairs to check on Anna. Anna attempts to hide the fact the mother is still alive and takes the daughter’s body outside. She then hears Lucie screaming from inside as the creature resumes its assault. After escaping the creature again flashbacks reveal that the it is a woman who was being tortured in the same building as Lucie.

Anna then attempts to smuggle the living mother out of the house. Lucie hears this as the mother screams in pain and escapes the room Anna has locked her in. As Anna is getting the mother near to the exit Lucie arrives and beats the mother to death with a hammer. This is followed by one more attempt to placate the creature, as Lucie shows the creature that the mother is dead. The creature embraces her gently, and begins to cut into her arms. Anna sees Lucie cutting herself - the creature is something Lucie is hallucinating. Lucie runs from the creature crashing through the glass entry way to the Belfond house. When Lucie was able to escape, she had an opportunity to take the woman with her, but did not and has been haunted by it ever since. In a fit of rage and sadness, Lucie cuts her own throat.

Anna brings Lucie’s body into the house, cleans it and wraps it in cloth. In cleaning up the house, she notices a hole in the wall behind a cabinet. Anna opens the cabinet and discovers a hidden staircase leading down. Anna discovers an underground complex decorated with pictures of people in extreme suffering. Exploring further, Anna discovers another woman, naked and chained to a wall with a metal blindfold riveted to her head. She frees the woman and takes her upstairs. Anna attempts to bathe the woman and she resists, and after Anna removes the blindfold, the woman runs off, finds a knife and begins to mutilate herself, attempting to cut off her arm.

As Anna tries to stop the woman, the woman is killed by a shotgun blast. A group of people have entered the house, and they take Anna down into the hidden complex. An older woman -referred to only as “Mademoiselle” (Catherine Bégin) - explains to Anna that they are not interested in victims, but martyrs - the act of martyrdom brings about transcendence and the possibility of seeing into the afterlife. They are, in essence, creating martyrs through systematic abuse in the hopes of learning what lies after death from their accounts as they achieve transcendence. They kidnap young women because young women seem to be especially likely to achieve a transcendent state. Anna is then rendered unconscious.

Anna wakes up chained to a chair similar to the one discovered in the building where Lucie was kept. She is fed some sort of unpleasant gruel and methodically beaten. This goes on for several days until a badly battered Anna loses the will to resist. She hears Lucie’s voice in her head, telling her that it is going to be okay, that she won’t suffer much longer. Anna is then brought to an operating theater, where she is strapped into a rotating rack and flayed.

A now-skinless Anna is hung by a rack under hot lights. The people attending her remark on her considerable resilience, noting that she is still alive. The woman feeding Anna notices something about her has changed, and she calls Mademoiselle to tell her that Anna is close to transcendence. Mademoiselle hurries over and arrives in time for Anna to give her an account of what she had witnessed.

The next day, a large number of wealthy older people arrive at the house, and Mademoiselle’s assistant, called Etienne (Jean-Marie Moncelet), announces that Anna - only one of four young women to successfully achieve martyrdom - was the first to provide an account of the world beyond life, and Mademoiselle was present to hear her account and would be sharing it with the assembled people shortly.

Mademoiselle appears to be getting ready as Etienne speaks to her through the door, asking if the announcement means that Anna saw something, and Mademoiselle says that she did, and it was clear and precise. Mademoiselle asks Etienne if he could imagine life after death. Etienne says he could not. Inside, Mademoiselle is sitting on the edge of a bathtub, where she takes a gun out of her purse. She calls to Etienne and tells him to continue doubting before shooting herself in the head.

The film begins with a scene of a gourmet meal being expertly prepared, while a voiceover states that there are three types of people - the ones above, the ones below, and the ones who fall.

A young man named Goreng awakens in a concrete prison cell where he is greeted by an older man named Trimagasi. Trimagasi tells him that they are on level 48 and that they are in “the pit.” Trimagasi wonders what their food will be - when Goreng asks him to elaborate, Trimagasi states that it will be whatever the ones above leave behind. Goreng looks through a rectangular hole in the bottom of the cell, revealing countless identical cells below theirs - he sees the same when he looks above. When Goreng asks how the pit works, Trimagasi simply tells him that “they eat,” and that while it is either easy or difficult to do so depending on where you’ve been assigned, 48 is not that bad of a level. Goreng asks him how many levels are below them, and Trimagasi says there are not many, but that soon there will be less. Goreng calls out to the ones below them, but Trimagasi instructs him not to, and says that the ones above won’t answer either. Goreng says he has been in the pit for many months, and that they will only remain at level 48 for exactly a month. A platform containing scraps of food then lowers itself through the hole in the ceiling, stopping once it reaches them. Trimagasi begins to eat hungrily. Goreng refuses to eat, disgusted at the thought of having to feast on food that 94 others have already eaten, but finds a perfectly intact apple and tucks it into his pocket, intending to save it for later. After the platform descends, Goreng points out that the room is growing hotter. Trimagasi says that the temperature in the room will continue to rise until they boil alive unless Goreng returns the apple he stole, and that the punishment for attempting to keep any of the food is being burned or frozen to death. Goreng throws the apple back, and the temperature returns to normal.

Goreng offers to tell Trimagasi why he is in the pit in exchange for Trimagasi’s own story. He explains that he plans on quitting smoking and that he brought a copy of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote to read - as all inmates are allowed to choose one personal item to bring into the pit with them - leading Trimagasi to question if Goreng admitted himself to the pit voluntarily. Goreng reveals that he agreed to remain in the pit for 6 months in exchange for an accredited diploma. Trimagasi reveals that he is spending a year in the pit, offended at the fact that he is not receiving a degree. The next day, Trimagasi tells his own story; he purchased a “Samurai Max,” a highly efficient knife sharpener that he had seen in a television ad, before then seeing an ad for the “Samurai Plus,” a self-sharpening knife. In his frustration at having wasted his money on the Samurai Max, he threw his TV out his window, crushing and killing a man who was passing by. Trimagasi appears to show no remorse for this on account that the man was an illegal immigrant and therefore shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Trimagasi then confides that he doesn’t know exactly how many levels there are but that there are definitely at least 132, having stayed on level 132 before and claiming that no food reaches such low levels. Goreng doesn’t believe Trimagasi could have possibly survived for a month without food, but Trimagasi claims he was still able to eat in spite of the platform containing no food. Goreng wants to try to convince the ones above to ration the food, but Trimagasi says it’s fruitless. Goreng then tries to pass the message to those below, but Trimagasi unzips his pants and urinates on them as Goreng watches in disgust. Goreng shows Trimagasi his copy of Don Quixote before asking what personal item Trimagasi chose - Trimagasi reveals that he brought a Samurai Plus.

The next day, a body falls through the hole, much to the horror of Goreng, while Trimagasi appears wholly unfazed. Goreng yells to the other cells, asking why nobody is reacting to the body; he is met with no response. It is then that Goreng concludes that Trimagasi cannibalized his cellmate. Just then, the platform arrives, carrying a bruised, bloodied Asian woman named Miharu. While Goreng is concerned for her, Trimagasi tells him not to worry, explaining that Miharu descends the pit every month in search of her son. Trimagasi also explains that each month, Miharu kills her cellmate so that she may have a higher chance of being paired with her son during the next month’s cell rotation, and that the body that fell earlier was likely Miharu’s cellmate, having been pushed by her. The platform descends and Miharu is attacked by the prisoners on level 49 - Goreng screams for them to stop, but is ignored. Trimagasi tells him not to interfere since “they’ll only keep her for a few days.” Miharu kills the two men in self-defense and returns to the platform, looking up at Trimagasi and Goreng emotionlessly before continuing her descent downward. Goreng begins reading Don Quixote to Trimagasi once Miharu is gone, beginning at chapter one. The two men become friends over the following month.

One night, Trimagasi asks Goreng if he believes in God. Goreng doesn’t answer, but Trimagasi asks Goreng to pray for them, explaining that the room is being filled with gas that will put them to sleep and when they wake up, they will be in a different cell. Trimagasi explains that this is his second to last month in the pit, that he doesn’t think Goreng will survive much longer, and that he believes he deserves a degree for his time spent in the pit. Goreng asks him the same question Trimagasi had asked him earlier to which Trimagasi answers, “this month, I believe.”

When Goreng awakens, he is bound and gagged in his bed. Trimagasi appears and it is revealed that the two have been reassigned to level 171. While Trimagasi explains that hunger will drive a person insane and that Goreng’s meat is more desirable since he is younger than Trimagasi, he admits that he is reluctant to kill Goreng and plans to spare his life for at least a week. Screams can be heard from above them - the screams of their fellow prisoners having discovered what levels they have been reassigned to. Several bodies fall past them through the hole. He removes Goreng’s gag, who begins begging for his life, but Trimagasi says their friendship was never meant to last. The platform arrives in their room, holding nothing but empty plates, which Trimagasi throws in frustration. He explains that after eight days, he will begin cutting strips of flesh from Goreng, tending to the wounds each time so that Goreng doesn’t bleed to death. Goreng tells Trimagasi that although the death of the immigrant may have been accidental, Goreng’s death won’t be and Trimagasi will be responsible for it, but Trimagasi retorts that “the ones above” will be the ones responsible.

For the next eight days, Trimagasi keeps Goreng bound while the latter tries to escape to no avail. On the eighth day, Trimagasi tells Goreng that the time has come for him to begin consuming his cellmate. Goreng has become too exhausted to resist, and solemnly tells Trimagasi that he will hold him solely responsible for his death; not the circumstances, nor the inmates above them. Trimagasi successfully cuts a slice from Goreng’s leg only to be stopped by Miharu as she rides down the platform. Miharu knocks Trimagasi out with a wine bottle and uses his Samurai Plus to slit his throat before freeing Goreng, who fatally stabs him. Goreng passes out and wakes up to the sight of Miharu cutting into Trimagasi’s flesh, which she uses to feed both herself and Goreng. Before she continues her ride downward, Goreng asks her what her son’s name is; she doesn’t respond. Over the next month, Goreng continues to sustain himself using Trimagasi’s body, experiencing a hallucination of Trimagasi. The apparition taunts him for the lack of respect and sympathy Goreng showed him, claiming that while they are now both murderers, Trimagasi is the more civilized of the two. As Goreng is gassed at the end of the month, he dreams of a sexual encounter with Miharu.

The next morning, he is awoken by a dachshund puppy and discovers that he is on level 33. The dog is named Ramesses II and belongs to a woman named Imougiri, his new cellmate. Imougiri says she would have never come into the pit without Ramesses, while Goreng scoffs and says that bringing a dog into the pit was a poor choice, as he will inevitably end up dead. Imougiri then mocks him for his own decision to bring a book, and calls him by his name, leading him to question how she knows him. She doesn’t answer, only telling him he may smoke if desired, whereupon he suddenly recognizes her. A flashback scene reveals Goreng, prior to his admission, being interviewed by Imougiri about any allergies or dietary restrictions he may have. It is revealed that he was smoking during the interview; Imougiri firmly told him he would not be allowed to smoke once he was admitted. She subsequently asked him what his favorite food was; though initially confused about why he was being asked this, once Imougiri ominously explained that it would be “added to the menu,” Goreng answered escargot a la bourguignonne (snails with garlic butter).

Back in the present, Goreng asks if Imougiri is here to free him; she says she can’t, and that much like him, she came to the pit voluntarily. Goreng tells her that people die in the pit every day, which Imougiri responds is actually called a “Vertical Self-Management Center.” Goreng asks how many levels there are, to which she responds there are two hundred. Goreng says there is not enough food for two hundred levels, but Imougiri asserts that if everyone ate only what they needed, the food would reach the lowest level. The platform arrives in their cell. While Goreng eats, Imougiri prepares two plates and then feeds Ramesses, explaining that she plans to ration her food by feeding her dog one day and herself the next. Goreng tells her that she may inadvertently cause the death of a child; Imougiri seems confused, explaining that no children under 16 are permitted into the pit. Goreng says that at least one child is in the pit, but Imougiri insists that there are absolutely no exceptions to this rule.

The platform descends and Imougiri tells the people below them that she has prepared plates for them. She urges them to only eat what’s on the plate, then prepare similar plates for the ones below and tell them to do the same. The men on level 34 aggressively explain that they have just come from level 88 and are practically starving; when Imougiri tells them they have a responsibility to take care of those who have been less fortunate than them this month, they angrily cuss at her and begin to eat as much as they can off the platform out of spite. Goreng tells Imougiri that if the prisoners were reasonable enough to ration their food, the Administration would know how to prevent this from happening in the outside world. Imougiri asks Goreng if he thinks everything the Administration does is bad, revealing that she has been working for them for 25 years. Goreng retorts that she receives special privileges because of this, having had the liberty to choose her own cellmate, unlike him.

Each day, Imougiri continues to try and reason with those below her, only for her requests to go ignored each time. On the fifteenth day, the men are angrily confronted by Goreng, who promises that if they do not follow Imougiri’s instructions, he will defecate on their food for the remainder of the month. Imougiri says she wanted to convince the ones below rather than fear-monger them, but Goreng insists it was the only way. Imougiri tries to convince the ones above but Goreng says they won’t listen because he can’t defecate upwards, therefore he has nothing to successfully threaten them with. The next day Miharu arrives on the platform, severely injured and barely conscious. As they tend to her injuries, the platform descends, and Miharu speaks for the first time in the film, only stating “it’s cold.” Goreng realizes that the temperature in the room is being lowered with the intent of freezing them to death; Imougiri’s dog Ramesses has kept a scrap of meat. He fights the dog for the scrap and the temperature returns to normal. Miharu stays in their cell and in the middle of the night, Goreng awakens to a violent confrontation between the two women. He breaks up the fight and as a distressed Imougiri bursts into tears, he discovers that Miharu has killed Ramesses.

The next day, Miharu rides the platform down once again. Goreng tells Imougiri about Miharu’s search for her son; Imougiri says she wouldn’t understand what Miharu is going through, since Imougiri does not have any children of her own. Goreng watches as Miharu stabs the men in the cell below them while Imougiri recalls her interview with Miharu 10 months ago, relaying that Miharu came to the pit alone. She also reveals that Miharu is an actress, that she is an orphan, she has no children, and her personal item is a ukulele. She makes racist comments about Miharu and ridicules Goreng for his decision to bring a book before revealing to him that she has been sending people to the pit for eight years, promising that she was unaware of the inhumane conditions. She takes off her shirt to expose cancerous scars across her chest, confiding that she fought the disease for three years and came to the pit to fix the system once she discovered that her diagnosis was terminal.

The next day, the platform arrives with an untouched plate of escargot a la bourguignonne. Goreng is pleased by this, but places two snails on each ration plate rather than eating it all himself. When Goreng asks Imougiri why she isn’t eating, she says today was supposed to be Ramesses II’s day to eat. Goreng then tells her she should have something since it is the last day of the month, and they have no way of knowing what cell they’ll end up in tomorrow. Goreng has the misfortune of waking up in cell 202, contradicting Imougiri’s earlier claims that only two hundred cells existed, and is horrified to discover that many more cells still exist below them, and that Imougiri has hanged herself. Goreng experiences hallucinations of Trimagasi and Imougiri telling him to consume her dead body; greatly distressed by the hallucinations, he refuses, sustaining himself by eating pages from Don Quixote instead. He eventually gives in, slicing into Imougiri using the Samurai Plus that Trimagasi had left behind.

The next morning, Goreng awakens and finds Miharu sleeping in the bed adjacent to his. She tries to stab him with the Samurai Plus, but Goreng wakes up screaming, revealing this encounter to be a dream. Goreng discovers that he is now in cell number 6, and that his new cellmate is a religious black man named Baharat who has been trying to escape the pit for a while and is now fully convinced he will be able to. Baharat tells the man and woman above them - a couple - that God spoke to him and instructed him to escape the pit, alluding to two “compassionate” individuals aiding him and being rewarded with eternal life for doing so. They agree to help him; Baharat tosses his rope up to them, and as he begins climbing, the woman defecates on his face. The stupefied Baharat drops his rope down all the remaining levels and nearly falls into the hole himself, but is saved by Goreng. Despite the platform being nearly full with food as it arrives in their cell, Baharat doesn’t eat. The two men listen as the couple on level 5 have sex.

Goreng is once again visited by an apparition of Trimagasi that night, who congratulates him on having only one month left before he is freed from the pit. Goreng convinces Baharat to ride the platform with him to convince the other prisoners to ration their food, promising to make weapons to defend themselves against rogue or belligerent prisoners who attack them. Goreng estimates that there are about 250 levels altogether. Baharat asks what they should do in the event that they run out of food before reaching the lowest level; Goreng says they will simply ride the platform back up. Baharat is initially reluctant to do so, not wanting to leave a level so close to the top, but quickly agrees.

The next day, the two men begin their descent in spite of being ridiculed by the couple on level 5. Goreng says that they will only start giving out the food once they reach level 51, since the people on the first 50 levels get to eat every day. One of the men on level 7, who helped Baharat climb a few months before, begs them to let him eat since he was on level 114 the previous month, but Goreng is unsympathetic to his plight. The man makes racist comments towards Baharat before attempting to forcefully take a piece of food off the platform; an angry Baharat bludgeons him to death. From that point forward, the two adamantly defend the food from the prisoners on the first 50 levels. On one of the levels, they meet Sr. Brambang, a man in a wheelchair who appears to have a history with Baharat. Brambang tells them that civility and discussion is more effective than violence, then says that their quest to “break the system” will be meaningless if the Administration doesn’t realize what they have done. He then suggests that they leave a “beautifully prepared” plate of panna cotta fully intact, and send it all the way back up to level 0 as a “message” for the Administration. The two passionately guard the panna cotta, making sure it remains untouched, and start rationing food once they reach level 51, attacking prisoners who try to take more than what they are allotted.

As they approach level 250, they come across the corpse of a man; Goreng reasons that this was the cell Miharu woke up in. The platform continues its descent, forcing the men to realize that there are more than just 250 levels. The platform does not stop at any of the following levels; Baharat concludes that if there’s nobody alive in a cell, the platform will not stop at that level. They hear Miharu’s screams and discover that she is being attacked by two other inmates. Baharat and Goreng jump off the platform and violently confront the men. Miharu is fatally stabbed; Goreng briefly mourns over her corpse, but is dragged away by Baharat as the platform is leaving. Though both men are injured and visibly traumatized, they continue their descent, with no food remaining on the platform aside from the still completely untouched panna cotta. The platform finally stops at level 333; Baharat assumes that they have reached the last level, and tells Goreng to prepare himself for the ascension upwards. It’s then that Goreng notices a little girl hiding under the bed. They get off the platform, but it continues downward before they can get back on. Goreng instructs Baharat, who is still holding the panna cotta, to toss it back onto the platform, but he refuses. As the platform gets further and further away from them, both men realize that the temperature in the room hasn’t changed at all. The girl slowly crawls out from under the bed, revealing that she bears a striking resemblance to Miharu; Goreng realizes that the “son” Miharu had been looking for is actually her daughter. Though reluctant, they feed her the panna cotta before passing out.

Texas sheriff Edgar McGraw pulls up to an isolated liquor store in Texas called Benny’s World of Liquor. Once inside he speaks with the shopkeeper. He then goes to use the restroom. As soon as he is inside the bathroom, The Gecko Brothers, Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (Quentin Tarantino), two desperado-type criminals appear with two hostages and gun pointed at the shopkeeper apparently in the store the whole time. Seth threatens the shopkeeper and tells him to be cool. The sheriff returns shortly after and goes to pay. While talking to the shopkeeper, Richie kills the sheriff with a point blank shot to the head. Seth and Richie argue because Richie claims the shopkeeper mouthed “help us”. As the shopkeeper yells to defend himself, Richie shoots him in the shoulder. Seth and Richie argue and Seth decides to leave. As they are leaving the shopkeeper jumps up and shoots Richie in his hand. They all start shooting. The hostages escape and the fight is ended when Seth throws a lit toilet paper roll dosed with light fluid at the shopkeeper who was covered in alcohol killing him. They leave as the liquor store explodes, with Seth angrily lecturing Richie on turning an already tense hostage situation into a violent one when they could have made a cleaner getaway.

The brothers drive further along the highway. We’re given an x-ray shot into the car’s trunk where they have another hostage bound and gagged. They check into a motel and discuss their plan to flee to Mexico and meet Seth’s contact, Carlos (Cheech Marin) for sanctuary.

A news story is shown about the Grecko brothers and they atrocities. Seth returns to the motel to discover that Richie had raped and murdered the hostage. Seth scolds the insane Richie, for now they need new hostages to escape into Mexico.

The brothers then run into Pastor Jake Fuller (Harvey Keitel), his two kids his teenage daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and adopted teenage son Scott (Ernest Liu). They kidnap the family and hijack their R.V. forcing them to drive to Mexico. The group is stopped at the border and the R.V. is searched by a custom’s agent (Cheech Marin) but the brothers are hiding in the bathroom with Kate. The insane Richie has a small fantasy moment where Kate propositions him for sex. When he starts babbling that they’ll be caught, Seth hits him, knocking him out. Jake is able to smooth-talk the border guards and they’re permitted to enter Mexico.

Soon after they enter Mexico, Seth declares that he’ll let them all live because of their calmness during the border stop. He tells Jake to keep driving until they reach a side road leading to an eccentric bar called The Titty Twister in the middle of the desert. At the door, Seth gets into a fight with the head bouncer (Cheech Marin) outside the club who refuses to let them in, and they all go inside. Once inside, they have a few drinks and enjoy the girls dancing on the tables. Soon Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) performs. Towards the end of her act, the bouncer returns and tells the bartender and the other what happened. When they confront the group, the crazy Richie pulls out a gun and one of the bartenders stabs his already shot hand to the table and another gunfight ensues.

The brothers come out on top again and Seth goes to look at Richies badly wounded hand as Santanico sees the puddle of blood on the table. She then transforms into a hideous beast-like vampire and attacks Richie, biting him on the neck. Seth shoots Santanico off of Richie, but Richie dies soon after. Not long after the bouncer and the bartenders rise from the dead in the same beast-like vampire state and them and all the dancers… who are also vampires, lock the door and begin brutally feeding on the bar patrons. Seth, the family and a couple of bar patrons fight back manage to kill almost all the vampires.

Seth goes to find his brother’s body as the remaining bar patrons realizes the vampire band is still there. As the group goes to attack, they disappear. Seth says his final farewells to Richie but before he can finish, Richie turns into a vampire as well and attacks Seth who manages to get away. They share a moment looking at each other and Seth then decides he must kill Richie and he does.

Seth begins to drink heavily as the remaining group starts to hear a swarm of bats surrounding the bar. The group then realizes that the killed bar patrons are turning into vampires as well and must fight them off. While staking the remaining vampires, one of the surviving bar patrons named Sex Machine (Tom Savini) bites his arm but hides it from the others.

The survivors regroup and plan on what to do next. It is not long before Sex Machine begins to transform. He then sneaks up and attacks the other surviving bar patron, Frost (Fred Williamson) biting him in the neck. Sex Machine then moves onto Jake, biting him in the arm. Frost, still in human form, confronts Sex Machine and they begin to fight ending when Frost throws Sex Machine through a window, opening the way for the swam of vampire bats to come in and Frost also transforms. Seth and the kids then run and hide in a back room of the bar.

Jake bandages his arm and makes a cross out of a bat and a shotgun and makes his way back to the remaining group. They then prepare to make a last stand against the remaining vampires. Before they go into battle, Jacob forces his children to swear they will kill him when he turns into a vampire and the reluctantly do.

During the battle, Seth confronts Sex Machine for the final time and is almost killed but he is saved at the last minutes but Kate. The vampire Frost then confronts Jake and Jake kills him with his cross shotgun. Right after he kills Frost, he then too turns into a vampire and attacks his son Scott, biting him in the neck. Scott then kills his father with holy water, and is swarmed by vampires who tear him apart. He then begs his sister Kate to kill him and eventually she shoots him which results in small blast killing the vampires around him.

Now only Seth and Kate remain to fight off the vampires. They are completely outnumbered and it seems all is lost when rays of sunlight start to come through cracks hurting the vampires. They then hear Carlos banging on the door and eventually he breaks through as Seth and Kate run out. The sunlight hits the mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling, sending out dozens of beams. The vampires begin exploding and the bar itself explodes as they are running away.

Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried), once an insecure teenager, is now a violent mental inmate who starts the story as a flashback while in solitary confinement. Needy and popular cheerleader Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) have been best friends since childhood, despite having little in common. One night, Jennifer takes Needy to a local dive bar to attend a concert by indie rock band Low Shoulder. A suspicious fire engulfs the bar, killing several people, and Jennifer agrees to leave with the band despite Needy’s attempts to stop her. Later that evening, Jennifer, covered in blood, appears in Needy’s kitchen and proceeds to eat food from the refrigerator. Unable to digest the matter, she vomits a trail of black, spiny fluid and then leaves in a hurry as Needy calls after her.

The next morning at school, Jennifer appears fine and shrugs off Needy’s concerns. While the small town is devastated by the deaths caused by the fire, Jennifer seduces the school’s football captain in the woods and then attacks him; his disemboweled corpse is later found. Meanwhile, Low Shoulder gains popularity due to their rumored heroism during the fire and offers to make a charity appearance at the school’s spring formal.

A month later, Jennifer is beginning to look pale, and accepts a date with school goth/punk Colin (Kyle Gallner), whom she brutally kills that night. While Needy and her boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons) have sex, Needy senses something dreadful has happened. She leaves in a panic and almost runs over Jennifer, drenched in blood. She rushes home and finds Jennifer in her bedroom, who initiates physical intimacy and explains what happened after the fire: Low Shoulder took her into the woods and offered her as a virgin sacrifice to Satan in exchange for fame and fortune. However, although the sacrifice and greedy exchange were a success, Jennifer was not a virgin, and when the lead singer Nikolai (Adam Brody) murdered her, a demonic spirit took over her body. It is revealed then that Jennifer knew she needed human flesh and blood to survive. In addition to the known murdered townspeople, Jennifer also encountered the exchange student Ahmet after the fire and upon hearing that no one knew he had survived, she took him into the woods and ate him, making him her first victim.

The next day at school, as the town is stunned by Colin’s death, Needy goes to the school library’s occult section and surmises that Jennifer is a succubus; she is weakest when she is hungry, and must eat flesh in order to sustain her life and appearance. Needy tells Chip about her discoveries and warns him not to attend the dance. He does not believe her and she subsequently breaks up with him in order to protect him. Chip goes to the dance, hoping to meet with Needy, but is instead intercepted by Jennifer, who seduces him and takes him to an abandoned pool house. Needy arrives there and finds Jennifer feeding on Chip. Needy tries to drown Jennifer but Jennifer, hovering in the air, attacks her. She is then stabbed by Chip with a pool skimmer. Jennifer escapes while Needy, heartbroken, watches her boyfriend die.

The first 15 minutes of the film acts as an edited account of The Evil Dead (1981). This alternate version starts with protagonist Ashley ‘Ash’ J. Williams (Bruce Campbell), and girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler), driving to an abandoned cabin high in the mountains. Within the cabin plays a piano while Linda dances in underwear. He has recently given her a silver chain with a little magnifying glass on it. When Ash goes into another room to get a bottle of champagne, and Linda changes out of the rest of her clothes, he finds a reel-to-reel tape player and switches it on. The recording explains that the cabin belongs to a Prof. Raymond Knowby (John Peakes) who was busy translating passages from “Necronomicon Ex Mortis” (called “Morturom Demonto” in the recording), the “Book of the Dead”, which they found in the Castle of Candar, beside a ceremonial knife with a skull on its handle. The tape says that “it is through the recitation of the book’s passages that this dark spirit is given license to possess the living”, then precedes to recite one of the passages, which awakens an evil force that possesses Linda.

Discovering Linda’s disappearance, our Hero ventures outside and is attacked by the now-demonfied Linda. Panicking, the terrified Ash gets lucky and manages to decapitate the love of his life with a handy shovel. Following this murder, Mr. Williams decides to do the decent thing and buries his, now headless, girlfriend, keeping the silver necklace and pendant.

It’s at this point the summary of the first film ends as the evil force sweeps through the woods and cabin and spins the stressed Ash through the woods, possessing him. Fortunately the sun comes up and drives away the Candarian demon, the mist in the woods retreats into various trees, and the cloudiness from Ash’s eyes, leaving Ash perfectly healthy, if not a little depressed. He has a little nap in the woods.

Looking at the cabin, Ash sees a face superimposed on it and hears a voice saying “Join Us”. Ash bravely clambers into his Oldsmobile and makes a dash for freedom only to find that the bridge is now destroyed (the gap it spans is much shorter than the bridge they drove over when arriving), presumably by evil forces. The sun goes down rapidly and yet again the evil pursues him, branches whipping into his face, a tree stump stopping the car abruptly enough to send Ash flying out the windshield, to have his face stopped by a tree. He runs the rest of the way through the woods to the cabin, and the pursuit continues, through at least 9 doors between 10 rooms and an unfinished hallway in the small cabin, but Ash, using all his cunning, evades it by hiding under a trap door. The evil presence continues back outside and retreats into the woods.

At an airport, Annie Knowby (Sarah Berry) arrives by plane, with 3000-year-old pages of the Book of the Dead, and is picked up by her boyfriend Ed Gentley (Richard Domeier). They start their drive to the cabin to join her father.

Following a manly little nap, our terrified and bloodied hero wakes in an armchair to piano music, and finds that the piano is playing itself. The music must remind him of Linda as he takes the silver necklace from his pocket. Some boards barricading a window fall, and looking outside he sees the Linda’s grave marker fall over and her headless and already badly decomposed corpse (Ted Raimi) re-animate and dance, and regain its much fresher head, which can conveniently keep facing in one direction while the body spins around many times. Her moves include seductively straddling a tree limb. She then vanishes into the dark, then reappears just outside the window and grabs Ash, telling him to dance with her. After being slammed into the window barricades several times he breaks free, and Linda’s head falls off again.

Ash discovers that he is back in the chair, screaming. Was the dancing corpse a dream? The window barricade seems intact. Suddenly Linda’s smiling head drops into Ash’s lap, says “hello, lover”, and bites hard into his right hand between thumb and forefinger. Unable to remove the head he rushes to the work shed and clamps it in a vise, causing it to release its grip, and it starts to mock Mr. Williams, who has already had a trying day. He reaches for the spot on the tool shelf marked for the chainsaw, but it’s not there. The headless torso charges into the shed and attacks Ash with a chainsaw, but he deflects it with a crowbar and the corpse clumsily saws into itself, not having an attached head to let it see what it’s doing. He pries the chainsaw from the body and the detached arm still holding in, and yanks on the pull-start cord. The head, looking much nicer, begs not to be hurt, then spews black bile and turns evil again, and Ash destroys it. She’s obviously gotten on Ash’s bad side since she gets no further burial.

Upon returning to the cabin and trading the chainsaw for a double-barrel shotgun and a handful of extra shells, Ash is further frightened by an unseen entity moving the rocking chair and moaning. It stops when he brings his right hand near it. Dropping the shotgun, he tries to console himself by telling his reflection in the mirror that everything is fine. However, his reflection suddenly comes to life, leans out of the mirror, and contradicts him, laughing at Ash’s predicament and then throttling Ash before vanishing, leaving Ash holding himself by the throat. He taps the mirror with his right hand, but it is just an ordinary mirror again.

Dark veins radiate outwards from the bite wounds on the edge of Ash’s right hand as it mutates and grows longer finger nails, and it begins to move around under its own control, and make strange laughing noises, then starts attacking Ash by grabbing his face. He holds it down and screams to be given back his hand.

Annie and Ed’s drive is blocked by workman Jake (Dan Hicks) putting a barricade in front of the destroyed bridge. Bobby Joe (Kassie Wesley DePaiva), leaning on their car, says that there isn’t any other road that leads there, and Jake points out that there is a trail through the woods, and that they would lead them there for $40… $100. Annie says sure, if they also carry the luggage. Sly grins all around.

Ash tries drowning his evil hand, and it smashes crockery over his head and bangs his head into the sink, hits him, and flips him onto the floor. After a few more plates and bottles, it spots a cleaver and starts to drag Ash’s unconscious body towards it. But Ash wakes up stabs his own hand, pinning it to the floor, and hacks it off with the very chainsaw he used only moments ago to carve his lover to pieces. He starts it by pulling the rope with his teeth. “Who’s laughing now?” He binds the stump of his arm with cloth and duct tape.

Annie, Ed, and Bobby Joe are preceding through the dark woods, trailed by Jake struggling along under a huge trunk.

Ash traps his amputated hand under a tin and a few books (including “A Farewell To Arms”), but it escapes and hides inside the wall. Ash fires several shells into the wall, and the hand taunts him, then gets its thumb caught in a rat trap. It shakes that off and gives Ash the one-finger salute. After several more shots, the walls begin to bleed, then spew like firehoses, spraying Ash and covering the entire room in blood. Suddenly the blood turns black and vanishes back into the walls. Ash sits on a chair that breaks under his weight. An evil-looking deer head mounted on the wall suddenly begins to laugh at Ash, and other items in the house, such as lamps, cabinets, and books, join in. Ash, who appears to be losing his sanity, laughs along with them. The laughter ends abruptly when Ash hears movement outside the front door, and unloads the shotgun into it.

The people at the door are Annie Knowby (Sarah Berry), Prof Knowby’s daughter, who has pages of the Necronomicon with her, boyfriend Ed Gentley (Richard Domeier) - who’s not really important as he’ll be hacked to pieces within 15 minutes - and their two red neck guides, Jake (Dan Hicks) and his honey Bobbie Jo (Kassie Wesley DePaiva). Ash shoots through the door, clearly on his last nerve. This result in grazing Bobby Jo. Ed and Jake beat Ash as Annie notices the absence of her parents in the cabin. After seeing the blood on the chainsaw and on Ash, they come to the conclusion that he killed Annie’s parents. The four newcomers throw Ash into the fruit cellar.

Annie, Ed, Jake, and Bobby Jo listen to recordings of Professor Knowby’s, where they learn that Knowby killed Henrietta (Lou Hancock) - Annie’s mother - after she became possessed, and buried her body in the fruit cellar. Surprisingly Henrietta then rises from the grave and attacks the luckless Ash. The other four take pity on him and release him from his basement prison, hauling him out of by his head, and force the demon wife into the cellar, although this procedure results in Jake getting grabbed by the face, Ed similarly grabbed and thrown into the wall, and Bobby Jo getting a mouthful of flying eye ball. Fortunately Henrietta is locked underground.

But that’s not this demon done yet, it takes human form and tries to persuade Annie to let it out (that’s right, she’s a crafty Candarian demon). Ash sees through this trick, grabs Annie and shakes his head. This sheer act of manliness overwhelms Annie and makes her say “That thing in the cellar is not my mother”. At this point it becomes apparent that Ed too has rudely became possessed, levitating, and, even more rudely takes a bite out of Bobby Jo’s hair and tells them all that they will be “Dead by Dawn”. Other corpse-oids join in on the chant. Jake is thrown up and breaks a light bulb with his head. Ash appears to flee at this point and receives a shouting from Annie.

But lo and behold our hero has not fled and as the others have been frozen with fear Ash returns brandishing an axe. He hacks Ed to pieces (told you), spraying green slime everywhere.

In a lull, Jake notices through the barricaded window that the trail they came in on just ain’t there no more. The clocks pendulum stops suddenly. It’s so quiet. For a moment. Following some unconvincing sound affects, the spirit of the professor appears ghost-like before them and says that the pages Annie possesses are the key to dispelling the evil dead. Bobby Jo then discovers Ash’s possessed disembodied hand holding hers, and she screams, and knocks down their only oil lamp, and runs into the forest, where she is attacked and killed by the trees.

Annie and Ash find a drawing in the pages of the book she brought along which depicts a hero in 1300 A.D. said to have dispelled the evil; the hero appears as a figure with a chainsaw-like hand and a “boomstick.” Hysterical with fear for Bobby Jo, Jake picks up the shotgun and brandishes it at the others. Ash tries to convince Jake that Bobby Jo is dead, but Jake grows furious and throws the book pages into the cellar, and forces everyone to go after her. Outside, the trees are moving, and not the way they would in a wind. The group goes into the woods, only to discover that the trail has disappeared. A demon rushes them, again possessing Ash, and throws Jake into a tree. Ash chases Annie back to the cabin. She grabs the bone dagger from the first movie and accidentally stabs Jake as he is trying to get back into the cabin.

She has to pull Jake’s body inside so that she can shut the door. Ash pounds on the door, then suddenly stops. Annie removes the dagger from Jake and then drags him to a safer place, right next to the cellar door, where of course Henrietta pops up and drags him in head-first to kill him. Annie is hosed by a tsunami of blood. Ash attacks Annie, accidentally ripping her necklace off her neck. As she lays unconscious, Ash looks at the necklace and reverts to his normal self after being reminded of Linda. After convincing a terrified axe-wielding Annie that he is no longer possessed, Ash and Annie agree to vanquish the evil together, for which they’ll need those pages in the basement.

This calls for an awesome montage, as Ash uses his technical know-how to convert the chainsaw into a chainsaw hand, fitting firmly on his amputated stump and sawing the end of his shotgun. The scene ends up with a close up of his rugged face and he announces “Groovy”. This establishes that the previous coward has become a lean mean deadite slaying machine.

Ash and Annie return to the cabin, where Ash cuts the cellar doors in half, and enters the cellar and finds the pages strewn about the floor, seemingly leading him deeper into the darkness. Henrietta leaps out of the cellar door and attacks Annie. Ash emerges from the cellar and begins fighting with flying Henrietta; he has the upper hand until Henrietta transforms into a more vicious demonic form. Ash is saved when Annie distracts Henrietta by singing a lullaby that Henrietta sang to her when she was a girl. While Henrietta is focused on Annie, Ash uses his chainsaw to decapitate and dismember the demon, then deals the final blow by delivering a shotgun blast to its head. “I’ll swallow your soul!’”Swallow this!” Annie & Ash have a tender hugging moment, and then the trees attack.

Annie takes the pages and begins translating the text to manifest the evil, which appears in the form of a large bloody head covered in the faces of those it has possessed, and the power to wilt flowers. While Ash is grabbed by tree branches and brought closer to the creature, which he tries to fend off. The chainsaw in its eye seems to irritate it. Annie recites the incantation to rid the earth of the evil. A large vortex opens up just outside the cabin, gravitating everything around into it, including Ash’s car, a large tree, and the evil itself. Annie is then stabbed in the back by Ash’s severed hand with the bone knife. With her dying breaths, she speaks the last words of the incantation, and the giant head and its tree hands are sucked into the vortex before it disappears. Ash is left in the cabin with Annie’s body for a moment, before the door is ripped away showing that the vortex is still there. Ash is sucked in along with trees and many items from the cabin.

Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) are two American tourists in Germany whom attempt to drive to a local nightclub when their car breaks down in the nearby woods. After refusing a ride from a dangerous looking truck driver, they walk through the woods looking for them when it begins to rain. They stumble upon a rural country house owned by a crazed surgeon named Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser). Dr. Heiter pretends that he is phoning for them when he serves the two young women drugged water which upon drinking it they pass out. The women awake in a makeshift medical ward in the basement and witness Heiter informing a kidnapped truck driver (Rene de Wit) that he is “not a match” and killing him.

When the women wake up a second time, Heiter has secured a new male captive, Japanese tourist Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura). The doctor explains to his three captives that he is a world-renowned expert at separating conjoined twins, but dreams of making new creatures that share a single digestive system. He describes in detail how he will surgically connect his three victims mouth-to-anus. After Lindsay fails in an attempt to escape, Heiter performs the surgery on his victims, placing Lindsay in the middle, Katsuro at the front, and Jenny at the rear. Before beginning the operation, Heiter explains to Lindsay that he had experimented with creating a ‘three dog’, also joined mouth-to-anus, which died shortly after surgery. Heiter tells Lindsay that the middle dog of his creation experienced the most pain, and as a punishment for her escape attempt she will become the middle part of his “human centipede”.

Once the operation is complete the doctor tries to train his centipede as a pet, and watches with great delight as Lindsay is forced to swallow Katsuro’s excrement. However, Heiter eventually becomes irritated after being kept awake day and night by the constant screaming of his victims and he soon realizes that Jenny is dying from blood poisoning caused by the surgery.

A few days later, two local detectives, Kranz (Andreas Leupold) and Voller (Peter Blankenstein), arrive at the doctor’s house to investigate the disappearance of tourists, Heiter decides to add them to his centipede as replacements for Jenny. Heiter fails in an attempt to drug the detectives, and they leave the house to obtain a search warrant.

The victims attempt to escape from the ward, crawling up the stairs, and Katsuro attacks Heiter, stabbing him in his left leg with a scalpel. Their attempt to escape ultimately fails. Katsuro confesses to the doctor, in Japanese, that he deserves his fate because he had treated his family poorly. He then fatally cuts his own throat with a shard of broken glass. Just then, the detectives return to the house and conduct separate searches, as Heiter hides in the basement near his swimming pool. Kranz finds the makeshift ward and then hears a gunshot. He discovers Heiter’s victims before finding Voller dead in the swimming pool after being shot. Heiter comes out of hiding and shoots Kranz in the stomach, and Kranz responds by shooting Heiter in the head. Kranz then falls in the pool, dead.

The film starts as Eloise “Ellie” Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) is dancing in her room. She is an aspiring fashion designer who lives with her Granmother ‘Gran Peggy’ (Rita Tushingham) and has been mourning the death of her mother (Aimee Cassettari), who appears to Ellie in mirror reflections at times. Peggy shows Ellie a letter she has received informing her she has been accepted into a fashion school in London. Ellie is excited, but Peggy warns her that there are bad men up where she is going.

Ellie takes a train to London and is driven to her room by a local taxi. The taxi driver (Colin Mace) makes creepy comments to Ellie, so she gets off at a shop and waits for the man to leave so she can keep walking to her room. She gets there and meets her roommate Jocasta (Synnove Karlsen).

Ellie goes out with Jocasta and her friends, where it is revealed that Ellie’s mother died by suicide after a struggle with mental illness. While in the ladies room, Ellie overhears Jocasta talking trash about her to the other girls. Ellie leaves the pub and walks back to her room, spotting an older man (Terence Stamp) looking her way and smirking. Jocasta later brings a guy back to her room to hook up with while Ellie tries to sleep. She leaves her room and finds a party going on outside. The only student to befriend her is a young man named John (Michael Ajao). The next morning, Ellie wakes up late and runs to class where she makes it on time for attendance.

Ellie decides to find a place of her own for peace of mind. She finds a room in a boarding house kept by an old woman named Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg). She gives Ellie a set of rules to follow and allows her to stay in the bedroom upstairs. Ellie likes the place and rests for the night, sleeping all the way under the covers, enjoying the quiet.

When Ellie gets out of bed, she finds herself somehow in the 1960’s. She walks into a venue called Cafe de Paris and sees her reflection as another young woman named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Ellie follows Sandie as though she is there watching everything unfold like an invisible spirit. Sandie wants to be a singer at the venue but is met with unwanted attention by a surly patron (Paul Brightwell). She is told to speak to a man named Jack (Matt Smith) about being a singer. Sandie meets Jack and is charmed by him. He starts to leave with her when the patron makes rude comments. Jack punches him in the face and runs away with Sandie, kissing her in a phone booth, which is reflected as also happening with Ellie. As Ellie keeps moving, she finds Sandie in her bed, but when she tries to touch her, she wakes up back in the present.

At school, Ellie becomes inspired to create a design based on what she saw Sandie wearing. Jocasta notes a hickey on Ellie’s neck from where Jack had been kissing her/Sandie.

Later that night, Ellie goes back to sleep hoping to wake up in the 60’s again. She finds herself as Sandie and Jack get closer, and he brings Sandie to meet the owner of a different venue, the Rialto, so that she can sing for him, performing the song “Downtown”. The men note that she can definitely sing.

Back in the present, Ellie dyes her hair blonde like Sandie’s and continues to work on her dress design, which her teacher seems to like, while Jocasta just mocks her out of pettiness. Ellie later sees the venue where she saw Sandie perform as it appears in the present day. She then goes to a pub to ask for a job. As she heads back to her room, the old man who saw her from the other night follows her and claims to recognize her because of her hair, but he insists he is not trying to pick her up.

Ellie returns to the 60’s and goes to the Rialto but finds Sandie is now performing as part of a group of skimpy-dressed women dancing as backup for a woman performing as a marionette. As Ellie follows Sandie around a little more, she sees that Jack is more abusive and is telling her that she has to make certain men happy if she wants to make it in the music business. Ellie sees Sandie in the bedroom as a lecherous man approaches her with his pants off. Ellie screams at the man to not touch Sandie, and he appears to hear her, but Ellie wakes up. The experience causes Ellie to rip up the pink dress design she originally drew in class.

Ellie continues to get through work and school while keeping her excursions to the past a secret from everyone else. In her next trip to the 60’s, she sees that Sandie is becoming more jaded and unhappy as Jack her forced her into prostitution and she must service a barrage of horrible men, while she also develops a drug and alcohol problem. She uses fake names like “Alex”, “Lexie”, or “Anna”. Only one man (Sam Claflin) does not take advantage of her and is polite and charming to her. Sandie talks down about herself while Ellie tries to get her attention through the mirror. She manages to smash through the glass and grab Sandie, but she wakes up.

John sees that Ellie is looking a bit unwell, so he invites her out to a Halloween party. Jocasta and her friends see them together and give them drinks. They all start dancing, but in the middle of things, Ellie hallucinates seeing ghoulish visions of the men who took advantage of Sandie, as well as Sandie herself dancing alone. John takes Ellie home when he sees her looking bad. They start to kiss and go to her room for sex, but Ellie looks up and sees the ceiling mirror showing Jack attacking Sandie. Ellie starts yelling at him to get off her. She then appears to see Jack stabbing Sandie to death. Ms. Collins overhears the noise and orders John to leave, as one of her rules is not having male visitors. She simply tells Ellie to go to bed.

The next day, Ellie apologizes to Ms. Collins about what happened. She asks her if anyone died in her room but Ms. Collins is dodgy about it. Later, Ellie goes to the library to look up murders in the 60’s. She begins to hallucinate the ghost men following her around the library, nearly leading her to stab Jocasta in the face with a pair of scissors. John runs after Jocasta to explain things while Ellie leaves in a panic. She runs to the police station to report the murder, now believing that the old man is Jack and that he got away with killing Sandie, but the detectives know she has little to go off of.

Ellie arrives late for work and finds that the old man is waiting for her. She takes out her mobile phone to try and record a confession out of him, but when she brings up Sandie, the man says “Alex killed Sandie” and that whatever happened to her was something she got herself into. Ellie runs after the man, but he gets hit by a car on the street and dies. Ellie’s boss tells someone to call for help and say he’s a former cop named Lindsay. Ellie realizes the man is not Jack, but rather the gentleman who was polite with her and didn’t sleep with her.

Ellie returns to her room and makes plans to go back home in the countryside to live with her grandmother. Ms. Collins gives Ellie tea and her mail. One letter is addressed to Ms. Collins, revealing her name to be Alexandra…. which is what Sandie told Jack her name was short for. Ms. Collins reveals that someone did die in Ellie’s room: her. Ms. Collins was Sandie. After enduring all the abuse in her life, she let her life as Sandie die when she stabbed Jack to death. She later got revenge on all the men who abused her by murdering them. Ms. Collins then reveals that she poisoned Ellie’s tea and will make it look like a suicide. John then comes looking for Ellie, who regains enough strength to warn John to run. Ms. Collins stabs him while Ellie tries to run upstairs, seeing the younger Sandie attacking her. Downstairs, a fire starts and begins spreading. Ellie locks herself in her room where the spirits of Sandie’s victims break through the floors and walls, begging Ellie to kill Ms. Collins. When she finally breaks in, she sees her reflection as Sandie and realizes she has become just as much of a monster as the men who hurt her. She tries to slit her throat but Ellie stops her and tries to help her. Ms. Collins chooses to stay and die in the fire while letting Ellie go. Ellie gets John out of there as medics arrive, and Ms. Collins allows the flames to consume her.

In 1978, a serial child abductor nicknamed “The Grabber” prowls the streets of a Denver suburb. Siblings Finney and Gwen Blake live in the area with their abusive, alcoholic father. At school, Finney is frequently bullied and harassed. He has a friendship with a classmate, Robin, who fends off the bullies. A boy from another school that Finney knew, Bruce, is abducted by the Grabber. Gwen, who has psychic dreams much like her late mother, dreams of Bruce’s kidnapping and sees that he was taken by a man in a black van with black balloons. Detectives Wright and Miller interview Gwen but struggle to believe her claims. The Grabber abducts Robin, as well as Finney days later. Finney awakens in a soundproofed basement. On the wall is a disconnected black rotary phone that the Grabber says does not work. Later, Finney hears the phone ring and answers it. Bruce’s ghost, unable to remember his own name or who he was when he was alive, tells Finney about a floor tile he can remove to dig a tunnel to escape.

The police search for Finney is unsuccessful. The Grabber brings Finney’s food and leaves the door to the basement unlocked. Finney prepares to sneak out but is stopped by another boy on the phone called Billy. He explains this is a game that the Grabber plays, and he is waiting upstairs to attack Finney with a belt if he leaves the basement. Billy instructs him to use a cord Billy found to get out via the basement window. While climbing Finney breaks the bars on the window, preventing him from climbing back up. Gwen dreams of Billy being abducted and confides in her father about what is happening.

Wright and Miller speak to an eccentric man called Max who is staying in the area with his brother. It is revealed Finney is being held in Max’s basement, which he is unaware of, and the Grabber is his brother. After an agitated exchange with the Grabber, where he tests Finney’s honesty, he makes it seem as if he would have let Finney go. Finney speaks to another one of his victims, Griffin, on the phone. Griffin shows Finney a combination to a lock and informs him that the Grabber has fallen asleep upstairs. Finney sneaks upstairs and unlocks the door but the Grabber’s dog alerts him of Finney’s escape. Finney flees down the street but is recaptured.

Despondent over his failed escape attempt, Finney answers the phone to hear another victim, a punk called Vance whom Finney was scared of. Vance informs Finney of a connecting storage room he can escape through if he breaks a hole in the wall and exits through the freezer on the other side of the wall. Finney creates a hole with a toilet tank cover and enters the back of the freezer only to discover that the freezer door is locked. The phone rings one more time with Robin at the end of the line. He comforts Finney and encourages him to finally stand up and fight for himself. He instructs Finney to remove the phone receiver and pack it with the dirt he had dug up to use as a weapon.

In the opening shot, an alien spaceship flies through space and enters Earth’s atmosphere near Antarctica. Whether or not the ship crashes or lands on Earth is unknown.

In Antarctica, during the winter of 1982, a helicopter flies hurriedly after a husky. The man riding next to the pilot shoots a rifle and drops grenades hoping to kill the dog. The dog runs toward an American research base, Outpost 31, where a 12-man research crew is getting ready for the upcoming winter. The helicopter, which they see is from a Norwegian research base, flies in and lands. The Americans watch puzzled as two men emerge from the helicopter jabbering frantically in their native language. One of them pulls the pin on a grenade but clumsily throws it behind him. As the pilot frantically tries to find it in the snow, it explodes, killing him and taking the helicopter with it. The other man continues shooting his rifle hysterically and talking frantically; no one can understand what he is saying and the man shoots Bennings (Peter Maloney) in his left leg. The camp leader Garry (Donald Moffat) shoots and kills the gibbering man in defense.

Puzzled about why the Norwegians were trying to kill the dog, MacReady (Kurt Russell) the team’s helicopter pilot and their doctor, Copper (Richard Dysart) go to investigate the Norwegian base. The whole base has been gutted by fire and explosions as there are holes in several of the walls in the interior of the complex. There is also a fire ax stuck into one of the walls. Everyone is dead; one of them had barricaded himself in the radio room and is still sitting frozen in his chair, his wrists and throat slit in an apparent suicide. Mac and Copper explore further, finding a large and empty block of ice. Outside in the snow, along with one or two burned human bodies, Mac and Copper find the burnt and frozen corpse of a twisted creature, not man but not beast, either. They bring it back to their own base for examination. An autopsy performed by biologist Blair reveals nothing more than a normal set of internal organs despite a deformed, distorted exterior.

That night, the new stray husky is locked in a kennel with the team’s sled dogs. The other dogs soon react with fear to the new addition, growling and snarling. The new dog suddenly transforms into a hideous creature with tentacles and crab’s legs and starts attacking the other dogs. The incident is discovered by dog handler Clark (Richard Masur), who watches horrified. Mac hears the sounds of the thing’s unworldly groan and the cries of the other dogs; and he immediately responds by sounding the fire alarm, waking up the entire camp who converge on the kennel where they see the hideous dog-like creature seemingly consuming the other sled dogs. Part of the creature separates from the rest and pulls itself up through the ceiling. After shooting at the beast with their guns, the ‘thing’ is burned with a flamethrower.

An autopsy done by Blair on the thing’s remains reveals its secret: the “thing” is an alien organism that imitates other life forms by attacking, and either digesting or dissolving them and reshaping its image to appear in the animal or person it kills. The team also watches a videotape of the Norwegian team working at a remote location, forming a circle around an object in the ice and using Thermite charges to uncover it.

The following day, MacReady flies with Palmer and Norris to the site where the Norwegians were working. They find an alien spaceship in the open crater and rappel down to look around. Mac asks Norris how long the ship has been entombed; Norris estimates that it’s been there for at least 100,000 years. Up above the crash site, they find a block of the ice cap missing where the thing was discovered and removed by the Norwegians. Back at Outpost 31, Mac theorizes that the Norwegians awakened the creature after thawing its ice block and it immediately began to attack them.

That evening, Blair studies cells from the Thing, and watches them attack and replicate other kinds of cells on his computer. Typing his report into his computer, the computer replies that the possibility that one or more team members may be infected by the alien organism is 75%, and that if the alien reached civilization, the Earth’s population will be infected and taken over by the alien organism 27,000 hours (around 37 months, just over 3 years) after first contact.

The team decides to place the creature’s remains in a storage room. The assistant biologist Fuchs (Joel Polis) asks to speak privately with Mac; he tells Mac that he’s been looking through Blair’s (Wilford Brimley) notes and found that Blair believes the organism’s cells are still alive and active in the burned remains of both creatures. Blair has also theorized that the alien might have imitated a thousand other lifeforms across space.

While Windows (Thomas G. Waites) and Bennings prepare the room to store the remains recovered from the Norwegian base, it begins to move under the blanket it’s been covered with. Windows returns to the room to find Bennings being attacked, wrapped in tentacles. Windows gets the other team members but Bennings has escaped through the storage room window. They find him in the snow, his transformation by the alien nearly complete except for his hands, which are hideously large and grotesque shapes. Mac and the team incinerate him alive and then burn the remains of the two other creatures along with him.

Realizing that something like this could take over the world if it got out, Blair seemingly loses his mind, killing the surviving sled dogs and destroying the helicopter and the communications equipment (injuring Windows in the process), trapping the crew without hope of rescue. The others, seeing him as a threat, subdue him, lock him in the camp’s tool shed and sedate him.

The next morning, fear and paranoia circulates around the camp as nobody knows who may be the thing or who isn’t. Doc Copper suggests that he develop a blood serum test to see who might be infected. Copper finds that the blood bags in the lab have been slashed open, making their contents useless. Copper believes that someone deliberately destroyed the blood to prevent the test from happening. Gary and Copper become suspects because of their access to the blood storage while Clark is regarded with suspicion because of his proximity to the imitation dog. All three are quarantined by MacReady who takes over as the ‘de facto’ leader of the team to find out who may be the Thing. When a ‘whiteout’ storm (an Antarctic storm resembling a winter hurricane) hits the camp and the outside temperature drops severely, they are forced to hunker down, all of them continuing to be paranoid and distrustful of one another. Mac talks to Fuchs, who only has a few weak theories from Blair’s notes. Fuchs recommends that everyone prepares their own meals and eat only out of cans.

The following evening, Fuchs, trying to do research on how the Thing can reproduce and multiply, is waylaid when one of the unseen infected persons disables the power to the lab. In going after it, Fuchs is killed (off-camera) and his charred body is found outside in the snow a few hours later by Mac, Nauls and Windows. Either the Thing burned Fuchs to death, or Fuchs burned himself in a suicide to prevent him from being taken over. Mac tells Windows to return to the main building while he goes with Nauls to his shack to investigate: when he left two days before, he’d turned out the lights and they’re back on.

Some time later, Nauls returns to the camp, nearly collapsing because of the cold. He tells the others he’d found ragged and dirty clothing with Mac’s name on it in the oil furnace inside MacReady’s shack. As they were struggling back to the main compound, Nauls cut Mac’s safety line and made a break for it. Mac is locked outside and breaks the window in a storeroom to enter. He arms himself with a small bundle of dynamite and threatens to blow himself and the rest of them up if they don’t back away. When Childs (Keith David) and the others rebel against MacReady (and to express their suspicion that he may be the Thing), Norris collapses when he appears to have a heart attack. When Dr. Copper tries to revive him using defibrillator paddles, Norris’ chest suddenly opens up into a monstrous mouth and bites off Copper’s arms. MacReady uses a flamethrower to destroy the Norris/Thing, leaving only it’s head, which detaches, sprouts spider-like legs and tries to crawl away before it is destroyed as well.

At this point, MacReady leads the others in a test to determine who is infected. He suggests that everyone give a blood sample, and then those blood samples be poked with a hot piece of wire. The theory is that each part of a Thing will try to survive independently, and therefore the blood would transform to defend itself. Clark makes an attempt on MacReady’s life with a scalpel; he is shot and killed by McCready. Everyone is tied up (including the dead Clark and Copper) while the test is performed. Windows is the first to be tested, and turns out to be human; MacReady arms him with another flamethrower to torch anyone who might be a Thing. As MacReady continues the test (testing the dead bodies of Clark and Copper, whom are not infected), he openly accuses Garry of being a duplicate, but instead finds that Palmer (David Clennon) is a Thing clone. As Palmer transforms, MacReady’s flamethrower misfires and Windows hesitates to kill the Palmer-Thing. The Palmer-Thing’s entire head splits open and turns into a giant mouth, biting Windows’ head. MacReady manages to get his flamethrower working and sets the Palmer-Thing on fire which crashes through the wall to die in the snow, which MacReady then blows up with a stick of dynamite. MacReady is then forced to torch Windows with the other flame thrower, since he is now infected and the Thing is assimilating his body.

MacReady and the three remaining survivors, Childs, Garry, and Nauls (T.K. Carter) are revealed to be not infected. While ordering Childs to stay behind to watch the camp, MacReady, Garry and Nauls go to check on Blair to give him the blood test, and discover the shed empty; Blair had escaped through the floor and was secretly building a small spacecraft in the tunnels under the camp. They are confused when they see Child’s running off into the storm, but at that moment, the compound’s power suddenly turns off. It is then they realize that Blair is the last Thing creature and that it wants to freeze into hibernation until the rescue team finds it since it has no way out. Finally, realizing how pervasive the infection is and that there is little chance for survival, it is proposed that they blow up the base to prevent the Thing from freezing again. MacReady, Nauls and Garry begin setting fire to the complex with Molotov cocktails.

The film starts with William (Ralph Ineson), the patriarch of a Puritan family, on trial in 1630s New England. He dismisses those around him as false Christians, and the others claim that he speaks ill of the word of God.

William’s family includes his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson), and baby Samuel. Having been banished from their New England plantation, they start a small farm in the wilderness. Mercy and Jonas frequently play with a large black goat that they named Black Phillip.

One afternoon, Thomasin is outside playing Peek-A-Boo with Sam. She covers her face to scare him, but when she looks down, Sam is gone. We cut to somewhere in the darkest part of the woods where a wrinkled hand strokes Sam’s body, moments before the creature lowers a knife to his chest. We then see a haggard old woman pounding what appear to be Sam’s remains before consuming them. The woman then slowly walks out into the woods.

Katherine becomes distraught following Sam’s disappearance. The family believes that a wolf took the baby. Caleb goes out to hunt with his father, but first he starts to notice Thomasin’s breasts. Out in the woods, Caleb becomes fearful that Sam was taken because he lived in sin, making Caleb worry that he is also leading a sinful life that will lead to his doom.

William comforts his son, and they proceed to hunt. William aims his rifle at a rabbit, but the recoil from the shot gets him in the eye, and the rabbit runs away. The two return home to an angry Katherine. Thomasin takes the blame for her father for the two of them going to hunt.

Thomasin and Caleb are by the river gathering water. Mercy comes along and accuses Thomasin of being a witch, blaming her for Sam’s disappearance. Thomasin plays along with the accusation and starts to terrify Mercy. Thomasin says she is a witch, and that she will get Mercy if she continues to bother her.

With a lack of growth on their crops beginning to turn problematic, Thomasin and Caleb venture into the woods. The two are separated from each other. Caleb disappears and comes across a small cottage. From the doorway emerges a beautiful woman (Sarah Stephens). She lures Caleb toward him and she kisses him before grabbing his head with a haggard hand.

Thomasin later finds Caleb outside in the rain, naked and scarred. The family becomes worried that something evil is overtaking them. Mercy and Jonas continue to accuse Thomasin of being a witch, to the point where even Katherine appears to believe it. Later, Katherine discusses with William that they should give Thomasin to another family, which she overhears. Caleb is bedridden, and the family prays for him. After a while, Caleb begins to writhe and speak some sort of prayer, while Mercy and Jonas also writhe on the ground as if they were possessed. Caleb speaks as though he accepts that he is about to meet God, and he starts to moan passionately before dying with a smile on his face.

Thomasin runs outside to cry in despair. William starts to accuse her of evildoing that led to Caleb’s death. She angrily defends herself and states that perhaps it was Mercy and Jonas that made a demonic pact with Black Phillip. William locks his three surviving children in the barn with the goats until something happens.

In the barn, the kids see a pale, nude figure drinking the blood of one of the goats. The creature (a witch) turns around and cackles at Mercy and Jonas, causing them to scream. Meanwhile, Katherine appears to find Caleb sitting in a chair, holding Samuel. She approaches them and takes Sam to breastfeed him, but in reality, it is just a crow picking at Katherine’s bosom.

In the morning, the goats have been slaughtered, and Mercy and Jonas have vanished. Thomasin emerges from the barn and sees Black Phillip charge at William, impaling him with one of his horns. William grabs a hatchet and seems ready to fight, but he then drops it, allowing Black Phillip to charge at him again and knock him into a pile of logs that crushes him. Katherine comes out and continues to accuse Thomasin, blaming her for the deaths of her family members. Katherine starts to choke Thomasin, who continuously tells her mother that she loves her. Thomasin grabs a nearby blade and hacks at Katherine’s face until she is dead.

Architect and happily married man Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves) has the house to himself and his dog Monkey on Father’s Day weekend (due to work and a physical therapy appointment due to a shoulder injury) while his wife and children go on a family-planned beach trip. His wife Karen (Ignacia Allamand), a successful artist, leaves their assistant Louis (Aaron Burns) in charge of her sculpture that needs to be moved to an art gallery. Alone in his beautiful and expensive home, Evan works on renderings for an ongoing house project.

That evening, young two women, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas), arrive and knock on his front door. He opens the door and they say that they are looking for the address of a party, but since their phone died, the taxi driver dropped them off. As they have no means of communication, Evan allows them in to use the Internet and get hold of the party’s host. Once they find the right address, Evan offers to call an Uber driver for them, but the closest driver will take 45 minutes to arrive. Meanwhile, the girls make themselves at home and Evan plays a few of his old vinyl records he has from when he was a disc jockey. The conversation quickly turns into their opinions about human polygamy and they tell Evan about their jobs as flight attendants as well as how they engage in sexual activity with a new man in every city they fly to. They then disappear to the bathroom and when their driver finally arrives, a circumspect Evan finds them in the bathroom, naked and lusting for him. Outraged, Evan tries to convince them to leave, but as they start forcing themselves upon him, he gives in and has a threesome with them.

The following day, Evan finds them eating breakfast and watching Family Feud, not worried at all about leaving. He loses his patience and offers to drive them home, since they have not taken the cab. Evan returns indoors only to find out that his wife’s sculpture, which Louis was supposed to collect for the art gallery, has been vandalized. When Evan threatens to call the police, the girls reveal they are underage, showing they have control over him or risk charges on sexual conduct with a minor.

Vivian (Colleen Camp), a friend of Karen’s, stops by to see if Evan needs help. Seeing Genesis, Vivian angrily leaves, thinking that Evan is cheating on Karen. A shocked Evan tries to make sense of the situation, since he realized that everything the girls had said was a lie in order to get him in bed. When Evan threatens to report a break-in, they give in and agree to be taken home. He drops them off at an upscale neighborhood where they supposedly live.

Evan returns home, cleans the mess, and tries to go back to his work. Just as he is getting closer to completing his project, he hears a shattering noise. He goes looking for the source of the noise as he is supposedly alone indoors. He finds a broken picture-frame of his family and Genesis knocks him out with one of his wife’s sculptures.

The two sinister women tie Evan up and go through his family’s belongings. Bel climbs onto him trying to arouse him while role-playing as a school girl in his daughter’s school uniform. Evan initially refuses, but the girls threaten to FaceTime his wife with him in a compromising position. Even though this disgusts him, Evan realizes that by moving on the bed he can loosen his binds, so he plays along. Bel semi-rapes him, and unbeknownst to him, Genesis records everything.

A few minutes later, Evan finally releases himself where he jumps at Bel and knocks her off. He charges at Genesis, who stabs him in his wounded shoulder with a fork. She then pins him to the ground and both girls proceed to tie him up to a chair with electrical cord.

Later on, Louis arrives to collect the sculpture Karen left him in charge of. The girls take Evan’s phone and text Louis saying his niece and her friend are staying over. They hide Evan in a room. Louis enters using his keys. He panics upon finding the vandalized sculpture and immediately realizes these girls are lying about their relation to Evan. Louis then finds Evan tied up to a chair, but before he can help him he hears the girls smashing the vandalized sculpture. He runs to stop them, but then has an asthma attack, and realizes they took his inhaler. The girls play monkey-in-the-middle with his inhaler, and as he tries to get it back, he slips on a piece of the sculpture and knocks his head on the edge, killing him.

Genesis and Bel turn Louis’ dead body into a red sculpture and dig a makeshift grave in the backyard meant for Evan. They also reveal to him that they had been spying on him all along for several days now. He fails in his various attempts to make an emergency call and to escape from the house. They tie him up with a hose, then bury him in the hole, leaving only his head above ground. Genesis shows Evan the video she recorded earlier with his phone of him and Bel having sex. As a horrified Evan watches on, she uploads it to his Facebook profile. Ultimately, they spare Evan’s life, going against the idea of killing him in the same fashion they had killed Louis.

In a Phoenix hotel room on a Friday afternoon, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her out-of-town lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) end a stolen lunchtime interlude with yet another disagreement about their future. Marion wants to marry Sam, but debts inherited from his father and his own alimony payments do not leave him enough money to support her as he would like. As they have done so often before on Sam’s business trips to Phoenix, they part leaving their future uncertain.

Marion returns to the real estate office where she works as a secretary, arriving just ahead of her boss Mr. Lowery (Vaughn Taylor) and his client Cassidy (Frank Albertson) who buys a house from Lowery with $40,000 in cash. Lowery tells Marion to put the money in the safe deposit box at the bank until Monday. Pleading a headache, Marion asks to take the rest of the day off after her errand to the bank.

But Marion doesn’t go to the bank. On the spur of the moment, she decides to keep the money, packs a suitcase, and starts driving out of town, only to be spotted by her boss at an intersection where he gives her a suspicious look. Worried that she has been found out already, she still proceeds out of town on her way to Fairvale, California, where Sam lives. All the while she keeps looking behind her, fearful that she’s being followed. She drives well into the night and parks alongside the road to sleep.

In the morning, a highway patrolman (Mort Mills) stops to investigate her stopped car, and awakens her. Startled and nervous, she arouses the patrolman’s suspicions. He looks at her license and registration, taking note of the plate number. He allows her to go on, but follows her for a while, which intensifies Marion’s agitation.

Realizing that her car can easily give her away, Marion decides to trade it in for a different car. She stops in at a used car lot, hurriedly pays the salesman (John Anderson) $700 cash for a likely substitute, and completes the deal as the same highway patrolman watches from across the street. Nervous, she drives away and continues toward Fairvale.

As night falls on this second day, with her fears of pursuit crowding in around her, she drives into a rainstorm. Unable to see the road clearly, she spots the lighted sign of the Bates Motel, and decides to take a room for the night. As there are no other cars there, and no one in the motel office, she honks her horn upon seeing a light on in the house behind the motel, and a silhouette in the window. Someone dashes down the path to greet her, and he introduces himself as Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). He is soft-spoken and shy young man who tells Marion that he lives in the large house with his mother. He comments that the motel seldom has guests anymore since the new interstate bypassed the local highway, and Marion realizes that she probably took a wrong turn in the storm. Still nervous about being tracked by the police, Marion registers under a false name, and Norman checks her into Cabin 1 just next to the office. When she asks about food, Marion learns that Fairvale is only fifteen miles away.

Norman offers to share his supper with her so she doesn’t have to go out again in the rain, and he goes back to the house. She begins unpacking, taking time to wrap the money inside a newspaper which she sets aside on the bed table. Then she overhears a shouted argument between Norman and his mother coming from the house. Mother Bates seems to have a low opinion of young women, and doesn’t want Norman associating with them. Norman returns to the motel with sandwiches and milk and invites Marion to join him in the parlor just behind the check-in desk.

Marion is taken aback by the stuffed birds that fill the parlor, a product of his taxidermy hobby. In their conversation over sandwiches, Norman talks about being trapped. Just as Marion presently feels trapped by her recent hasty decision, Norman is more permanently trapped in his co-existence with his mother and her madness. But as Norman observes, “we all go a little mad sometimes.” Taking Norman’s situation as a cautionary tale, Marion decides to return to Phoenix to make amends, and try to pull herself out of the trap she’s gotten herself into before it’s too late.

When Marion goes back to her room, Norman takes down a picture from the wall and looks through a peephole where he can watch Marion changing. With a new burst of intensity, Norman hurries up the hill and goes into the house.

In her room, Marion sits in her robe and calculates some figures, working out how she can repay the $700 she has already spent. Then she tears up the paper containing the figures and flushes the pieces down the toilet. With newfound peace of mind, she slips out of her robe and slippers, and steps into the tub to enjoy a cleansing shower.

Unseen behind her, the bathroom door opens. A figure approaches and pulls back the shower curtain. It is the shadowy figure of an old woman wielding a large kitchen knife. Marion screams. The blade lifts high into the air, and then strikes, and strikes again and again. Marion cannot escape the slicing blows of the knife. The savage attack continues, and then her killer leaves. Marion sinks down, reaching for the shower curtain which rips under her weight, and she falls over the edge of the tub. The shower continues to run over her as her blood flows down the tub drain, her lifeless eyes fixed in a final hopeless stare.

From the house, Norman’s voice yells out in shock, “Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood! Blood!” He comes running down the hill and into Marion’s cabin to find the aftermath of Mother’s knife attack. He quickly cleans up the murder scene. He wraps Marion’s body in the shower curtain and places her in the trunk of her car, and gathers her belongings into the trunk as well. At the last moment he spots the newspaper on the bed table and tosses it into the trunk, not knowing that it contains the stolen money. He drives to a swamp near the motel, where he pushes the car in and watches it slowly disappear into the dark bog.

One week later, Sam Loomis is sitting in the back office of his hardware store in Fairvale, writing a note to Marion. He has changed his mind, and if it’s not too late he wants to marry her right away even if his finances are limited right now. Marion’s sister, Lila Crane (Vera Miles), comes into the store and asks if Marion is there. Sam tells her she isn’t. A private investigator named Arbogast (Martin Balsam) also enters the store and asks for Marion’s whereabouts. His interest is in recovering the stolen $40,000, which Lila knew about, but Sam did not. Arbogast is convinced that Marion is somewhere in this town close to her boyfriend, so he sets out on a search of hotels and boarding houses around Fairvale to track her down.

When Arbogast gets to the Bates Motel, Norman tells him he hasn’t seen Marion, and that there haven’t been any guests in weeks. But Arbogast manages to look at the register and sees the false signature in Marion’s handwriting. Caught in his lie that here hadn’t been any recent guests, Norman admits to remembering her now, and says she stayed that Saturday night and left early on Sunday morning. Arbogast spots Mother’s silhouette sitting at the window of the house and asks to see her, but Norman refuses, saying that his mother is an invalid and shouldn’t be disturbed. When Norman lets slip his Mother’s impressions of Marion, Arbogast becomes determined to talk to her, but Norman insists that he leave.

Arbogast phones Sam and Lila to tell them that Marion had registered the previous Saturday night at the Bates Motel in Cabin 1, and that he means to sneak back and talk to Mrs. Bates regardless of Norman’s objections. When he gets back to the motel, Arbogast looks into the office and the parlor briefly to see if Norman is there, and spots the motel safe which is standing open. Then he heads up to the house and goes inside. Sensing that no one is downstairs, he starts up the stairs. As he nears the top of the landing, Mother Bates emerges from the bedroom and stabs him. He stumbles backwards down the stairs and falls to the floor, where he is set upon and stabbed yet again.

At the hardware store, Lila and Sam have been waiting for Arbogast, who was supposed to return hours ago. Sam tells Lila to stay behind while he goes out to the motel. When he gets there, he calls out but no one answers. Norman, standing by the swamp after having just disposed of the investigator’s remains, hears Sam call out for Arbogast.

Sam returns to the store, having seen no one at the motel or the house. No Arbogast, no Bates, “only a sick old lady unable or unwilling to answer the door.” Sam suggests they go see Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire) to report the missing Arbogast. At the sheriff’s house, Chambers and his wife (Lurene Tuttle) listen to Sam and Lila tell their story. At their urging, Chambers phones the motel and talks to Norman, who says that the detective had been there but had left. When Lila presses Chambers about the mother, Chambers tells them that Norman’s mother has been dead and buried for the past ten years, having poisoned her lover and herself in the only murder-suicide in Fairvale’s living memory. But Sam and Lila insist that there is an old woman out there, and that Arbogast had told them that Norman wouldn’t let Arbogast see his mother because she was too ill. That makes the sheriff wonder, if Norman’s mother is up there at the motel, then who is buried in that grave in Green Lawn Cemetery?

Back at the motel, Norman is worried about all the people who have been snooping around. After the phone call from Sheriff Chambers, Norman goes up to his house and voices his concerns which leads to another unseen argument with Mother in which he tells her she should hide in the fruit cellar for a few days. She refuses. Norman says he will pick her up and carry her downstairs. She berates him, but in spite of Mother’s protests to be put down, Norman carries his mother down the stairs.

The next morning, Sunday morning, Lila and Sam meet Sheriff and Mrs. Chambers coming out of church. The sheriff has already been to the motel before church services. He didn’t see anything strange and suggests that the detective probably just moved on to pursue a lead without telling them. He offers to help Lila report a missing person and a theft, and let the law find her sister. Unsatisfied, Lila and Sam decide to go out to the motel for themselves. Their plan is to register as husband and wife and check into a cabin. Then they will search the place more thoroughly.

Norman assigns them to Cabin 10, and Sam insists on signing the register. As he pays and asks Norman for a receipt, Lila takes the key and goes ahead toward their cabin. On the way she checks that the door to Cabin 1 is unlocked. After a brief stop in cabin 10 to talk matters over, and after they are sure Norman is not nearby, Sam and Lila enter Cabin 1 to search for clues. Sam notices that the shower curtain is missing and Lila finds a scrap of paper with something subtracted from $40,000, suggesting that Norman possibly knew about the money. Lila wants to talk to the woman in the house because she might have told Arbogast something. She wants Sam to distract Norman while she goes to the house. Sam tries to dissuade her, but she insists she can handle a sick old woman.

Sam finds Norman in the office and engages him in conversation, while Lila circles around behind the motel to the house. She enters and looks through all the rooms upstairs. She goes into Mother’s bedroom, filled with furnishings and clothes from the Victorian era but strangely preserved as if new. The outline of a woman’s body is deeply impressed into the old mattress. She looks into Norman’s bedroom, another room frozen in time containing the toys and small bed of a child.

Meanwhile, Sam has been trying to get Norman to talk about money, looking for some indication that Norman has the stolen cash. Norman begins to grow agitated. When Sam mentions Norman’s mother, Norman realizes that his other guest may be snooping around at the house. Sam tries to keep Norman from leaving, and they struggle. Norman knocks Sam over the head, and Sam falls dazed to the floor.

Lila is just coming down the stairs when she sees Norman running toward the front door. She ducks around behind the stairs and partway down the cellar steps to avoid him. Norman heads upstairs. Lila starts to come back up, when she notices the cellar door at the bottom of the steps. This is a room she hasn’t examined yet, and she risks the opportunity to look into it.

Walking through a storage room and into the barren fruit cellar beyond it, she sees an old woman sitting in a chair facing the far wall. She whispers, “Mrs. Bates.” But the woman doesn’t respond. She taps the woman on the shoulder. The chair swivels around to reveal the desiccated remains of an old woman’s corpse, her face contorted into a near-skeletal grin and seemingly staring out of eyeless sockets.

Lila screams and turns away, and her flinching reaction sets the bare hanging light bulb to swinging. At that moment, the living semblance of an old woman enters at the door wielding a large knife, blocking the only escape route from the cellar. In the next moment, Sam’s timely arrival saves Lila, as he subdues the would-be assailant from behind. The “woman’s” wig falls away to reveal Norman Bates dressed in the guise of his mother.

That evening, Lila, Sam, and Sheriff Chambers are among a bewildered group of interested persons who sit in an office in the County Court House, waiting to hear from a psychiatrist who has been called in to examine Norman. The psychiatrist (Simon Oakland) enters to tell them he has gotten the whole story, but not from “Norman.” He got it from Norman’s “Mother.” As a personality, “Norman” no longer exists. The other half, the “Mother” half of Norman’s mind has completely taken over.

The psychiatrist goes on to explain that after the death of Norman’s father, Norman came to depend on the undivided attention of his mother. But when she took a lover, Norman felt as if he had been replaced. His jealousy could not stand to share her. So he poisoned both his mother and her lover. Consumed with guilt over his crime, he stole his mother’s corpse and treated it to preserve it as best he could.

To further the illusion that his mother was still alive, he began to divide his mind with his mother– to think and speak for her. He walked around wearing her clothes and a woman’s wig. At times he could be both personalities and carry on both sides of conversations. Other times, the “Mother” half, the dominant half, took over completely. “He was never all ‘Norman,’ but he was often only ‘Mother.’”

Norman’s “Mother” personality was pathologically jealous of Norman. When Norman met Marion, he felt a strong attraction to her. That attraction set off the jealous “Mother,” and it was “Mother” who killed Marion– and most likely, other women before her.

In a locked and guarded room, the physical shell of Norman Bates sits unmoving as “Mother”’s voice dominates his mind. She wants to prove to the world how harmless she is by sitting completely still. A fly crawls on Norman’s hand and he doesn’t swat at it, simply smirks as the voice of Mother’s personality gloats that everyone must see that she wouldn’t even harm a fly.

In a final image, a tow chain begins pulling Marion’s car out of the bog.

The film opens in a facility where a biologist named Lena (Natalie Portman) is in a containment cell speaking to men in hazmat suits while a large group of people are gathered outside listening in. Another man named Lomax (Benedict Wong) is questioning Lena regarding a recent mission in which only she has returned. Lomax says she and her team were gone for months, which felt like days or weeks to Lena. She confirms two of her teammates are dead while the fates of the other two remain unknown to her. She has no idea what she just experienced.

We see something soaring up in space before it makes its way into Earth’s surface. It strikes a lighthouse and soon starts to emit a mysterious glow.

Three years after this event and sometime before her mission, Lena is working as a professor at Johns Hopkins, teaching her class about a cancer cell that appears to multiply. It has been over a year since her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) went on a mission and never returned. Her colleague Daniel (David Gyasi) invites her to a barbecue at his house that he’s throwing with his wife, but Lena says she prefers to paint her bedroom. Daniel says it’s not disrespectful to Kane’s memory for her to spend time with others, but Lena still declines the invite.

Lena is still hurt over Kane’s disappearance. However, as she is painting, Kane appears in the house. Lena tearfully embraces him. He has little to no memory of where he was or how he got home. Kane takes a drink of water and says he is not feeling well, as evidenced by the blood in the water. Lena rides with him in an ambulance to the hospital but, en route, they are stopped by government agents that sedate and capture them.

AREA X

Lena wakes up in a compound formed by an organization called the Southern Reach. She meets Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who tells her that Kane was part of an expedition into a location outside the compound called the Shimmer, which formed around the area surrounding the lighthouse over the last few years. Kane is apparently the only person to have returned from the Shimmer, as his whole team was reported as missing or dead. Kane is in the facility, but he is dying.

Ventress is set to lead a team into the Shimmer to find the source of its energy, along with three other women - Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson), a physicist; Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Novotny), an anthropologist; and Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez), a paramedic. Thorensen introduces herself to Lena and invites her to meet the other team members. Lena chooses not to let them know that Kane is her husband and that she has a personal investment in the mission.

THE SHIMMER

The team heads inside the Shimmer. The land is comprised of mostly plant-based organisms. After four days, the team appears to have no memory of how they got there. A lot of their equipment, including their GPS, doesn’t seem to work there. They continue further into the Shimmer, documenting their progress and findings. As they head by a small shack, something pulls Radek into the shack and nearly takes her underwater until Lena goes in to save her. They discover a mutated alligator emerging from the water. It crawls toward the team until Lena shoots it dead. They then inspect the inside of its mouth and find that the gator possesses shark teeth, suggesting that there may have been some kind of cross-breeding occurring within the Shimmer.

Lena has multiple flashbacks of her time before the mission, such as her final moments with Kane before he went off into the Shimmer, as well as an affair she had with Daniel before he signed on for the mission. It is later suggested that Kane somehow found out about Lena’s affair and this may have contributed to his reasons for signing onto what appeared to be a suicidal mission.

The team rows boats across the lake to head further toward their destination. Lena rides with Sheppard. On being questioned by Sheppard, Lena tells her she was in the Army and also that her husband was killed in action. She does not mention that Kane is her husband. Sheppard then tells Lena that she lost a daughter to Leukemia, and also reveals things about the rest of the team, like that Thorensen is a recovering addict and that Radek had been cutting her arms. Sheppard adds that nobody seems to know much about Ventress other than the fact that she has no friends, family, partner or children.

The team arrives at Fort Amaya, a military base which was the previous headquarters of the Southern Reach before the Shimmer engulfed it. Lena notices more mutations at the base; even ones that are malignant like tumors. They realize that Kane and his team had also set themselves up at the base whilst they were in the Shimmer. They find a camera and watch a video of Kane cutting open the stomach of one of his teammates to reveal some kind of mass slithering inside in place of his organs. As the team moves further, they discover a skeleton that appears to have been destroyed by something that was inside the person (it’s implied this is the man Kane cut into). The team starts to become tense over their discovery.

At night, Lena examines a cell sample she gathered inside the Shimmer and sees it is undergoing mitosis, but not like a normal cell does. She later talks to Ventress, who suggests that Kane went on the mission due to a self-destructive need, something which she believes is hardwired into all human DNA. Lena realizes that Kane must have volunteered for the mission when he found about her affair with Daniel.

Outside, something appears to break through the perimeter fence of the facility. Lena watches as Sheppard investigates, only to be grabbed and carried off by a large bear-like creature. The others fail to notice this.

In the morning, the team proceeds forward through the forest towards the lighthouse. They spot Sheppard’s shoe and Lena ventures deeper to try and find Sheppard. She returns when she finds Sheppard’s mangled body lying by a tree.

The team continues walking and finds an area outside a house with plant structures that are formed to look like human bodies. Radek theorizes that the Shimmer is scrambling the DNA of everything in there, which includes the plants, animals, and humans. They then set up camp in the house for the evening.

Later that night, Lena awakens to find Thorensen holding her gun in her face before she knocks Lena out. Lena wakes up to find herself tied to a chair, along with Radek and Ventress. Thorensen has Lena’s locket and realizes Kane is her husband. She has become paranoid and aggressive, and also suggests that Lena killed Sheppard. Just then, they hear what sounds like Sheppard crying for help. Thorensen runs to find her, but instead, the bear creature (which has a skull face) emerges and stalks the women. The noises it makes are Sheppard’s dying screams for help. Thorensen runs back in and tries to shoot the bear, but it attacks her before tearing her throat and jaw out. Radek breaks free and shoots the bear to death. Ventress covers Thorensen’s body.

The next day, Ventress goes off to find the lighthouse herself. Radek finds roots and leaves growing out of her arms at a rapid pace. She tells Lena that she realizes the Shimmer just refracted DNA and the signals on their equipment as opposed to simply distorting them. Radek walks away and disappears before Lena can find her (she has presumably mutated into a plant structure).

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Lena then comes across the lighthouse and the land surrounding it. There are large crystal trees and skeletal remains sprawled all over the sand. The lighthouse is covered in some kind of plant-like material. Lena enters and finds a charred skeleton sitting against the wall and a camera pointing at it. She watches the video and sees Kane sitting down as he holds a phosphorus grenade while talking to someone behind the camera. He is heard saying he has no idea if he really is Kane or who he was this whole time as his sense of reality appears to have been warped. He asks the person behind the camera to take care of Lena before he pulls the pin on the grenade and blows himself up. The person behind the camera walks into view and is revealed to be some kind of clone of Kane, the same one that made it back to Lena.

Lena goes further into the lighthouse and finds Ventress, whose face is twisting and contorting. She tells Lena that the Shimmer is of alien origin and that it is preparing for an annihilation. Ventress’s body then dissolves into a bright form of light that morphs and distorts itself. It pulls in some blood off a cut on Lena’s face before it creates a humanoid body for itself. It starts to mimic all of Lena’s movements. Lena strikes it and it hits Lena back. Lena attempts to run out, but the entity grabs her and continues to mimic her. She finds another phosphorus grenade and puts it in the entity’s hand. She takes the pin out and leaves as it blows up. The entity starts to transform into Lena as it is consumed by fire. It walks around until the rest of the lighthouse goes up in flames, which leads to the trees outside to collapse, and the rest of the Shimmer begins to disappear.

The film opens with a birthday party for Claire (Haley Lu Richardson). Her classmate Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) was invited out of pity, as Claire tells her father (Neal Huff) that Casey frequently gets into trouble with teachers and gets sent to detention. Casey calls for a ride home but is told the car broke down. She’s about to take the bus, but Claire’s dad insists that she go home with them.

The girls leave along with another friend, Marcia (Jessica Sula). Claire’s dad is approached by an unseen person. Moments later, the person, a man named Kevin (James McAvoy), gets into the car. Claire thinks he just got in the wrong car by mistake, but Kevin puts on a face mask and sprays the girls with some kind of toxin that knocks them out. Casey slowly attempts to open the door to get out, but Kevin gets her too.

Kevin brings the girls into a windowless room in an unknown location. He pulls Marcia out and takes her outside. After a brief moment, Marcia runs back into the room after she peed herself. She tells the others that Kevin wanted her to dance for him. Claire says they need to fight back together to get out. Casey is calm and says they need to find out what they are there for before they make any sort of move.

We see a flashback in which a 5-year-old Casey (here played by Izzie Leigh Coffey) is with her father (Sebastian Arcelus) and her Uncle John (Brad William Henke). They are both hunters, and they teach Casey how to hunt. Uncle John talks about hunting a deer but being distracted by the buck.

A therapist, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), is watching a news report on the three missing girls and how Claire’s father woke up to find the girls and his car gone. Karen then receives an email from someone named Barry, saying they need to speak, and it is urgent.

Barry is really one of Kevin’s multiple personalities. This “alter” is a sketch artist with a heavy Boston accent. He meets with Karen regularly in this persona.

The girls continue to try to find a way out. They look through a crack in the door and see what appears to be a woman talking to their captor. Claire and Marcia call to the woman for help. She approaches the door, but it is just Kevin wearing a skirt and high heels. This alter is known as Patricia, a polite British woman. Patricia assures the girls that their captor knows why they are there and that he is not allowed to touch them.

Karen is in a conference via Skype in which she discusses her patients, most of whom are suffering from DID (dissociative identity disorder), including Kevin. Karen talks about how some identities have capabilities that the other identities may not possess, as well as the way she can sense who has come to “the light” (which alter is in control). She adds that people with DID can change their body chemistry with their thoughts.

The girls meet another identity, Hedwig, who has the mannerisms of a 9-year-old boy. He claims that Patricia and Dennis (the persona that captured the girls) are mad at him and that he is in trouble. Casey talks to Hedwig in an attempt to get out of there by telling him that Patricia and Dennis are still mad at him and that he’s in trouble. Hedwig leaves, and the girls start looking for a way out through the walls. Claire finds a hollow spot in the ceiling and starts breaking off the plaster. Hedwig starts to come back, but Casey and Marcia hold the door back as Claire tries climbing out. Kevin reverts to Dennis as Claire starts crawling through the vents. She finds an exit and starts running for help. She hides in a locker, but her trembling breath is so loud that Dennis finds her. He orders Claire to take off her shirt because it’s dirty. He then locks her in a room by herself.

In another session with Karen, Kevin returns as Barry. Karen doesn’t believe she is really talking to Barry. She has noticed certain characteristics that Barry is displaying normally seen with other alters like Dennis, such as OCD. Barry insists that he’s gotten better. Karen mentions that Kevin has 23 distinct identities. Kevin then becomes Dennis as Karen mentions a 24th identity, “The Beast”, whom Dennis says is indeed real.

Patricia brings Casey and Marcia out for some food. Marcia is forced to remove her skirt and Casey takes off her flannel shirt. Patricia brings the girls into a dining room and starts to make another sandwich. He becomes upset when he accidentally cuts the sandwich crookedly, so he starts making another one. Marcia seizes the opportunity to take a chair and strike Patricia in the back with it. She runs out for help, and Casey tries to run too, but Patricia catches her and orders her to go to her room. Marcia is eventually caught as well and is locked in a room by herself.

Karen and her assistant Jai (M. Night Shyamalan) review security footage of outside the building. A trash bin is knocked over with garbage spilled everywhere. One couple walks around it, but Dennis walks right through it, which is something Karen believes is deliberate.

Hedwig talks to Casey playfully. He asks to kiss her, and she allows him to, though it is awkward. Hedwig mentions his music collection and how he likes to dance to some Kanye West. Casey asks him to show her his room and his music collection. He takes her there, and she mentions a window that’s next to his music. It’s just a drawing of a closed window over another drawing of an open window. Hedwig starts to realize that Casey is trying to escape. She becomes frightened and attempts to placate him. He pulls out a walkie-talkie, which Casey uses to start calling for help while fighting off Hedwig. Hedwig subdues Casey and takes the walkie-talkie back.

We see another flashback with Little Casey on a hunting trip. With her dad not around, Uncle John starts wanting to “play”. He strips down to his underwear and tells Casey to take off her clothes because “animals don’t wear clothes”. Later, John emerges from behind a rock and sees Casey holding a rifle at him. He manages to take it back from her so that she doesn’t pull the trigger.

Claire and Marcia attempt to escape using a wire to unlock the door from the outside Marcia’s room. They are unsuccessful.

Karen goes to Kevin’s home and is greeted by Dennis. He invites her inside and they continue to discuss The Beast, as well as “The Horde”, which is the name given for the major identities that control Kevin (Dennis, Barry, Patricia, and Hedwig). Karen then becomes genuinely terrified. She goes outside and finds Claire trapped in her room, but Dennis pulls Karen away before she can help.

Casey finds a laptop with videos on every one of Kevin’s identities. She sees one called Orwell, who discusses philosophy, and another named Jade, who is diabetic.

Dennis goes to an abandoned train car and starts to transform into The Beast. He is significantly taller and stronger than any other identity. He returns home and finds Karen writing something on a piece of paper. She grabs a small knife as he crawls on the wall and grabs her. Karen starts trying to stab him, but the knife breaks. The Beast then squeezes Karen until her spine snaps, killing her.

Casey gets out and tries to find the other girls. She finds Marcia dead with her stomach having been ripped open. Casey then finds Claire alive, but she gets dragged as The Beast starts attacking her. Casey finds the paper that Karen wrote on. It says, “Say his name - Kevin Wendell Crumb”. The Beast finds Casey, but she repeatedly shouts his name, making him revert to normal. We briefly see a flashback of Kevin’s mother yelling at him as a child by saying his full name and telling him he’s made a mess. Present Day Kevin has no memory of what he’s done as Casey tells him he killed Karen, Claire, and Marcia. He tells Casey there’s a gun in one of the cabinets, and that she must kill him. The major identities start to take control all at once. Casey runs as The Beast starts to come back.

Casey finds some shells and loads them into the gun. The Beast starts crawling up on the ceiling and starts taking out the lights, leaving Casey with no sight to shoot at him. The Beast attacks Casey, ripping her shirt and biting her leg, but she gets away. She closes herself in a cage and loads the gun with more shells. The Beast starts bending the bars to get in, but he then notices multiple scars on Casey’s body. Another flashback shows Little Casey after her father’s funeral, and John telling her he will be her new guardian. The Beast then proclaims that Casey is purehearted, and he leaves her alone.

Not long after, a man goes downstairs and finds Casey. He carries her outside to safety. She looks around on the outside and sees many animals in an enclosure. Medics arrive and take Casey in.

Kevin is somewhere by himself, with The Horde controlling him completely now. Patricia says that The Beast will protect them now.

In a prologue, business magnate Peter Weyland speaks with his newly activated android, who chooses the name “David” after observing a replica of Michelangelo’s statue of David. Weyland tells David that one day they will search for mankind’s creator together. David comments on his own unlimited lifespan compared to his creator’s limited one.

In 2104, 11 years after the ‘Prometheus’ expedition, the colonization ship ‘Covenant’ is bound for a remote planet, Origae-6, with a crew of 15, two thousand colonists in stasis and 1,140 human embryos aboard. The ship is monitored by Walter, a newer android model that physically resembles David. A stellar burst damages the ship, killing 47 colonists. Walter orders the ship’s computer to wake the crew, which includes several married couples. The ship’s captain, Jake Branson, is burned alive when his stasis pod malfunctions. While repairing the ship, the crew picks up a radio transmission from a nearby, habitable planet. Against the objections of Daniels (Branson’s widow), the new captain, Oram, decides to investigate.

As the Covenant remains in orbit, an expedition team descends to the earth-like planet’s surface and tracks the transmission’s signal to a crashed alien ship. Crew members Ledward and Hallett are infected by alien spores. Oram’s wife Karine helps the rapidly-sickening Ledward back to the lander where Maggie, the pilot, quarantines them both inside the med-bay. A small, pale, alien creature (neomorph) bursts from Ledward’s back, killing him, and then kills Karine. Maggie attempts to kill the creature with a shotgun, but triggers an explosion which kills her and destroys the lander. The neomorph escapes while a similar creature bursts from Hallett’s mouth.

The neomorphs attack the remaining crew members and kill one. The crew manages to kill a neomorph before David, who survived the ‘Prometheus’ mission, scares away the other, and leads the crew to a temple in a city full of humanoid (Engineer) corpses. David tells them that upon his and fellow ‘Prometheus’ survivor Elizabeth Shaw’s arrival at the planet, their ship released a black liquid bio-weapon which annihilated the native population and that Shaw died when the ship crashed in the ensuing chaos. After the crew members tell David of their mission, they attempt to contact the ‘Covenant’ but are prevented by fierce storms. The surviving neomorph infiltrates the structure and kills crew member Rosenthal. David tries to communicate with the creature, but is horrified when Oram kills it. Oram questions David who reveals that the aliens are a result of his experimenting, with the black liquid (formed from the blood of the first Deacon) and a facehugger egg found in the Engineer city, in an attempt to create a new species even more superior to himself, just as he believes himself superior to the humans that created him, and the humans to be superior to the Engineers. He manipulates Oram into being attacked by an alien facehugger. An alien creature (xenomorph) later erupts from Oram’s chest, killing him.

As the others search for Oram and Rosenthal, Walter, who has found Shaw’s dissected corpse, confronts David. David explains that he believes humans are a inferior species and should not be allowed to colonize the galaxy. When Walter disagrees, David disables him, and threatens Daniels. Walter recovers (being a superior model capable of self-repair) and confronts David while Daniels escapes as they fight. A facehugger attacks security chief Lope, but he is later rescued by crew member Cole. The now fully grown Xenomorph appears and kills Cole, while Lope escapes and meets up with Daniels. Pilot Tennessee arrives in another lander to extract Daniels, Lope, and Walter, who claims David has “expired”. After an encounter outside the ship, they kill the Xenomorph and return to the ‘Covenant’.

The next morning, Daniels and Tennessee find out that another Xenomorph burst from Lope’s chest, killing him, and is loose on the Covenant. It matures, and kills crew members Ricks and his wife Upworth. Tennessee and Daniels lure the creature into the Covenant’s terraforming bay and flush it into space.

From a slave coffle, a brief flashback to Evil Dead II (1987) (which itself starts with a recap of The Evil Dead (1981)) explains the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and how Ash got to where he is after he and his girlfriend and S-Mart co-worker, Linda (Bridget Fonda), traveled to a cabin in the woods where Linda was possessed and killed by the book’s evil and showing the spell that sent Ash through a dimensional portal.

Ash (Bruce Campbell) lands in Medieval England in the 13th Century, where he is immediately captured by Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) and his men, who suspect him to be an agent for Duke Henry, with whom Arthur is at war. He is enslaved along with the captured Duke Henry The Red (Richard Grove), his gun and chainsaw confiscated, and is taken to a castle. Ash is thrown in a pit where he regains his chainsaw from Arthur’s Wise Man (Ian Abercrombie) in mid-air, decapitates a female Deadite and lops the hand off another, before escaping the pit. He decks Arthur using the “your shoelace is untied” gag. Ash demands that Henry and his men be set free (since Henry was sympathetic to him) and they ride off. He uses the shotgun to blow the end off of Arthur’s sword, and to blow a large Deadite back into the pit. Ash is celebrated as a hero, and also grows attracted to Sheila (Embeth Davidtz), the sister of one of Arthur’s fallen knights. Sheila at first despises Ash, believing him to be one of the men who killed her husband in battle but eventually she becomes attracted to our hero.

According to the Wise Man, the only way Ash can return to his time is to retrieve the Necronomicon. After bidding goodbye to Sheila, Ash starts his search for the book, which is located in a cemetery not far away. Entering a haunted forest, an unseen force pursues Ash through the woods. Fleeing, Ash ducks into a windmill where he crashes into a mirror. The small reflections of Ash climb out from the shards of the mirror and torment him. One of the reflections dives down Ash’s throat and uses his body to become a life-sized copy of Ash, after which Ash kills him and buries him.

When he arrives at the Necronomicon’s location, he finds three books instead of one. Two of the books are cursed and after determining which is the real one, Ash attempts to say the magic phrase that will allow him to remove the book safely “Klaatu varada nikto”. (A variation of a the famous line from the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)). However, forgetting the last word, he tries to trick the book by mumbling the missing word. He then grabs the book from the cradle, and rushes back to the castle, while the dead rise from graves all around. During Ash’s panicked ride back, Ash’s evil copy rises from his grave and unites the Deadites into the Army of Darkness.

Despite causing the predicament faced by the Medieval soldiers, Ash initially demands to be returned to his own time. However, Sheila is captured by a Flying Deadite (Nadine Grycan), and then transformed into a Deadite. Ash becomes determined to lead the humans against the skeletal Deadite army. Reluctantly, the people agree to join Ash. Using scientific knowledge from textbooks in the trunk of his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, and enlisting the help of Duke Henry, Ash successfully trains and leads the Medieval soldiers to defeat his Deadite clone, Evil Ash, and his undead army, and save Sheila. Victorious, he is sent back to his own time using a potion made from the Necronomicon.

Set in 1984, Jack Gladney, is a professor of “Hitler studies” (a field he founded) at the College-on-the-Hill. Despite his specialism, he speaks no German and is secretly taking basic lessons to prepare for a speech he is due to give at a conference. Jack is married to Babette, his fourth wife. Together, they raise a blended family with four children; Heinrich and Steffie from two of Jack’s previous marriages, Denise from Babette’s previous marriage, and Wilder, a child they conceived together. Denise spies on Babette, finding her secret prescription stash of Dylar, a mysterious drug not in the usual records. Jack experiences a dream of a mysterious man trying to kill him, alluding to an earlier conversation with Babette about their fear of death. Jack’s colleague, Murray Siskind, a professor of American culture, wishes to develop a similar niche field, “Elvis studies”, and convinces Jack to help him. Both briefly compete with each other as competition between their courses arise.

Their life is disrupted, however, when a cataclysmic train accident casts a cloud of chemical waste over the town. This “Airborne Toxic Event” forces a massive evacuation, which leads to a major traffic jam on the highway. Jack drives to a gas station to refill his car, where he is inadvertently exposed to the cloud. The family and numerous others are forced into quarantine at a summer camp. Murray supplies Jack with a small palm-sized pistol, to protect himself against the more dangerous survivalists in the camp. One day, chaos ensues when families desperately try to escape the camp. The Gladneys are almost able to make it out, but end up with their car floating in the river. After nine days, the family is able to leave the camp. However, since Jack was briefly exposed to the chemical waste, his fear of death becomes exacerbated.

Later, everything has returned back to normal except for Babette, who has become pale and distant from Jack. Soon afterward, Jack begins having hallucinations of a mysterious man following him around. Denise shares her concerns regarding Dylar and Jack confronts Babette. She admits to having joined a shadowy clinical trial for a drug to treat death anxieties, and that she was accepted in exchange for sex with “Mr. Gray”. Intrigued by the idea, Jack asks Denise for the Dylar bottle, but she reveals she threw them away earlier. While digging through the garbage, Jack finds a newspaper ad for Dylar, prompting him to retrieve his pistol and get revenge on Mr. Gray. Jack tracks him down at a motel, where he discovers that Mr. Gray was the man in his hallucinations. Jack shoots him and puts the gun in his hand so as to make it look like suicide. Babette unexpectedly shows up and sees a still-alive Mr. Gray, who manages to shoot them both. Jack drives all three to a hospital run by German atheist nuns, where they heal and reconcile with each other.

Ura Valley, Bhutan, 1995 - Four friends - Greg (Evan Jonigkeit), Paul (Aaron Poole), Fiona (Jessica Matten), and Ruthie (Virginia Kull) - are hiking on a mountain to reach a spot they have been searching for a while. A text reading “DAY ONE” appears. After he blows into what looks like a flute instrument, Paul then seems to hear something calling to him. He walks until he falls down a crevice. Greg goes in to rescue him and finds Paul sitting down facing a bizarre-looking skeleton while muttering something to himself. The skeleton appears to move slightly, but Greg gets Paul out in time. The friends carry Paul out and spot a nearby house with nobody in it, so they stay there for now.

On Day Two, Paul’s condition doesn’t appear to get better, as he is just lying around in silence. Outside, Ruthie appears to see a figure in the ongoing snowstorm. As she steps back, the figure matches her footsteps before starting to charge toward her, but she runs back inside the house and shuts the door. When she hears pounding outside, she continues to block the door until she hears Greg and Fiona. Ruthie asks them if they heard or saw anyone outside, but they deny it. As Ruthie is sleeping later, it appears as though Paul is whispering something in her ear.

Day Three - Greg, Fiona, and Ruthie bring Paul with them as they continue their hike in the area. Ruthie appears dazed until she takes out a knife and stabs Greg and Fiona, throwing their bodies over the edge of the cliff before she throws herself off, leaving Paul by himself while he simply blows into the flute instrument.

Jump to Missouri in 2018 where former detective James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) is working in a security store. He frequently hears a voice saying “Where were you?” since it has been a year after his wife Allison (Tanya van Graan) and son Henry died in a car accident. He frequently looks out for teenager Amanda Quail (Sasha Frolova), as he is friends with her mother Nora (Marin Ireland). Amanda hasn’t had a good relationship with Nora since her father passed away, so she looks to James as an alternate figure.

Amanda soon appears to have run away, and Nora calls James for help. They find a message on her mirror written in blood, “The Empty Man made me do it.” After official detectives take on the case, James decides to do a little investigation of his own.

James visits the high school to find Amanda’s friend Devara Walsh (Samantha Logan). She sits in his car and tells her about a couple nights ago when she and Amanda, plus friends Brandon (Joel Courtney), Julianne (Marijke Bezhuidenhout), Meyer (Connor Dowds), Lisa (Jamie-Lee Money), and Duncan (Owen Teague), were walking across the nearby bridge where Amanda decided to summon The Empty Man, an urban legend that takes three days to appear. On the first day, those who summon him will hear him calling to them. On the second day, he makes his presence known to them. On the third day, he finds them. The teens all blew into a bottle as per tradition. Devara also remembers seeing Amanda whispering in Brandon’s ear similar to how Paul whispered to Ruthie. Devara thinks she sees The Empty Man in the woods before she leaves James’s car.

Later that night, James goes by the bridge to continue looking into Amanda’s disappearance. He finds the bottle that they were using and he blows into it. James then walks down a ladder that leads underneath the bridge where he comes across the hanged corpses of Brandon, Julianne, Meyer, Lisa, and Duncan. The same message from Amanda’s mirror is also written. Meanwhile, Devara enters a spa, and when it is foggy enough, The Empty Man attacks, stabbing her with a pair of scissors but making it look like she was stabbing herself. It is officially ruled as a suicide, but James finds the circumstances too unnatural to be believable.

It is now Day One for James. He looks further into the origin of The Empty Man. He reads into a cult called the Pontifix Institute that has beliefs originating from places like Bhutan, which would explain how the four friends came across Empty Man there. James goes to the Institute’s location, where leader Arthur Parsons (Stephen Root) speaks before a whole crowd. Afterwards, he talks to James and references Empty Man, referring to him as an entity that provides his followers with what they desire as long as they do his bidding.

Day Two - James starts following people associated with the Institute. He is led to a hospital where an older Paul is sitting in a vegetative state, but the people entering his room appear to be bowing and chanting something to him. The other detectives chastise James for getting involved in the case when he is retired. He later visits Nora, who is still worried about her daughter. James asks her if Amanda knew about the two of them apparently being together, but Nora says no.

James is led into the woods where he finds what looks like the entire cult hooded like Empty Man, stepping toward him closer and closer before they chase him. James runs to his car and escapes from the cult.

On Day Three, James finds Amanda, who is acting under the influence of the cult and Empty Man. She explains to James that an “empty man, with nothing to lose or gain is the perfect vessel to project Empty Man’s messages. She starts repeating”Where were you?” to James, as he is forced to relive the trauma that has been haunting him. On the night that Allison and Henry were killed, he was engaging in an affair with Nora. He has since blamed himself for not being there to have prevented it.

The film begins with Steven (Colin Farrell) performing open heart surgery. After surgery, he talks to his anesthesiologist, and they talk about watches.

Steven meets Martin (Barry Keoghan) at a diner. Steven seems to be some kind of mentor to Martin, and has bought Martin the watch that he was asking the anesthesiologist about. After meeting with Martin, Steven has dinner with his family. His long-haired son, Bob, asks if he can go to a party with his sister (Steven’s daughter), Kim. Steven says he can go if he cuts his hair. Steven’s wife, Anna (Nicole Kidman), says just to let him go. Steven mentions that he’s been spending time with a school mate of Kim’s, Martin, because Martin wants to be a cardiologist. That night, Steven and Anna engage in some weird sexual act where Anna poses on the bed for him and he starts masturbating before he gets up and starts kissing her. The next night, Anna and Steven go to a gala where Steven is speaking. There, Steven gives his speech, and then we find out he doesn’t drink when he is offered a cocktail.

Steven invites Martin over for dinner. At this point is you start getting a vibe from Martin that he’s actually really creepy and weird. We find out that Martin’s father was in a car accident and died ten years earlier so now it’s just him and his mom living together. Martin hangs out with Steven’s children in Kim’s room, and he asks them about themselves. We find out that Kim is in a choir. Kim and Martin go on a walk together, and she sings for him in front of a tree while he sits and watches. Kim and Martin begin to develop feelings for each other. Later, Steven is driving through the parking structure at the hospital and sees Martin following him. Martin asks Steven to come to dinner at his house. Steven obliges. While they’re eating dinner, Martin tells Steven that after dinner, he’d like for them all to watch his and his father’s favorite movie. So they do. It’s Groundhog Day. Martin says he’s tired so he gets up and leaves, leaving Steven alone with his mother (Alicia Silverstone). She mentions that she knows her late husband was a patient of his, and she remembers him from when she went to the hospital after the accident. She says Steven has beautiful hands and begins to kiss them and suck on his fingers and Steven gets up and leaves. A day or two later, Steven and Anna are at a BBQ at his anesthesiologist’s house, and Martin calls Steven. Martin is at the diner where they usually meet and wants Steven to come meet him, but Steven says he can’t.

The next day, Bob is running late for school. Steven goes in to tell him to get out of bed, and Bob says he can’t. He can’t stand up because he can’t feel his legs. He is taken to the hospital, and they run a full neurological examination on him before determining that nothing is wrong. He can walk again, and is walking out of the hospital with Anna when he collapses. He can’t feel his legs again. The next day, Martin is there to visit Bob in the hospital, and Bob doesn’t seem jazzed about it. Martin tells Steven to meet him in the hospital cafeteria. He tells him not to stand him up again. In the cafeteria, Martin tells Steven that because his father died on Steven’s operating table, he sees him as his dad’s killer. He says because Steven killed a member of his family, he’d now have to kill a member of his own family to balance it out. He tells Steven that if he doesn’t, his family will all die the same way. First, by losing the use of their legs. Second, by refusing to eat to the point of starvation. Third, they’ll start to bleed from their eyes. After that, it will be mere hours until they die. We see security escorting Martin out of the hospital after that. Steven goes to see Bob and asks him to eat some of his favorite donuts that Anna has brought for him. Sure enough, he refuses to eat.

Later, we see Kim at choir practice where she collapses during a rehearsal of Carol of the Bells. She ends up in the hospital in the same room as Bob. She too refuses to eat. The hospital continues to run tests on the two of them and determine that according to the tests, there’s nothing wrong with them. Steven tells Anna about what Martin told him. She asks him if he had been drinking the day that he operated on Martin’s father. He says it’s possible, but a death on an operating table is never the surgeon’s fault, it’s always due to a mistake by the anesthesiologist. Anna meets with the anesthesiologist, and he says he remembers Steven having two drinks the morning before operating on Martin’s father. He says when someone dies it’s never his fault, but the fault of the surgeon. And in return for giving this information, Anna gives him an explicit hand job inside her car. A day or two later, Anna is at the hospital with her children when Kim gets a phone call from Martin. The two have been seeing each other since they first met. He tells her to stand up and come to the window so she can see him in the parking lot. All of a sudden, she’s able to stand up, and she goes to the window but doesn’t see him. She starts going back to her bed, and her legs stop working again the second she hangs up the phone. A decision is made to have the children come home instead of having to stay in the hospital. Anna goes to see Martin. He tells her that he thinks Steven killed his dad and Anna asks why she and her children have to pay for Steven’s mistake. He doesn’t answer but says that ever since his dad died Steven has been flirting with his mother and that he thinks they would be perfect for each other.

Following the divorce of their parents, Micheal [Jason Patric] and Sam [Corey Haim] Emerson, along with their mother Lucy [Dianne Wiest], move to Santa Carla, California to live with their mother’s father, a peculiar old man [Barnard Hughes]. Known as the murder capital of the world, Santa Carla boasts a local boardwalk where a number of young people hang out. Most notable is a group of young men and their leader named David [Keifer Sutherland].

When the Emersons go out to the boardwalk for the first time, Lucy finds a video store run by a genial man named Max [Edward Herrmann]. They have a pleasant conversation, and Lucy is soon hired by him.

Sam finds a comic shop near the boardwalk, overseen by the Frog Brothers, Edgar [Corey Feldman] and Alan [Jamison Newlander]. The two give Sam a comic about vampires, which Sam reluctantly takes.

Meanwhile, Michael becomes enthralled by the mysterious and beautiful Star [Jami Gertz], who happens to be the girlfriend of David. David and his gang take Michael to their hideout, which is the remnants of an old hotel that collapsed during an earthquake. While there, Michael inadvertently drinks David’s blood, thinking it is wine. Michael starts to develop some side effects - including sensitivity to sounds, a lack of reflection, and even flying.

At one point, Michael almost attacks Sam, but is stopped by the family dog named Nanook. When Sam notices Michael’s faded reflection in a mirror and him being able to fly, he realizes his brothers a vampire, and in a panic calls their Mom, who is having dinner with Max.

Michael manages to calm Sam down, to the point that when their Mom arrives, Sam claims a comic book freaked him out. Needless to say, Lucy is upset at having her evening ruined.

After these events, Michael returns to David’s hideout, where he confronts Star. She admits that the bottle he drank from did contain David’s blood, and his suspicions are true.

The next day, Sam accompanies his Mom to Max’s place to drop off some wine. However, they are both terrified when Max’s dog Thorn attempts to attack Lucy!

Feeling the attack seemed similar to something in the comic he was given, Sam tells the Frog Brothers.

In regards to Michael, the brother claim Sam has to stake Michael to kill him, but Sam refuses, confident that his brother is only a half-vampire, and that he can be saved if the head-vampire is killed. After the way Thorn acted and not having seen Max in the daylight, Sam is convinced that Max is the head-vampire.

Lucy invites Max over to dinner a few days later. Michael leaves when Max arrives, but not before per Kax’s request, he invites him in. Sam has brought the Frog Brothers over for the dinner, and they attempt to expose him. However none of their plans work, and they conclude that Max is not the head-vampire.

Finally, Michael decides to take Star, along with a little half-vampire boy named Laddie Thompson [Chance Michael Corbitt], from David’s clutches and brings Sam and the Frog Brothers with him to kill David and his gang while Michael grabs Star and Laddie. The inexperienced Frog Brothers manage to kill one vampire before waking the bunch and flee into the daylight. David smiles as the group escapes saying “tonight”. Sam, Michael, and the Frog Brothers prepare for the night ahead. They prepare a bathtub full of garlic. They fill squirt guns with holy water. They prepare wooden stakes. Night falls and David and the remainder of his crowd come to Sam and Michael’s house to seek vengeance. Sam and Michael take out one of the vampires by electricity and the Frog Brothers are saved by Sam & Michael’s dog when the dog knocks a vampire into the bathtub with garlic. Finally, David and Michael face off. Michael kills David by pushing him onto some antlers. The only problem is that Michael doesn’t go back to being human, meaning David is not the head-vampire.

After escaping the “sole survivor” escape rooms set up by Minos, Zoey and Ben decide to confront the shadowy organization after finding coordinates to their New York City-based headquarters in Minos’s logo. Zoey is encouraged by her therapist to move on and take a plane in an attempt to get over her fear of flying but Zoey opts to drive with Ben. The pair find the headquarters derelict and are accosted by a vagrant who steals Zoey’s necklace. She and Ben give chase, being led into a subway train car and stuck inside. The train car separates from the rest of the train and is redirected to a remote station. The train seals Zoey, Ben, and other passengers Rachel, Brianna, Nathan, and Theo inside. Minos reveal themselves to be yet again pulling the strings and the train becomes electrified, becoming another escape room. Zoey and Ben learn that the others are survivors of previous Minos escape rooms.

The group realizes they have to collect subway tokens to escape the train as it rapidly gets more electrified. Theo is killed while the others manage to escape. As the group rest, Nathan reveals his escape room group were all priests while Brianna’s were all influencers. Rachel’s group consisted of people who cannot feel physical pain. The survivors enter the next room, a bank room with a slowly closing fault and a deadly laser security system. Deciphering a complex route to get around the lasers, Nathan suffers a crisis of faith and knocks himself unconscious, activating the lasers. The group manages to figure out the route and escape with Nathan. While in the room, Zoey is perplexed by frequent references to someone called Sonya and the fact the escape rooms don’t have any connection to the group.

The next room is a beach complete with a shack, lighthouse, and more references to Sonya. As the group starts to figure out puzzles, the beach is revealed to be covered in quicksand. Nathan sacrifices himself to save Rachel and is swallowed up by the sand. As Zoey figures out the room’s puzzle, she finds an alternate route out of the escape room just as Brianna unlocks the intended exit to the room. An argument between the group breaks out with Rachel and Ben siding with Zoey. Brianna escapes through the main exit while Rachel and Ben traverse the quicksand to the alternate route. Ben sinks beneath the quicksand and is seemingly killed.

Zoey and Rachel mourn the others and vow to take Minos down. They make their way out through a manhole into the city but they quickly realize they are still in the game when they encounter a panicked Brianna who tells them that acid rain is periodically being sprayed into the room. The group figure out the room’s puzzle and open a cab to escape in but once Zoey enters, the cab locks Rachel and Brianna out. Zoey falls into the next room while the acid rain kills Rachel and Brianna. The next room; a children’s bedroom contains a diary from Sonya revealing the rooms are based on a fun day out she had with her mother. Sonya’s mother is revealed to be Amanda who had actually survived her fall in the “sole survivor” game and was forced into making rooms for Minos after they abducted Sonya.

Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his elite commando team arrive in an unnamed Central American country. They meet a general, Phillips, whom Dutch has worked for in the past, and with a CIA agent, Dillon (Carl Weathers), whom Dutch also knows. Dillon tells Dutch that a high-ranking “cabinet minister” traveling by helicopter nearby has gone missing in the jungle, presumably shot down by a rebel guerrilla group operating in the area. Dutch’s team has been charged with going over the border and into rebel territory to rescue the man.

Dutch’s team are dropped at night into the jungle by helicopter and they hike toward the rebel camp. En route, they find the downed helicopter. Dutch’s tracker, Billy (Sonny Landham), is able to determine that the rebels indeed took the cabinet minister but another group of men also passed through, likely more American soldiers. Later, Billy senses something nearby and finds the bodies of three men who have been flayed and hung upside-down. In a pile of entrails, another of Dutch’s men, Mac (Bill Duke), finds a set of dog tags. Dutch recognizes the name on them; Jim Hopper, a Green Beret. Dutch is puzzled and looks to Dillon for information; Dillon says he knows nothing about another team.

The team arrives at the rebel camp undetected. Dutch and his team destroy the camp in an all-out assault and kill all the rebels. There are no hostages alive (Dutch sees a rebel execute one), however, Dutch finds a lone, terrified girl, Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). They take her along as a prisoner. Dutch realizes they have been set up and confronts Dillon. Dillon confirms that Dutch and his team were merely pawns to destroy the camp and its men. He also confirms that he lied about Hopper’s team; when they went missing, Dillon called in Dutch. With no choice, the team heads to the chopper rendezvous point. However, unknown to the team, they are being tracked by an unseen enemy that sees their body heat signatures.

The team moves into a thickly forested valley where they plan to meet their extraction helicopter. Anna hits Dillon with a tree limb and tries to escape the group and Hawkins (Shane Black) follows. When he catches her a distorted, human-like figure rushes out of the jungle and kills Hawkins. The woman is left behind, terrified, uninjured and covered in Hawkins’ blood. Dutch’s Hispanic crew member, Poncho (Richard Chaves), asks Anna what happened; all she can say is “the jungle came alive and took him.” Dutch orders the others to find Hawkins’ body, which is hanging from a tree nearby. They do not find him and while he scans the area, the team’s largest man, Blaine (Jesse Ventura), is hit twice by laser-like blasts of energy that blow out his chest. He falls dead and his friend, Mac, rushes to him. Mac sees a humanoid-like distortion that flashes green eyes. Mac opens fire with Blaine’s minigun, firing thousands of rounds into the jungle. The rest of the team rushes to the spot and also open fire. After checking the area in front of them, Poncho tells Dutch that they didn’t hit anything living. A close inspection of Blaine’s wounds shows no signs of shrapnel or gun powder burns. When asked what he saw, a terrified Mac is unable to identify the enemy. Only Anna finds any evidence; a green-glowing fluid on a large leaf, which she doesn’t tell anyone about.

In another part of the jungle, the distorted humanoid (Kevin Peter Hall) sits down on a tree branch. The distortion turns out to be a high-tech camouflaging device that can bend light, creating the illusion of invisibility. The enemy has been wounded in the thigh, dripping the same sort of fluid Anna had found; it is the creature’s blood. It uses a bizarre first-aid kit to dress its’ wound. When it removes the bullet, it lets out an inhuman howl of pain, a sound heard by Anna.

Dutch has the team make camp for the night. Blaine’s body is wrapped in his poncho. The perimeter is wired with flares and grenades. Mac is given first watch and reminisces about his dead friend. A noise alerts him and an dark shape falls on him. He stabs it repeatedly drawing the rest of the team to him. The enemy turns out to be a wild pig. In the aftermath, Billy informs everyone that Blaine’s body is gone.

Dutch determines that their unseen enemy is not only killing them one by one but also methodically hunting them. The team constructs a trap from jungle vines which form a net and an elaborate system of tripwires. While they wait for their stalker to set off the trap, Anna talks of a legendary demon that had stalked her village in times of extremely hot weather. She says that men were found skinned and missing body parts. Dutch and Dillon think that the trap won’t work without live bait so Dutch carefully walks out into the clearing among the tripwires. As he turns around, the trap goes off and something is tangled in the net. Laser blasts shoot from the net, hitting the trap’s anchoring tree trunk, which detaches and swings into Poncho, hitting him square in the chest and severely injuring him. Dillon sees the distortion of the stalker’s camouflage as it flees into the jungle. Mac instantly takes off after the creature over Dutch’s orders for him to return, seeking revenge for Blaine. Dutch, Poncho, Billy and Anna all leave to meet the chopper, while Dillon runs after Mac.

Dillon finds Mac a short distance away. Mac has found their enemy camped out in a tree stand. The two agree on a plan to approach it silently and kill it. While crawling through the underbrush, Mac notices a three-pointed laser pattern on his arm and is killed when he exposes his head to his enemy. Dillon finds him dead a few minutes later. Dillon is attacked by the stalker, who fires a laser blast that severs one of his arms. Dillon tries to defend himself but is impaled on a large double-bladed weapon.

Still moving toward the extraction site, the rest of the team cross a large tree trunk bridge. Billy, sensing the presence of the enemy, throws away his rifle and faces it alone, armed only with his machete. He is quickly killed, his scream is heard by the rest of the party. Dutch, Anna and Poncho stop, and Poncho is killed by a laser blast. Anna picks up a gun to shoot but Dutch kicks it away. Another laser blast hits Dutch’s rifle, blowing it in half. Dutch yells for Anna to run to the helicopter and he crawls away. Dutch ends up sliding down a hill that drops him off a cliff into a river. Dutch swims to the other side and is resting on the muddy bank when his pursuer splashes down behind him. Dutch, weaponless and covered in mud, helplessly waits for his enemy to kill him. The enemy surfaces and turns out to be a large, humanoid alien possessing advanced weaponry. The adaptive camouflage device that concealed it from Dutch and his team appears to be malfunctioning due to exposure to water and the creature switches it off. It spots a target in the brush and tracks it with a three-beamed laser scope and shoots at it, a small rodent, with a shoulder-mounted cannon. The alien does not, however, see Dutch, whose body heat is insulated by the mud on his skin. The creature stalks off.

Dutch mounts an offensive, choosing a strategic spot and sets a garroting trap with spikes. Dutch also builds a bow and several arrows with gunpowder from his spare grenades and fashions spears. He also covers himself in mud to further his advantage. Meanwhile, the creature rips the spinal column and skull from Billy’s corpse, cleaning it to make a trophy. We see the skulls of several other humans among its collection.

When he’s ready, Dutch lights a crude torch and sounds out a primitive yell, summoning the alien and dropping the torch onto a large bonfire he’d built. The alien arrives and crawls over the unseen Dutch. Dutch fires one of his explosive arrows at the creature, permanently disabling its invisibility device. However, Dutch rapidly runs out of weapons. The alien captures him in a pond. After a brief examination of his human opponent, the creature removes its helmet, revealing its face: deep set eyes, a bald head, deeply-set eyes, dreadlocks, and a fang-filled mouth with large mandibles. It engages Dutch hand-to-hand, a battle where the alien has the advantage of strength over Dutch. Dutch draws the creature into the spiked trap he’d set, yelling for it to come closer to kill him. The creature discovers the trap and walks around behind Dutch. As it moves in, Dutch notices it’s standing directly under the trap’s counterweight; Dutch kicks away the trigger and the counterweight plummets, crushing the alien. Dutch moves in to finish it off with a large rock but throws it away when he sees that the alien is already wounded fatally. Dutch asks “What the hell are you?” and the creature repeats the phrase. It opens a panel on its’ gauntlet and activates a timer, signaling Dutch to run. As he does, the creature laughs, imitating Billy. A small nuclear explosion goes off as Dutch leaps to cover.

The movie opens with a pair of middle-aged men walking through some kind of facility discussing mundane details about marriage and potential children, while a younger woman in a lab coat is trying to inform them about an incident at the Stockholm facility. The two men are not particularly concerned about what she is telling them. They mention that the facility in Japan will get the job done, and that their U.S. facility usually comes in second place. As they board a golf cart and drive off, the younger of the two men invites the older one to come over to his house for the upcoming weekend.

The scene shifts to a room in a college town where Dana (Kristen Connolly) and Jules (Anna Hutchison) are talking about school. Apparently, Dana had an affair with one of her professors and it ended badly. Jules’s boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth) walks in and throws a football at the girls. It flies out the window and Curt’s friend Holden (Jesse Williams), a fix-up for Dana, catches it down below. The guys are there to pick up the girls for a long weekend at a lakeside cabin that Curt’s cousin owns. Dana finishes packing and they all go downstairs to pack up the RV. They are about to leave when their friend Marty pulls up in his car smoking pot from a huge bong that converts into a travel mug.

We cut back to video screens in the previously seen facility where the two middle-aged men, Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whitford), are watching all of this happen. Apparently, they have been drugging the kids through various means (hair dye for Jules, Marty’s stash, etc.) but they don’t say why.

The group is close to the cabin when they stop for gas and directions. The attendant, Mordecai (Tim DeZarn), is old, unfriendly, and more than a little bit crazy. He tells them that they will have no problem getting to the cabin, it’s the getting back they should be worried about. The kids laugh at him, he becomes sarcastic and aggressive, and there’s almost a fight when he refers to Jules as a whore. Instead, everyone gets back into the RV and they drive away. They have to go through a u-shaped tunnel in the mountain to get to the cabin. As they pass through it, a bird tries to fly across the ravine and hits an invisible shield. It electrocutes the bird and it falls, presumably, to its death.

Meanwhile, back at the facility, the phone rings and Hadley answers. It’s Mordecai. He reports that the college kids are on their way to the cabin and tells them how the reveler almost messed it up for them and they should be careful. Then he gets mad because Hadley has put him on speakerphone; he hangs up while Hadley and Sitterson laugh.

They arrive at the cabin and unpack. It’s obvious that they are still being watched by cameras set up by the facility people. Holden is in his bedroom putting on his bathing suit when he notices an awful painting on the wall. He takes it down and underneath it there’s a window into the next room where Dana is staying. She starts to take off her clothes, unaware that the mirror in her room is revealing everything to Holden in the next room. Holden runs into Dana’s room and tells her what’s going on and they switch rooms. Now Dana can see Holden and she definitely likes what she sees.

All the people at the facility have gathered to place bets on what fate the people in the cabin will choose. Hadley really wants it to be the merman. A new agent called Truman (Brian White) is shocked by the way he sees the others behaving. A more seasoned agent, Lin (Amy Acker), tells him that she understands how he feels, but he shouldn’t judge the others for their seemingly flippant behavior. Truman, however, continues to question Hadley and Sitterson about the proceedings; Truman thinks it’s unfair, although they all seem to understand that what is going on is of the utmost importance.

At the cabin, everyone goes into the living room and starts drinking. Marty continues to smoke the pot he brought. They’re all getting pretty tanked and start to play Truth or Dare. Jules is dared to make out with a wolf head mounted on the wall. Then it’s Dana’s turn. She has just chosen dare when the door to the basement flies open, startling them all. They dare her to go down into the basement. She does and the rest of them follow. There is a ton of really strange stuff down there. Dana picks up a diary. Curt chooses a puzzle ball and tries to open it. Jules likes a wedding dress and starts to put on the necklace that goes with it. Marty is looking at a conch shell and Holden is mesmerized by a child’s jewelry box that opens to reveal a dancing ballerina when, all of a sudden…

…the people at the facility are quiet and on the edge of their seats…

…Dana says “Hey guys! Listen to this.” Everyone else puts down what they were looking at and walks over to her. The diary belonged to a young girl who was brutally beaten by her father. There is something about how they will all return once someone reads some Latin words at the end of the diary. Marty says they shouldn’t read it. He hears a voice tell Dana to read it. No one else seems to hear it. Against the advice of Marty, Dana reads the Latin and somewhere outside, the family from the diary returns from their graves all zombie-fied.

At the facility, it turns out that maintenance and the new intern have won the pool with their selection of Redneck Zombies. Hadley is really bummed he won’t get to see a merman.

At the cabin, the kids go back to the living room. Jules and Curt are acting out of character. Jules is dancing very suggestively in front of the fire, Curt is being aggressive and insulting about his girlfriend. Marty notices this but his concerns are brushed off by the others. Curt and Jules decide to go for a walk. Thanks to some pheromone fog, they start to have sex in the woods but they are stopped by the zombies. Jules is stabbed in the hand but Curt saves her. He is stabbed in the shoulder but survives. Jules is recaptured and beheaded while Curt watches. He gets away and runs back to the cabin.

As Jules dies, Hadley and Sitterson recite what seems to be a prayer. Hadley pulls a lever and blood runs into a grooved stone tablet that contains the outline of a female figure: the whore. The ground starts to shake.

Marty hears a voice in his head and goes outside to see Curt running towards him, fighting off a zombie. They both run inside and lock the door. Curt tells everyone that Jules is dead. They decide to barricade the house and stick together. Courtesy of the facility, a voice tells them to split up but only Marty consciously hears it. He begs the others not to split up but no one listens and Dana, Holden and Marty each go into their own rooms. The doors promptly lock behind them.

No one at the facility can figure out why their tricks aren’t working on Marty. He’s not following the plan and he can hear the voices. They’re worried he’s going to ruin everything. In Marty’s room, he gets startled and breaks a lamp. He picks it up and finds a camera. This is proving everything he’s been saying about this place. He’s about to investigate further when a zombie comes through the window and pulls him outside. They struggle. Marty is stabbed in the back and dragged out of sight. Bad noises follow. Poor Marty.

People at the facility are relieved that Marty won’t be ruining their plan. However, they’re still investigating to see why their drugs didn’t work on him. They determine that when they were lacing his pot with their drugs, they missed one of his stashes and what he was smoking was making him immune to their tricks. Blood runs into the outline of the reveler. The ground shakes.

A zombie tries to break through Dana’s window. Hearing this in the next room, Holden breaks the glass between their rooms and pulls her into his. They find a door in the floor that leads to another room in the basement. It appears that this is the room where the father beat and tortured the girl from the diary. They try to find a way out but the door won’t open. Just then, one of the zombies finds them and stabs Holden in the back. Dana stabs the zombie repeatedly just as Curt opens the door from the other side.

The three of them get in the RV. The door closes and a bloody hand print is seen on the outside of it.

As they head toward the tunnel, Hadley realizes that the demolition crew never set off the explosion that causes the tunnel to cave in and block their exit. As the trio frantically tries to get away, Hadley and Sitterson are just as frantically trying to correct this oversight.

The RV makes it halfway through the tunnel when it starts to cave in. They reverse back the way they came and make it out just in time. Curt has a dirt bike in the back of the RV and he decides to jump the ravine and go get help. Like the bird, he hits the invisible barrier and dies. (Blood runs into the outline of the jock.)

Dana and Holden see what happened to Curt and realize that Marty was right all along. They head back towards the cabin trying to figure a way out. Holden is stabbed through the head (blood fills the outline of the scholar) and the RV crashes into the lake. Turns out there was a zombie in the RV. Dana fights off the zombie, gets out through the overhead hatch, and swims to the surface. She makes it onto the pier when the zombie comes up from the water and starts beating the crap out of her.

Back at the facility, they are celebrating a successful night. Evidently, the “virgin” doesn’t have to die for the plan to be successful. This is extremely important since all of the other sites (Japan, Germany, etc.) have failed to complete the ritual. They open a bottle of champagne and start drinking. The red phone rings. Hadley answers. A tense conversation follows. Apparently, the rules weren’t followed. One of the others is still alive. If Dana dies first, they will lose.

Dana is still getting the crap kicked out of her by the zombie dad. Marty comes out of nowhere and beats the zombie with his giant bong until he falls into the water. He grabs Dana and they run into the woods. The zombies are after them. He jumps into one of the graves the zombies came out of and starts digging. Dana can’t figure out what’s going on. Suddenly, Marty opens a door and they fall into a room right before the zombies grab them.

Marty tells Dana that this was all set up. He’s discovered an access panel and started playing with the wires inside; this is why the tunnel never exploded when it was supposed to. Marty shows Dana an elevator and deduces that someone sent the zombies to attack them. She’s not sure about getting in the elevator, but they don’t have any other options. Through the glass window of their elevator, Dana and Marty can see many other elevators that contain supernatural creatures connected to the strange items in the basement of the cabin. The Sugar Plum Fairy, the Puzzle Ball, the doll faces, the killer bride, etc.. Dana recognizes the connection and deduces that the group “chose” the means of their own deaths, meaning the zombies.

Meanwhile, the observers are in an uproar because Dana and Marty have penetrated their facility. They make plans to kill Marty in order to preserve the intended order of sacrificial deaths. Pinpointing the elevator number, an armed guard is sent to them and instructed to kill both of them, Marty first, but he fails when a zombie corpse in the elevator distracts him. Dana and Marty kill him and move out into the hallway. A female voice speaks to them over a PA system, sympathizing with them for their predicament, but insisting that Dana and Marty must die. More armed guards show up and start firing on them, and they run into what looks like a control room and hide. Dana realizes that there is a control panel that monitors access to the elevators containing the monsters. As they are being attacked by soldiers with machine guns and other artillery, they randomly start to push buttons; Dana finds a large one that says “PURGE SYSTEM,” and suddenly alarms start going off all over the facility. The guards all pause in terror, then all of the elevators open while monster after monster emerges. The soldiers are massacred and the monsters get into all areas of the facility, slaughtering the workers. Marty and Dana are cornered by monsters, but they climb through a hole where one of the walls was smashed in during the carnage.

In the facility’s control room, Hadley, Lin, and Truman are killed by monsters. Hadley finally gets to see his merman right before it kills him. Sitterson manages to activate an escape hatch and emerges into a stone hallway, but he is fatally stabbed by Dana; this is where Dana and Marty have ended up as well. Before Sitterson dies, he tells Dana, “Kill him.” Dana is afraid to go on, but Marty gives her a gun he took from a dead guard.

Marty and Dana end up in the room with all the character outlines. Dana realizes that there are five stone tablets, one for each of them–Dana, Marty, Holden, Curt, and Jules. Everything that’s happened to them has been part of a ritual sacrifice. The Director (Sigourney Weaver) appears; they recognize her voice as the one that spoke to them over the PA system. She explains about the facility and their purpose. She says the ritual is older than anything known to man; even she and her peers aren’t sure of everything, but the ritual is conducted worldwide in order to appease “the Dark Gods” who once ruled the Earth. She says the monsters they’ve seen are nothing compared to them, and both Dana and Marty realize they are standing over a pit that leads to where the old Gods are sleeping.

The Director explains that the ritual is meant to keep them dormant, and must follow specific rules. There are five sacrificial victims. The whore (Jules) dies first, and after that, four more archetypes: the scholar, the athlete, the fool (a.k.a the reveler), and the virgin. The order of their deaths doesn’t matter as long as the whore is first to die and the virgin is the last one alive. The Director says it is up to the Gods whether the virgin (Dana) lives.

If the sacrifice is not completed, the old Gods will come to the surface and destroy mankind. The Director says Marty must die to save the world. Marty says that if a bloodthirsty ritual is required to save mankind, then maybe mankind isn’t worth saving. Marty is hurt when Dana raises the gun to kill him; she is conflicted, but she doesn’t want the world to end. Without warning, Dana is attacked by a werewolf, which proceeds to viciously maul her. When she drops the gun, Marty picks it up and fires on the werewolf, and it runs off, wounded. The Director tries to kill Marty, but the zombie girl from the diary appears and kills the Director instead. Marty kicks them both into the pit with the Gods. Dana and Marty make up and smoke a joint while they contemplate the end of the world. The ground shakes and starts to crack open.

Trapped in an abusive relationship with her fiendish and violent husband, an optics scientist named Adrian Griffin, Cecilia Kass escapes from him in the dead of night with the help of her sister Emily. Cecilia has drugged Adrian with Diazepam but as she escapes, Cecilia frees their dog which sets off the car’s alarm and wakes up a furious Adrian who pursues her. As she escapes with Emily, Cecilia leaves the drug bottle behind which Adrian finds lying in the road.

Two weeks later, Cecilia lives in hiding at the household of her best friend James Lanier and his teenage daughter Sydney. Remaining a recluse who is afraid of leaving the house, Cecilia freaks out when Emily comes to visit, believing Adrian will try to harm her. However Emily shares the news that Adrian committed suicide. His brother Tom bequeaths to Cecilia his late brother’s fortune and estate which Cecilia only accepts to fund Sydney’s college tuition and James’ household. However, Cecilia is filled with an uneasy feeling that she is being watched and, in the night, is stalked by an unseen force which only she recognizes. In the middle of the night, while asleep next to Sydney, the comforter is slowly pulled off and several flashes of light are seen. Cecilia wakes up and is suspicious about the blankets at the foot of the bed. When she tries to take them back, they won’t move. Her reaction wakes up both Sydney and James but she’s unable to explain what she thinks she’d seen.

Cecilia goes to a job interview for an architect’s position. When she opens her portfolio to show her work, Cecilia finds it gone and faints. After going to the hospital, Cecilia discovers that she was drugged. Upon returning home she receives a call from the doctor telling her she had enough Diazepam in her system to constitute a mild overdose that caused her fainting spell. She suddenly finds the bottle of Diazepam Adrian had uncovered. Feeling unsafe, Cecilia visits Emily who is angry and despondent to her, having received a hateful email from Cecilia’s account. Cecilia looks on her email, discovers the sent message and has an emotional breakdown. Sydney tries to cheer her up but is assaulted by an unseen force, causing Sydney to freak out and believe Cecilia did it. James then decides to take Sydney out of the house to a safer place. Meanwhile, Cecilia investigates the house and finds her work in the attic crawl space as well as a large kitchen knife of James’ and several photos of her asleep which have been taken by an unseen stalker.

Realizing she is not alone, Cecilia dumps a bucket of paint on the ladder when she senses movement and uncovers a man’s shape wearing some kind of suit. The man flees and washes off the paint before Cecilia exits the attic. The two fight until Cecilia breaks free from his grasp and escapes the house, getting into a Lyft car she has called. Cecilia has the driver bring her to Adrian’s. Upon entering her husband’s house and sneaking into his laboratory, Cecilia discovers a high-tech suit he was working on that could make him invisible. Cecilia takes this suit and hides it but is attacked by the Invisible Man until her dog returns and intervenes, buying her time to escape.

Cecilia sets up a meeting with Emily at a restaurant and apologizes while also explaining that she loves her. Emily’s skepticism starts to melt as they begin to bond and Cecilia explains that she found an invisible suit at Adrian’s lab. Suddenly, a large knife is dragged across Emily’s throat killing her. The knife is placed in Cecilia’s hand, who is then arrested and moved to a sanitarium. Now doubting her own sanity and finding out she is pregnant with Adrian’s child, Cecilia gives in but is then confronted by Tom who explains he was working with his brother the whole time. Tom says that she will lose the fortune and be admitted permanently to this institution unless she returns to Adrian with his child. Cecilia refuses, still enraged that he killed her sister. Tom leaves but not before Cecilia steals one of his pens.

In her room, Cecilia prepares to kill herself by slashing her wrist with the pen but the invisible man stops her. Having pulled him out of hiding by using herself as bait, Cecilia stabs him with the pen twice, causing his suit to glitch and for him to appear and disappear at random. A security guard enters to stop her but is stunned by the glitching figure who beats him down. Cecilia rushes out into the hall and is stopped by several security guards who also see the glitching figure. The Invisible Man easily overpowers them before escaping into the stormy night. Cecilia tracks him down but he overpowers her and tells her that he will now set his sights on Sydney.

Cecilia warns James of the danger and he rushes home to see an unseen figure attacking his daughter. James tries to intervene but is beaten horribly in front of a terrified Sydney. Cecilia breaks in and sprays the figure with a fire extinguisher, revealing his shape before unloading on him with a fallen officer’s pistol. The Invisible Man falls to the floor and dies of his wounds. Cecilia unmasks The Invisible Man, revealing him to be Tom. Adrian is found tied and walled up in his house when a SWAT team storms his place. James explains that the evidence suggests that Tom used his brother to get at Cecilia but she is still convinced that Adrian and Tom were working together and that in case the worst happened, Adrian set it up that Tom would take the fall.

Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) attend Windsor College in Ohio. While attending the preview of Stab, based on a book by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) about the Woodsboro murders, Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) is stabbed through the wall of a bathroom cubicle. The killer sits next to Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett), and she assumes the killer is her boyfriend wearing a mask. During the Casey Becker death scene the crowd goes wild. Taking advantage of this, the killer stabs Maureen. Since many of the movie-goers are wearing the killer’s costume (as publicity material provided by the movie studio) and carrying fake knives, nobody takes Maureen’s attack seriously. As the crowd realizes she’s not faking, she dies. Sidney and other Woodsboro survivor Randy Meeks soon realize that a killer is on the loose again. Meanwhile, Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) arrives on the campus to once again protect Sidney, and she and Dewey have an unwelcome reunion with Gale Weathers.

The killer attempts to stab Sidney while setting up a copycat ploy. Alone in her sorority house, Casey “Cici” Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is threatened over the phone before the killer attacks her. After the police discover the body, the students at the nearby martini mixer go to investigate, leaving Sidney and her boyfriend Derek at the Delta Lambda Zeta house. The killer attacks Sidney, but Derek helps her escape.

At the police station, Gale and Dewey notice that the names of the victims seem to loosely match the victims from The Woodsboro Murders. The police chief assigns two detectives to protect Sidney. The group is outside amongst dozens of college students when the killer telephones and taunts them. Gale and Dewey search the students in the area who have cell phones, trying to discover the killer. Randy is also looking around while talking to the killer on the phone, hoping to stall them. While he is outside a van, Randy is pulled inside and killed. His body is discovered by Gale and Dewey.

Gale and Dewey visit a lecture room to watch the video footage they have been taking, to perhaps gain a glimpse of the killer. Gale then notices another TV screen playing footage that her cameraman had not taken. The perspective of the video is that of the Killer; showing clips of Cici in the porch and Randy in the park. Finally, it shows the backs of Dewey and Gale as they watch the video. They turn around and notice Ghostface in the projector room and Dewey gives chase. Gale is then cornered in the sound-system room, but manages to hide in the recording compartment. Dewey enters and attempts to get Gale’s attention through the soundproof glass, however he is stabbed a couple of times and Gale notices in horror as he slides down the glass, with Ghostface standing behind him. Gale then manages to bar the door from the killer with a fallen shelf and the killer disappears.

The detectives protecting Sidney are attacked while their vehicle is stopped at a traffic light. The killer crashes the car, killing the detectives and knocking the killer unconscious. Sidney and her roommate, Hallie, narrowly escape the wreckage of the car by squeezing past the unconscious killer in the front seat. Sidney decides to remove the killer’s mask, but finds the killer gone. She turns around only to see Hallie being stabbed.

Sidney runs to the school theater and is confronted by the killer. The killer reveals himself to be Mickey, her new boyfriend’s best friend. Sidney finds Derek tied to a stage prop, and Mickey shoots Derek in the chest. Mickey also has a partner: Sidney turns around to see Gale coming out of the stage door, leading her to believe that Gale is the killer. Gale shakes her head “no” and Debbie Salt comes out, holding the other cop’s gun. Sidney recognizes her as Mrs. Loomis, the mother of Sidney’s previous boyfriend Billy. Mickey reveals that it was his plan to be caught for the murders so that he would become famous, immortalized by the media. He wanted to blame the killings on horror movies; the “effects of cinema violence in society.” He met Mrs. Loomis on a “psycho website” and she agreed to fund his college tuition in return for his part in the killings. She also helped Mickey place calls to the victims. Mrs. Loomis’ motive for killing Sidney and her friends was revenge for Sidney killing her son. Sidney points out that if Mrs. Loomis had not abandoned Billy then he and Stu Macher would not have started their killing spree. Mrs. Loomis shoots Mickey, removing him as a potential threat and stating that his legal defense was absurd.

Tori and Kyle Breyer dream of starting a family, but struggle with fertility. Their wish appears to come true when a spaceship crashes in the woods and the couple discovers a mysterious baby boy whom they name Brandon. As he nears puberty, Brandon appears to be everything Tori and Kyle have ever wanted as he grows to be incredibly smart and helps around the farm, though has never bled and the couple had explained to him that he was adopted out of an agency.

However, as he turns 12 years old, he starts to reach puberty and begins to change. He constantly talks in an alien language and goes to the barn where his spaceship is locked in a storage. While trying to mow the lawn, Brandon discovers his indestructible strength. On his birthday at the local diner, Brandon receives a rifle as a birthday gift from his uncle Noah, only for Kyle to refuse to let him have it. Brandon tells Kyle off and has an outburst, causing the family to leave. He is later shown to have urges for a girl in his class named Caitlyn and sneaks into her room while the family is camping. During gym class when Caitlyn intentionally has Brandon hit the ground during an exercise and publicly calls him a “pervert”, he crushes her hand. He receives a two-day suspension, but Caitlyn’s mother and diner waitress Erica wants him arrested.

When he walks to the barn’s storage again, he breaks the lock chain and discovers the spaceship calling to him and hovers above it. Tori gets him to stop only to be cut on his hand when he falls and Tori explains how he was found. Brandon is upset by their lie, storms out of the barn, and tears apart the family photos, declaring his hatred for his adopted parents. He later goes to see Caitlyn in her bedroom and explains to her that he has discovered that he is “special” and plans to show the world that. He leaves behind a flower on her laptop and goes to the diner in a mask where he pierces Erica’s eye with a piece of glass, laser beams his way into the freezer, and kills her off-screen. The police led by Chief Deputy Deever are investigating Erica’s disappearance at the diner and Deever discovers a strange symbol on the glass windows. Brandon then sneaks into Noah’s closet with the mask and tries to take him home, only to disappear and reappear to telekinetic push Noah to his house. Brandon disappears again and Noah drives away in his truck in fear. He is stopped by Brandon and uses telekinetic powers to lift and drop the truck with Noah in it to the ground, causing Noah to have his jaw torn off from his face when smashing onto the wheel. As he dies, Brandon uses Noah’s blood to make the same symbol from the diner windows.

Tori and Kyle become incredibly scared and concerned for Brandon. After pushing Kyle to the wall for confronting him and figuring out he might be behind the recent events, he and Tori decide to have Kyle shoot him in the woods in the guise of a hunting trip. When the two leave, Deever arrives to the Breyer house and asks Tori about the symbols used after Erica and Noah’s death, only for Tori to ask him to leave. Tori rushes to Brandon’s room and discovers his journal filled with these symbols as well as drawings of his murderous actions to Erica and Noah. In the woods, Kyle quietly prepares the same rifle Noah gave Brandon for his birthday and shoots him in the head. Brandon is unharmed and turns around to Kyle and disappear. Kyle runs only for Brandon to catch him and laser through his head. When Tori tries to call Kyle, she hears Brandon on his phone and tells her that Kyle is gone and he is home. Tori calls 9-1-1 and Brandon tears apart the house. Deever arrives with his partner in shock. Both officers are killed in the house and Tori runs to the barn. She enters the storage and discovers Erica’s dissected body with the symbols drawn around her. When Tori finds Brandon, she tells him that he is a blessing and regardless of his actions, she knows there’s good in him. However, when Tori tearfully hugs him, she attempts to stab him with a shard from the spaceship and is caught. After attempting to apologize to him, Brandon flies up into the sky carrying Tori and after a short glare, he drops Tori to her death. Right after, a passenger jet hits Brandon.

“People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can’t rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.”

October 30, Devil’s Night, in Detroit. Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) is at the scene of a crime where Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas) has been beaten and raped and her fiancé, local musician and guitarist Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), has been murdered, having been stabbed, shot, and thrown out of their apartment window to the streets below. The couple had been planning their wedding for the next day; Halloween. A cop comments darkly, “Who gets married on Halloween?” Albrecht responds, “Nobody.”

As he prepares to leave for the hospital with Shelly, Albrecht meets a young girl with a skateboard named Sarah (Rochelle Davis) who says she is a friend of Eric and Shelly and that they took care of her. Albrecht tells her that Shelly probably won’t survive.

One year later, a crow flies over the dark and rainy landscape of Detroit and lands on the headstone of Eric Draven. It taps at the stone with its beak, awakening Eric from the grave. He climbs out of the ground, trembling and wracked with convulsions. With some confusion, he stands and walks with the crow to his abandoned apartment, finding it in shambles. Memories of the night of his death come back to him as the gang responsible runs through the city, setting fire to it. The faces of the attackers stick in his mind and overcome with grief, he grabs the frame of a broken tympanum window, the glass cutting deep into his palms. To his astonishment, the blood from the wounds flows back into his skin and the wounds heal themselves. Bent on vengeance, he changes his clothes and paints his face white in parody of a porcelain harlequin mask he had given Shelly as a gift. He then draws black liner around his eyes and down his cheeks like tears and paints his lips black with Glasgow lines reaching out from the corners. Guided by the crow and sharing the crow’s high perspective on the city, Eric sets out to avenge his and Shelly’s murders.

The first person he locates is Tin Tin (Laurence Mason), a thug obsessed with knives. Eric engages in hand-to-hand combat. He wins the fight by catching a knife and pinning Tin Tin to the wall with it. Eric confronts him about the murders the previous year and Tin Tin laughs in his face, mocking Shelly. Eric finishes him off by stabbing him in each vital organ (“in alphabetical order”) with his own knives and takes his trench coat, leaving a crow-shaped bloodstain on the wall of the alley. Using Tin Tin’s memories, he goes to the pawn shop where Tin Tin sold Shelly’s engagement ring. Eric forces the owner, Gideon (Jon Polito), to show him where the ring is located and finds it mixed in a box with dozens of other rings. He lets Gideon live so that he can deliver a message of death to the rest of the gang before he douses the counters in gasoline, loads a shotgun with other rings of destroyed lives, and fires, igniting the shop in a massive explosion. Gideon escapes alive but badly burned.

Eric locates the next thug on his list, Funboy (Michael Massee), getting high in an apartment with Sarah’s drug-addicted mother, Darla (Anna Thomson). Funboy shoots Eric in his hand and Eric mocks him by pretending to scream in pain before showing the hole in his palm heal before his eyes. Frightened, Funboy is easily disarmed by Eric and is shot in the thigh before being injected with an overdose of morphine. Eric then confronts Darla but merely says that morphine is bad for her, forcing the drug out of her arm seemingly by magic, and tells her that she should return to her daughter who is surviving alone on the streets.

Albrecht, meanwhile, has been following the deaths of the thugs around town. He doesn’t share the rest of the department’s view on the killings, thinking of them as more of a blessing than a curse. He even goes so far as to rescue Eric as he flees from choppers after his latest killing, though Eric is quick to disappear afterwards. Upon meeting again later on, Eric explains what he’s doing and offers his best reason as to why he’s come back. Albrecht tells him what he knows of Shelly’s death and reveals that he stayed with her as she suffered through thirty hours of agony before dying. Eric touches Albrecht and receives from him all the pain felt by Shelly during that time.

Gideon goes to Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the leader of all gangs in Detroit, and warns him about Eric. Top Dollar responds by stabbing Gideon through the throat with a sword, sinking it to the hilt, as his lover/half sister/soothsayer, Myca (Bai Ling), looks on with glee. Around the same time, two of Top Dollar’s thugs, T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly) and Skank (Angel David) stop by with the news about Tin-Tin’s murder. Top Dollar shows only virtually no concern for Tin-Tin’s demise and snorts cocaine from a large pile.

T-Bird and Skank stop at a convenience store for supplies. Eric sneaks into the T-Bird’s classic Ford Thunderbird and kidnaps him while Skank is in the store. Eric forces T-Bird to drive at high speed through the streets. Skank runs into the street, gets hit by a car & steals it to follow the pair; he watches as Eric ties T-Bird to the driver’s seat of a car with explosives strapped to him & lets the car drive off the pier where it explodes midair and sinks into the harbor. When the police arrive, they discover a fiery symbol in the shape of a crow at the scene.

Meanwhile, Darla tries to reconcile with Sarah by making her breakfast; though Sarah is skeptical at first of her mother’s sudden change of heart, she accepts the effort and hugs her. Albrecht’s “superior” chews him out just because he can & tells him he’s suspended for misconduct.

Sarah goes to Eric’s apartment and speaks out to the shadows, feeling that he must be nearby. She tells him that she misses him and Shelly but, when no one responds, goes to leave and says that she figured he wouldn’t care anymore. Eric speaks to her, appearing in the window, and tells her that, although they cannot be friends anymore, he still cares about her.

Skank retreats to the gang hideout, rambling wildly about Eric; Sarah & Albrecht bond over their mutual experiences w/ Eric & discuss how he came back.

At the gang hideout, Top Dollar, hardly concerned for T-Bird’s fate, is discussing plans for criminal activity on Devil’s Night with his other criminal associates. Eric crashes the meeting looking for Skank, and proceeds to mock everyone in the room. Dollar orders him killed and his associates all open fire, forcing Eric off the large conference table. He rises after a few moments and a massive gunfight ensues. Top Dollar escapes with Myca and his lieutenant, Grange (Tony Todd). Eric easily kills everyone in the room by gun, fists & swords, saving Skank for last, throwing him out the window. The police arrive to find Eric the last man standing; he escapes w/ Albrecht’s help.

Top Dollar, Grange, and Myca discuss Eric and his unique abilities. Myca reveals that Eric is invulnerable to harm, but only if his link to the real world, the crow, remains untouched. Realizing that if they kill the crow they can kill Eric and the three of them hatch a plan.

Having killed the last of the four who had murdered him and Shelly, Eric returns to the cemetery and visits Shelly’s grave. Sarah meets him there to say goodbye and he gives her Shelly’s engagement ring as a necklace. Sarah leaves the cemetery only to be abducted by Grange and taken to a local church where Top Dollar and Myca are hiding out. Through the crow, Eric sees that Sarah is in danger and goes to rescue her. The crow flies inside ahead of him but is sniped by Grange. Eric, not realizing what wounding the crow has done for his own invulnerability, accosts Top Dollar, saying he’ll let him leave if he gives Sarah to Eric. Top Dollar shoots Eric, now no longer invincible and beats him; Sarah is taken to the upper levels of the church. Albrecht, having gone to the church to pay his respects, realizes what’s happening & comes in shooting. He finds Eric on the floor and helps him towards the spiral staircase in the back. The wounded crow is picked up by Myca, who hopes to harness its mystical powers. Albrecht manages to shoot and kill Grange, but is wounded himself. He stays below as Eric ascends the stairs. Myca meets him halfway up, holding the crow at knifepoint, but the crow lunges up and pecks her eyes out, causing her to fall from the stairs to her death.

Eric makes it to the roof where Top Dollar is holding Sarah. He pushes her off the roof though she manages to hold onto some scaffolding as Top Dollar and Eric fight. Distracted for a moment by Sarah’s cries for help, Eric is stabbed through the back by Top Dollar who admits to having everything to do with Eric and Shelly’s deaths, claiming that nothing goes on in their town without his say-so. He tell Eric that he’s enjoyed their sparring & that he’ll miss him, but before he can kill him, Eric grabs him and bestows his gratitude for Top Dollar’s crimes: all of the thirty hours of pain Shelly had to endure at once. In agonizing pain, Top Dollar falls off the roof and is impaled on a gargoyle.

Eric rescues Sarah and brings her to Albrecht who is soon taken to an ambulance. Eric then disappears from sight and crawls to Shelly’s grave before passing out. Her spirit comes to him, sans face paint, and they are finally reunited.

Later, Sarah visits Eric’s grave, which has closed up once again. The crow stands on his headstone, holding Shelly’s ring that Sarah lost during her abduction. The crow drops it in Sarah’s hand. As it flies off into the night, Sarah narrates that, though buildings burn and people die, real love is forever.

It is the year 1462. Constantinople has fallen to invading Turks. Prince Dracula [Gary Oldman] must leave his bride Elizabeta [Winona Ryder] to do battle against the Turks. A ferocious and pitched battle occurs and Dracula’s counteroffensive is a success and he leaves many in the Turk army alive and impaled on long spears on the battlefield. The Turks, seeking vengeance, send a message to Dracula’s castle falsely announcing that the warlord has been killed in battle. Elizabeta flings herself into the river below. Because she committed suicide, the Bishop [Anthony Hopkins] proclaims her soul damned. Furious that God let his wife die while Dracula was defending His church, Dracula renounces God and the Church. He draws his sword and stabs the large cross on the dais of his chapel and it begins to bleed. Dracula drinks the blood flowing from the cross, proclaiming he will be reborn after his death with all the powers of darkness at his command.

March 1897, England. Law clerk Jonathan Harker [Keanu Reeves] must travel to Transylvania to close the sale of 10 London properties being purchased by Count Dracula. Upon his return, Jonathan and fiancee Mina Murray [Winona Ryder] intend to be married. In Jonathan’s absence, Mina goes to stay with her rich friend Lucy Westenra [Sadie Frost], who has just recently received three marriage proposals – from Texan Quincey Morris [Bill Campbell], Dr Jack Seward [Richard E Grant], and Lord Arthur Holmwood [Cary Elwes] – and she has decided to marry Arthur.

Meanwhile, Jonathan has arrived at Castle Dracula following a strange carriage ride past blue flames and wolves. Even stranger is the Count himself. He never eats, sleeps all day, lives alone in a large castle in which most of the doors are locked, and crawls down the castle walls like a reptile. Jonathan has begun to have strange dreams about three women who try to seduce him. To Jonathan’s further unease, the Count seems to be fascinated with a picture of Mina, who upon seeing her picture believes she is a reincarnation of Elizabeta, has forced Jonathan to write letters saying that he will be staying with the Count for another month. Meanwhile, the Count is preparing for his trip to England by having his mindless servants fill large crates with dirt from the grounds around the castle.

July, 1897. Jonathan has been missing for over three months, and Mina is sick with worry, while Lucy is involved with planning for her wedding. But Lucy is not without worries either. A particularly violent summer storm has recently washed a ship of dead sailors upon the beach, and shortly thereafter Lucy has begun her old habit of sleepwalking. Each time she sleepwalks, she returns bewildered and pale. Dr Seward, who has his hands full treating the fly-eating lunatic R M Renfield [Tom Waits] , has taken on Lucy as his patient. She shows all the signs of anemia, but Dr Seward can find no cause for it. Consequently, he has decided to send for a metaphysician, philosopher, and specialist in rare blood disorders, his old mentor Professor Abraham Van Helsing [Anthony Hopkins]. Upon his arrival, Van Helsing immediately begins a blood transfusion on Lucy and places garlic near her bed. When Lucy’s suitors ask what could possibly have caused such extreme anemia, Van Helsing suggests that a supernatural force may have been stalking her. The others find it too fantastical to believe.

Meanwhile, Mina has begun occupying herself with a dashingly dressed but mysterious man she met near the cinematograph. He introduced himself as Prince Vlad of Szekely, and Mina is strangely drawn to him, as though she knows him. He is easily able to seduce her in the theatre but she is snapped out of her hypnosis when a large wolf appears and terrorizes the theatre-goers. Mina is surprised moments later when she sees that Vlad is suddenly friendly with the wolf.

Mina later receives news that Jonathan has been found and has suffered a violent brain fever and is being cared for by the sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who bid her to come to Romania and be married to Jonathan. She realizes that she can no longer see her prince again. Mina says goodbye to Lucy, writes a note to Dracula, and sets sail for Romania. Dracula, heartbroken at losing Mina to Jonathan, takes Lucy as his bride instead, attacking her in her bed as the wolf and causing a violent explosion of blood that kills her.

Lucy is dead, although Van Helsing knows that the correct term is ‘undead,’ for he can see the fangs in her mouth and knows that she is ‘nosferatu.’ He explains to Arthur, Jack, and Quincey that, to give Lucy’s soul peace, they must cut off her head and take out her heart. They are horrified and think that Van Helsing is just a sick old coot, until they spend a night in Lucy’s tomb and find her returning with a child in her arms. Van Helsing is able to force Lucy to release the child and forces her back into her coffin with a crucifix. Due to his engagement to and love of Lucy, Holmwood is selected to drive a large stake through Lucy’s heart while Van Helsing beheads her with a single blow. When the deed is done, they band together to seek out the Count and destroy him.

Mina and Jonathan have returned to London, only to hear that Lucy has died. One night, they have dinner with Van Helsing, and Jonathan realizes that he knows Count Dracula and that he sleeps in Carfax Abbey. After securing Mina at Dr Seward’s sanitarium, the five of them – Van Helsing, Jonathan, Quincey, Jack, and Arthur – pay a visit to the abbey in order to sterilize Dracula’s earth-filled crates. Meanwhile Dracula is paying a visit to Mina. When she learns that her prince is actually the vampyre who killed Lucy, she becomes extremely upset, but not enough to resist wanting to be with him, to live how he lives. Dracula drinks from Mina, then opens a vein in his chest and bids her drink. However, he stops short after she has taken but a bit. ‘I love you too much to condemn you,’ he explains. Suddenly, Van Helsing et al burst in the room. They attempt to destroy Dracula, but he changes into hundreds of rats and scurries away.

Dracula knows that he cannot stay in England any longer and books passage back to Transylvania via Varna. Mina and the men follow close behind. As Dracula is in mind contact with Mina, Van Helsing knows Dracula’s plans but Dracula also seems to know theirs. Instead of sailing into Varna, Dracula diverts the ship 200 miles north and lands at Galatz, causing a change in plans such that Van Helsing and Mina take a carriage directly from Varna to the Borgo Pass while Jonathan, Quincey, Arthur, and Jack continue by train to Galatz where they secure horses and ride for the Borgo Pass, hoping to intercept the Count. They are unsuccessful. Dracula’s gypsies picked up his box at Galatz and are now speeding down the Borgo Pass road, making the race closer than ever.

Mina and Van Helsing are almost to the castle but decide to stop for the night. Hearing spirits from the surrounding area, Van Helsing casts a circle around Mina and protects her by burning her forehead with a blessed communion wafer. They stay inside the circle through the night while Dracula’s three brides tempt Mina to join them, killing the horses from their carriage. The next morning, as Mina sleeps in the circle, Van Helsing visits the castle and beheads the vampiresses, throwing their severed heads into the gorge, bellowing the Count’s Latin name “Dracul”.

Near sundown, the gypsy wagon bearing Dracula in his crate approaches the castle. Jonathan, Arthur, Quincey, and Jack are riding hard to catch up. Mina and Van Helsing wait inside the castle courtyard. Mina calls up a blue flame to protect Dracula. As the gypsy wagon enters the courtyard, a gypsy stabs Quincey in the back. Jonathan attempts to open Dracula’s box, but the sun has set and Dracula bursts forth, his strength revived. At that very moment, however, Jonathan slits Dracula’s neck and Quincey stabs Dracula through the heart with a sword. Mina screams. As Arthur races forward to finish Dracula, Harker stops him. ‘Let them go,’ he says. ‘Our work is finished here; hers has just begun.’

Florida, 1981

A little girl named Violet Hansen (Violet McGraw) is out on a camping trip with her family. One afternoon, she wanders into the woods where she finds a woman sitting alone by the lake. She introduces herself as Rose The Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), and she charms Violet with magic tricks. The girl then notices other people lurking nearby, watching them. Rose tells Violet that she has a bit of magic in her, right before she and all the other people in the woods converge on Violet.

Elsewhere, Danny Torrance (Roger Dale Floyd) is still getting over the trauma from his ordeal at the Overlook Hotel. His mother, Wendy (Alex Essoe), has become concerned since he hasn’t spoken since their time there, but he still has nightmares of the spirits from the hotel, such as the Grady Twins and the Bathtub Lady from Room 237. As part of his “shine” powers, Danny can see spirits like Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly). He shows Danny a trick to keeping evil spirits away by showing him a box that he can use to trap them. Wendy then runs out to find Danny on the bench, but nobody is next to him.

That night, Danny and Wendy are watching TV together. Danny excuses himself to go to the bathroom, where the Bathtub Lady is waiting for him. He uses a box in his mind and manages to trap her inside. He returns to his mother and starts talking to her again.

Jump to 2011, where Dan (now played by Ewan McGregor) lives in New Jersey and is an alcoholic. He gets into a violent bar fight where he knocks a man unconscious and later hooks up with a woman from the same bar. As he wakes up in the morning, he finds the woman’s child and is put off by this.

In Long Island, a teenager named Andi (Emily Alyn Lind) meets with an older man who found her on a website. Rose and her right-hand man, Crow Daddy (Zahn McClarnon), are watching her from a distance. Andi is able to manipulate others to do what she says before leaving a cut on his cheek, resembling a snake bite. Impressed, Rose catches Andi outside the theater and takes her with her and Crow. They take her to their hideout, where Rose tells Andi that she has special powers that work in favor of their cult, The True Knot. Rose nicknames her “Snakebite Andi” and promises her that they can “eat well, stay young, and live long.”

Anniston, New Hampshire

Abra Stone is celebrating her 5th birthday. In the kitchen, her parents Dave and Lucy (Zackary Momoh and Jocelin Donahue) notice that Abra has somehow made a bunch of spoons float up to the ceiling. She simply says “Abra Cadabra” and makes them hit the table.

Dan arrives in Frazier, NH, to start a new life. He meets and befriends a local man named Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis), to whom Dan admits he is running away from something. Dan finds a place to stay, with Billy vouching for him to the landlord.

That night, Rose brings Andi out by the beach for a ceremony. The eldest True Knot member, Grampa Flick (Carel Struycken), leads the ceremony. Rose pulls out a canister containing the shine of Violet, presented as some kind of powerful steam. Rose feeds Violet’s shine to Andi while the other True Knot members get their share of it. Andi writhes and screams until she has absorbed the shine.

Dan has a nightmare in which he sees a spirit sleeping next to him. He goes to Billy for help, and he brings Dan to an AA meeting. After the meeting, Dan is introduced to Dr. John Dalton (Bruce Greenwood). Dan notices Dalton clutching his wrist, and then approaches him by saying that he left his watch in a bathroom, which is something only Dalton would have known. Astonished by Dan’s insight, and influenced by Billy’s good word, Dalton gives Dan a job working at the hospice, as he has some experience as an orderly.

During one night shift, Dan is mopping the floors when he notices the hospice’s cat, Azzie, going into the room of an elderly man. The man knows that whenever Azzie goes into someone’s room and sits on their bed, it’s because Azzie knows that person is going to die. The man appears frightened at first until Dan reassures him telepathically that dying is just like going to sleep. Comforted, the man nicknames Dan, “Doctor Sleep.” Within moments, the older man is gone, indicated by his breath leaving his body. When Dan returns home, he finds “Hello” written on his wall, with a smiley face in the O. He simply writes back, “Hi.”

Eight years later, in present-day 2019, Dan has remained sober. During a meeting, he discusses his feelings with never having known his father, only feeling close to him whenever he drank. It made him realize that his father fought the same battle he did, but Dan has chosen to come out better. He continues his work as an orderly to tend to patients who are about to die. He also maintains contact with Abra (now played by Kyleigh Curran).

The True Knot hasn’t had a good feed in a while, relying mostly on leftovers from kids with shines that aren’t as powerful. They track a young baseball player, Bradley Trevor (Jacob Tremblay), whose shine helps him out during games. The True Knot follows him home, and Andi makes him get in their van. They take him to a secluded area where they pin him down and brutally murder him, feasting on his dying screams. Abra senses the murder and begins screaming in her home, crying to her parents that the boy has been killed. Rose is able to sense Abra’s presence there as well, referring to her as a “looker.” At this time, Dan sees “REDRUM” written on his wall. He asks Abra “Who,” and she writes back “Baseball Boy.” The True Knot then buries Bradley in a shallow grave.

Abra does some research into Bradley’s disappearance. At school, she is able to hear the thoughts of her classmates. When she gets home to her room, she has visions of the True Knot and their whereabouts. She looks outside her window and floats briefly as she is connected to Rose, who is at a supermarket. Rose manages to see Abra and come into contact with her, but Abra expels Rose from her head, which causes a strong enough push to send Rose across the floor. She is amazed by this power, but also threatened by it. Rose brings this information back to Crow, stating that her shine might be too powerful for the True Knot, and so they must destroy her.

Dan and Abra eventually find each other and explain their gifts to one another, which Dan calls “The Shining,” or “Tony” since he thought it was like having an imaginary friend. Abra thought Dan was her imaginary friend. After she tells him about the True Knot, he warns her against using her shine in any way that could attract their attention.

At night while at work, Dan follows Azzie into a bedroom where he reencounters Dick for the first time since childhood. He warns Dan about what the True Knot really does and also urges him to protect Abra since they share a connection. Dick also lets Dan know that this will be the last time he sees him.

Rose meditates and manages to get into Abra’s head while she’s asleep. She finds what looks like filing cabinets and tries digging through them, but Abra anticipated Rose would come back, so she traps her hand in the drawer, causing Rose to tear her skin as she pulls her hand out. She snaps back to her regular body and sees her injury followed her. She reports to the others that Abra set a trap for her, and so it is now clear that she has to be killed. Crow then informs Rose that Grampa Flick is “cycling.” Too weakened to keep going, he convulses until he decays, and the cult absorbs his steam.

Abra makes contact with Dan again and asks for his help in finding Bradley’s body since she can locate the cult if she touches his baseball glove. With Billy’s help, Dan is guided by Abra to the site where the boy’s body is buried. Dan and Billy dig up the body, horrified and physically repulsed at the discovery. They take the glove back to Abra’s house, but Dave has learned about Abra’s contact with “Uncle Dan” and thinks Dan is some kind of creep. After explaining everything to Dave and revealing their powers to him, Abra manages to track the cult and deduces their destination.

Dan and Billy go into the woods to bait the cult using Abra, who is appearing from her kitchen. Dan and Billy hide and begin shooting at the cult members, and Rose feels the pain as each of them are killed off one by one. Billy shoots Andi, but she uses her last breaths to manipulate Billy into fatally shooting himself in the head. Meanwhile, Crow kills Dave and abducts Abra. Dan returns home and is able to link his mind to Abra’s and briefly possesses her. Together, they cause Crow to steer into a tree, and since he wasn’t wearing his seat belt, he’s ejected through the windshield and is killed instantly.

Dan drives up and locates Abra. They then drive off to make their last stand at the now rundown and condemned Overlook Hotel. Dan walks through the building where his lifelong trauma was born. He finds Room 237, still with the ax markings left by Jack. Dan walks to the mezzanine and meets the bartender, Lloyd (Henry Thomas), who bears a striking resemblance to Jack, though he insists he is just Lloyd. Dan recounts how Wendy died when he was 20, and how he knew she was dying due to the flies that he would see around anyone who was close to death. Lloyd then drops the facade and channels Jack before downing the drink he offered Dan. Rose soon arrives, and Dan and Abra team up to trap Rose in the icy hedge maze. Abra manages to wound Rose by cutting her legs, but Rose overpowers them and breaks free. Abra runs while Dan faces Rose. She gets into his mind and sees all the fear and trauma he endured in that hotel, which allows her to start absorbing his shine. Rose then sees the boxes of the Overlook spirits and thinks they contain more power, but Dan instead unleashes them to use against Rose. The Grady Twins, Bathtub Lady, and other spirits surround Rose and consume her shine, destroying her for good. But they soon turn their attention to Dan and possess him. He finds Abra, but she is able to tap in and reach Dan, saying he made a stop to the boiler room. Knowing what is going to happen, Dan sends Abra out as he takes the spirits with him to the boiler room to let the Overlook finally go up in flames, while Abra watches outside.

The film begins with photographer Adam Faulkner (Leigh Whannell) waking up in a bathtub filled with water. In his instinctive flailing, his foot catches and removes its plug; as the water drains a glowing blue object can be briefly seen to be washed away with it. After a few cries for help it is revealed that he is not, in fact, alone. Surgeon Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) is on the other side of the same room, and soon finds the switch to turn on the lights.

Both men are inside a grimy, dilapidated industrial bathroom, chained to pipes at opposite corners of the room. Between them, out of their reach, is a body lying in a pool of blood, holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Both men discover envelopes in their pockets which contain microtapes; Gordon also holds a bullet and a key that does not unlock their shackles. Adam, with Lawrence’s help, manages to snag the player from the body with which they play their tapes. Both tapes have the same voice, distorted by a pitch modulator. Adam’s tape refers to him as a voyeur and asks, “Are you going to watch yourself die, or do something about it?” Gordon’s tape reveals he must kill Adam before six o’clock (within seven hours as evident by a clock on the wall), or his wife and daughter will die and he will be left in the bathroom, presumably forever to starve to death. “Let the game begin…” the voice concludes. Hacksaws are soon discovered in the toilet tank; neither is sufficiently sharp to cut chain, and Adam accidentally snaps his in frustration. Dr. Gordon realizes that the saws are meant instead for their own ankles, which, if sawed through, would free them from their shackles.

The film then presents flashbacks of their captor’s previous victims: Paul and Mark. Both men failed to escape, and hence had pieces of skin cut from them in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle piece; thus the genesis for referring to him as the “Jigsaw Killer” by the detectives Tapp (Danny Glover), Sing (Ken Leung) and Kerry (Dina Meyer) who investigate the murders. Back in the bathroom, Dr. Gordon comments that they are dealing with a misnomer, as the killer never directly murders his victims nor places them in situations where death is unavoidable. In yet another flashback we are shown the police interrogation (with Dr. Gordon witnessing behind a window) of Jigsaw’s only known survivor, a highly traumatized heroin addict named Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), who believes that her experience in the test has made her a better person in the end.

After a brief sequence where Adam and Dr. Gordon discover a hidden camera, another flashback sequence shows Gordon’s last moments with his family, and their subsequent abduction. Another flashback shows an attempt by Tapp and Sing illegally breaking and entering into what turns out to be one of Jigsaw’s lairs. The two discover a man tied to a chair with two drills mounted on each side. Before the Detectives can secure Jigsaw’s arrest, he starts the drills. While Tapp subdues Jigsaw, Sing attempts to save Jeff. Though Jigsaw helpfully points out a box that contains the key to release Jeff, the box in question is seemingly endlessly filled with keys; Sing shoots the drills instead, but the gunshots distract Tapp long enough for Jigsaw to escape, who slashes and permanently scars Tapp’s throat in the process. While Tapp recovers from his deep knife wound, Sing pursues Jigsaw and is killed by multiple shotguns set on a tripwire.

His partner’s death has a permanent effect on Tapp, and what was already an unhealthy fascination with the case deepens into an obsession that leads to him being discharged from the police force. Convinced from a piece of evidence from earlier in the film that Dr. Gordon is the Jigsaw killer, Tapp moves into a house across the street from Gordon’s and monitors it with video surveillance.

Back in the bathroom, Gordon (with assistance from Adam) discovers a box holding cigarettes, a lighter and a note suggesting he dip a cigarette in poisoned blood from the body and uses it to kill Adam. Gordon and Adam attempt to fool the camera by faking Adam’s death with the un-poisoned cigarette, but a strong electric shock is sent through Adam’s chain, proving Adam to still be alive. The box also contains a cell phone which cannot make calls, but receives one from his wife Alison (Monica Potter), who tells Gordon that Adam knows more than he is revealing. Adam explains that he had been paid by Detective Tapp to spy on Gordon, and has witnessed him going to a hotel with the intention of cheating on his wife. In fact, Gordon left the hotel before doing anything, but this is between Gordon and the other woman, Carla (one of the med students to which Gordon had been explaining the condition of a cancer patient of his, John Kramer), and no mention is made of possible previous encounters. In the pile of Adam’s photographs which he hid from view of Gordon when found with the hacksaws, the two find a photograph of an orderly at Gordon’s hospital named Zep, seen through Gordon’s window after he left the house. Just as this realization is made, however, the hour of six PM strikes.

Alison manages to free herself and take control of Zep’s handgun, however she is soon overpowered. Shots are fired, which attract the attention of Tapp, who wounds Zep. He is unable to keep him from leaving the house, however, intent on killing Gordon; who is only aware of the sounds of screaming and gunshots. Flung into a state of desperate temporary insanity, he follows his instructions by sawing off his foot and shooting Adam with the revolver held by the body in the middle of the room and the bullet found in his envelope.

Zep arrives, pursued by Tapp, however Zep manages to shoot Tapp fatally. He then enters the bathroom but tells Gordon he’s “too late,” because “it’s the rules.” Adam recovers from his gunshot wound, which was in fact non-fatal, and kills Zep with the toilet tank lid. Gordon crawls away to seek medical attention, promising to return with help.

Adam searches Zep for a key to his chain and instead finds another micro-cassette player. As the climatic theme of the series, “Hello Zep”, begins, the tape informs Adam, that Zep was also following instructions under pain of death. As soon as Jigsaw’s familiar voice ceases, the body lying in the center of the bathroom lets out a long breath. As Adam watches, his face frozen in horror, the dead man peels off the latex that gave the appearance of his head wound and then slowly rises to his feet. He is John Kramer (Tobin Bell), a terminal brain cancer patient of Gordon’s; he is seen, briefly, in the same flashback where Zep is (equally briefly) introduced. Jigsaw/John Kramer, whose voice is in fact quite weak, informs Adam that the key to his chain was in the bathtub all along; a quick flashback replays the opening scene of the movie, where an object is seen to disappear down the drain with the water.

The movie opens as a television hostess named Monica is interviewing a woman whom she identifies as the sole survivor of the Miles County Massacre, an event during which the interviewee was brutally mutilated and placed in a coma. Monica asks about the attack, identifying the attacker as Art the Clown, and the interviewee says that she saw Art die. As she speaks, a person (revealed to be Art himself) destroys the television set through which he is witnessing the televised interview. Art dresses himself in clown makeup and assembles a bag of crude weapons with which to begin a night of massacre.

Following the interview, Monica is talking to her significant other on the phone. Monica speaks derogatorily about the woman she just interviewed and beams at the possibility of being skyrocketed to fame as a result of the interview. She gets a call from someone named Tom, but the caller is inaudible on the other end. Monica sees clothes rustling on a rack and checks for the source of the disturbance, whereupon she is attacked by the mutilated interviewee, who gouges out her eyes and laughs, leaving Monica to die in her own blood.

Two young women, Tara and Dawn, are walking down a sidewalk to their car after an evening of partying. Both having drunk excessively, Tara and Dawn opt to get food to help them achieve sobriety before attempting to drive home. As they are discussing their plans, they spot Art the Clown with his bag of weapons. Dawn pretends to flirt with him, against Tara’s admonitions. While the two look away, Art vanishes.

When Tara and Dawn make it to a pizza restaurant, Tara shuffles through photos, but her phone dies. Dawn receives a text from a guy who wants her to meet him at his apartment, but she assures Tara she won’t indulge him. Seconds later, Art enters the pizzeria and begins making faces at Tara. Tara is spooked by him, but Dawn accosts him and asks to take selfies with him, which he allows. The owner of the pizzeria asks if Art would like any food, but the clown remains silent, even as Dawn informs him that their selfie has amassed eight likes on social media. Art takes a coin off a table and buys a toy ring for Tara from a vending machine. He places it on her finger and leaves before the pizzeria owner brings the two young ladies their pizza. He proceeds to expel Art from the building for smearing his feces and urine on the bathrooms.

Tara and Dawn find the tire to their car has been slashed, and they call Tara’s sister, who agrees to pick them up. Tara suggests that the clown may have slashed their tires. An employee at the pizzeria finally finishes cleaning the urine and feces from the bathroom and discovers his manager’s severed head; the eyes and nose have been removed and replaced with candle stubs. Art has crafted the manager’s head into a jack-o-lantern. The employee runs for his life but discovers that he is locked inside. He reaches for a phone, but Art chops his hand in half using a meat cleaver before stabbing him in the cheek. He proceeds to stab the man in the face numerous times and leaves his mutilated corpse on the floor.

Tara and Dawn continue to argue about whether the clown was dangerous, and Tara says she has to urinate. A friendly exterminator named Mike who’s working in a nearby building lets Tara inside to use the urinal and reveals that the building is infested with rats. Disgusted but resolute, Tara urinates. Meanwhile, Dawn toys with her costume in the car and hears over the radio that the two men working at the pizzeria were murdered and that police are searching for a man who fits the description of the clown she and Tara met earlier. As she realizes this, Art enters her car, and she screams.

Mike begins the decontamination process for the building. Tara, attempting to leave the building, wanders into the basement and encounters a woman who is holding her baby. The woman introduces Tara to her daughter Emily and mistakes Tara for the “new tenant” of the building, a tenant for whom she and her “daughter” (who is revealed to be a plastic doll and not actually a living infant) have apparently been waiting. Tara realizes that the woman is unhinged and makes an excuse to depart the woman’s company.

Tara climbs a set of steps and spots Art, then flees as he pursues her. She hides among the cars in the building’s parking lot, but Art finds her and stabs her in the leg as she tries to escape. She strikes him in the face and attempts to flee, but he catches her and begins to strangle her and try to gouge her eyes. She grabs a scalpel, presumably dropped by Art during the attack, and stabs him with it before finally escaping. She grabs a sharp slab of metal to defend herself as Art begins looking for her. She distracts him by throwing a tiny metal turning that makes a sound far away from her. Meanwhile, Tara’s sister Vicky hears the news about the clown on the radio as she is driving to pick up Tara and Dawn.

Tara reenters the building from the parking lot, where Art is still looking for her, and looks for another exit to the building. Limping, she climbs a set of dingy stairs and finds a phone, though it is disconnected. She spots Mike and tries to get his attention, but Art grabs her before she can get his attention and sedates her with a drug-filled syringe. Tara awakens in a basement, where she has been tied to a chair and restrained from speaking or moving her legs with duct tape. Art retrieves a hacksaw from his bag of weapons and threatens Tara with it before pulling back a curtain to reveal Dawn, suspended upside-down from the ceiling. Art saws Dawn in half as Tara screams in protest. As Art finishes killing Dawn, Tara manages to break her restraints and stab Art in the back, allowing her to escape. She hides and grabs a wooden post as a weapon to use, and Art begins to stalk the grounds for her. She sneaks up on him and beats him with the post until he reveals a gun and shoots her in the leg. Tara tries to crawl away, and he shoots her twice more then leaves to find more bullets.

The woman from earlier whispers to her “daughter” Emily that she will keep her safe as she hears Tara’s screaming in the distance. Meanwhile, Vicky arrives and texts Dawn, asking for their location. Art impersonates Dawn via text and tells Vicky to come around the back, then proceeds to take a selfie with Dawn’s mutilated corpse. Art returns to Tara and shoots her in the head several more times, in view of the crazy woman.

Vicky complies with the text she received and goes around the back of the building in search of Dawn and Tara. Meanwhile, the crazy woman finds Mike the exterminator to try to warn him, but he doesn’t believe her and leaves. Realizing that she left “Emily” downstairs, the woman runs off in search of her. Mike tries calling his friend, but Art finds him and knocks him unconscious with a hammer.

While Vicky searches for Dawn and Tara, the woman searches for Emily and finds Art rocking the doll. She tries to reason with him for her “child” and embraces him in a motherly hug; he does not harm her. Mike’s friend Will arrives but is unable to reach Mike. Victoria calls Dawn and is similarly unsuccessful but hears Dawn’s phone ring and follows the noise, where she finds Dawn’s mutilated corpse and flees from the room. Dawn hears a scream and enters a basement area to search for Tara, but she instead finds the crazy woman, who has been scalped and had her chest flayed. Art, wearing the woman’s scalp and chest skin, springs to life and pursues Vicky as she tries desperately to escape. Vicky hides in a metal wardrobe, and Art spots her but leaves when he hears Will the exterminator a few rooms over. Art attacks, stabs in the head, and decapitates Will after he finds the Emily doll.

Vicky spots Art as he rides a tricycle around what appears to be the building’s only potential exit and tries to secretively make her escape, but Art restrains her by wrapping plastic across her face to suffocate her. She spots a nail and stabs him in the foot with it, then runs. Mike reawakens and hears Vicky scream as she finds Tara’s corpse with a sign that reads, “Circus.” Art finds Vicky and strikes her with a crude whip. Mike surprises Art and knocks him unconscious, then takes Vicky to safety and calls the police on a nearby phone to alert them of the situation before trying to escape with Vicky. Art beats the man with a gasoline tank and crushes his head, then begins to strangle Vicky, who manages to stab him in the eye and finally escape the building and hide in a nearby shed after nearly being recaptured. The police arrive as Art drives a truck through the shed and collides with Vicky. The police catch Art as he begins eating Vicky’s face. When he faces the police, Art shoots himself in the head. The officers discover that Vicky is still alive.

At the beginning of the film, a shadowy old woman is seen inside a house while the inhabitants sleep. Renai and Josh Lambert have recently moved into a new home with their three children. One morning, Renai looks through a family photo album with her son, Dalton, who asks why there are no pictures of Josh when he was a child. Renai reasons that he has always been camera shy and disliked taking photos of himself. One evening, Dalton sees the attic door open and goes to investigate after hearing sounds upstairs. As he enters inside, he tries to climb a ladder to turn on the light, but falls when the ladder cracks. As he falls to the floor, he seems to stare in horror at the darkness as if looking at something terrifying. Shaken, he is put to bed by Renai and Josh and told not to play in the attic because it is off-limits. The next day, Dalton does not awaken from his sleep. Renai and Josh rush him to the hospital, where the doctors say he is in an inexplicable coma.

Three months later, Dalton is moved back to his home while still in a coma. Shortly after, disturbing events begin to occur. The first is when Renai hears a voice on the baby monitor which shouts “I want it now!”, a bloody hand-print on Dalton’s bed and a strange but frightening man in her infant daughter’s bedroom. Renai becomes more disturbed when their youngest son, Foster, says he does not like it when Dalton “walks around” at night. Renai tells Josh about the events, but when she is assaulted by the strange man that night, she begs Josh and the family soon moves to another house.

In the new house, the supernatural events continue to occur, such as a strange, dancing boy, and soon become increasingly sinister. Lorraine, Josh’s mother, recalls having a strange dream of going inside Dalton’s room in the night and seeing something standing in the corner, and when questioned “What do you want?”, it replies “Dalton.” Subsequently Lorraine sees a red-faced figure standing behind Josh that roars at her and Dalton is then violently attacked in his bedroom. This prompts Lorraine to contact a friend, Elise Reiner, who specializes in the investigation of paranormal activity. The family, Elise, and her team enter Dalton’s room and Elise sees and describes a figure to one of her two assistants, who draws a black figure with a red face and dark hollow eyes on the ceiling of Dalton’s room; the same figure that Lorraine had seen before in the house.

Elise explains to Renai and Josh that Dalton has the ability to astral project while sleeping and that he has been doing it since he was very young. The reason that Dalton is in a comatose state is because he has fearlessly traveled too far into different spiritual worlds (he believes the projections are dreams) and has consequently become lost in a land called “The Further”, a place for the tormented souls of the dead. While Dalton’s spirit is in this other world, he has left nothing but a lifeless body. The tormented souls crave another chance at life through Dalton’s state, while there are others (possibly the old woman and the frightening man) who are more malicious in using him, and then there is the red-faced figure, revealed to be a demon, who wants to use Dalton for a more malicious intent. However, for a spirit to consume a body, a period of time and energy are required.

Skeptical at first, Josh later relents when he discovers Dalton had been drawing pictures which resemble the demonic figure Elise described. They run a session to try to communicate with their son but Dalton appears and the demon uses Dalton’s body to fight the group, along with other entities who want Dalton’s body. After the session, Elise calls Lorraine and the two reveal to the couple that Josh also can astral project and was terrorized by an evil spirit during his childhood. Lorraine shows them pictures from Josh’s childhood, revealing a shadowy old woman (the same woman from the beginning of the film) behind him. The more photographs taken of Josh, the closer the shadowy woman begins to get to Josh until she is inches away from him, explaining his fear of photos. Elise suggests that Josh should use his ability to find and help return Dalton’s soul, to which Josh agrees.

To prepare to astral-project and find his son, Elise sits him in a chair and places him in a trance. Josh suddenly awakes to find that he has astral-projected seeing his own self asleep in the chair as well as the others in the room. He proceeds outside in a misty emptiness in an attempt to find his way to Dalton. After encountering a boy who points him back towards a house (the same home that the Lamberts moved out of), he proceeds, only to encounter a family who is shot by a bizarre, smiling female member of the family in the living room. Startled, Josh makes his way to the attic where he discovers a red door (the same one drawn in Dalton’s pictures). Before he can enter, the violent man seen by Renai in their daughter’s room appears and attacks him. Once defeating him, Josh enters the red door.

Inside is “The Further” and the red-faced demon’s lair. While entering a cavernous red room, Josh discovers a sobbing Dalton, chained to the floor. Josh frees his son, but the demon has discovered Josh’s presence and attacks them. In search of their physical bodies, Josh and Dalton flee the demon’s lair, with the demon in pursuit. Just before the two awaken, Josh leaves his son to confront the shadowy old woman who appears to be inside his house. As he shouts for her to get away from him, screaming that he isn’t afraid of her, she retreats into the darkness. Moments later, Josh and Dalton both awaken, just as all the spirits vanish.

With the family now happily reunited, Renai, Dalton, and Lorraine chat in the kitchen as Elise and Josh pack up from the long night. Josh hands Elise the pictures from his childhood, and as she takes them from his hands, she senses something and takes a picture of Josh. He promptly goes into a rage, screaming that she knows that he doesn’t like to get photographed, and leaps on her before strangling her to death. Renai hears Josh yelling and goes into the room to find Elise dead and Josh gone. She searches for Josh and finds everyone is gone, the house dead silent. She looks and comes across Elise’s camera, seeing a picture in it of the shadowy old woman. It’s revealed that what Elise saw was Josh’s old and dirty hand and nails, similar to the old woman’s, implying that she has possessed him. Josh then puts his hand on Renai’s shoulder, saying “Renai, I’m right here,” and horror envelops her face as she looks behind her.

A U.S. military convoy transporting a shipment from Area 51 collides with a car on the highway, unleashing a zombie. It kills a number of soldiers while infecting two others. The zombies head to Las Vegas, infecting most of the city’s population. After a failed military intervention, the government quarantines the city.

Casino owner Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his associate Martin (Garret Dillahunt) approach former mercenary Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) about a job to recover $200 million dollars from his casino vault before the military destroys the city with a tactical nuclear strike. Ward agrees and recruits his former teammates Maria Cruz and Vanderohe, along with helicopter pilot Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro), German safecracker Ludwig Dieter, and Chicano sharpshooter Mikey Guzman, who brings along his associate Chambers. Martin joins the team to observe them. Ward’s estranged daughter Kate Ward (Ella Purnell), who works at a quarantine camp, directs them to Lily (Nora Arnezeder), a smuggler familiar with the city. Lily recruits Burt Cummings (Theo Rossi), a camp security guard. When Kate Ward learns Lily escorted her friend Geeta (Huma Qureshi) into Vegas, Kate insists on joining the team over Ward’s objections.

After a tense encounter with a zombie-tiger named Valentine upon entering Vegas, Lily wounds Cummings, and explains that a more intelligent group of zombies known as Alphas are willing to allow safe passage in exchange for a sacrifice. An Alpha female known as the Queen takes Cummings away to the Olympus casino, where the Alpha leader Zeus infects him. Lily leads the team to a building full of hibernating, normal zombies. Kate Ward creates a path through the zombies with glow sticks. When Chambers accuses Martin of ulterior motives, he diverts her off the path, and she wakes the zombies. As she is bitten, infected, groomed and mauled to death, Guzman shoots her gas tank, blowing her and the zombies up.

At Bly’s casino, Ward and Kate turn on the power, Peters prepares a helicopter on the roof and Dieter works on the vault. Martin and Lily stay outside under the pretense of keeping watch, but instead lure the Queen into the open. Martin beheads her and takes her head. Zeus discovers her body and returns her to the Olympus casino, revealing that the Queen was pregnant with a zombie fetus. Enraged, Zeus directs the Alphas to Bly’s casino. A news report reveals the government has rushed the nuclear strike, giving the team approximately one hour. As Dieter opens the vault, Ward discovers Kate had left to look for Geeta. As Ward and Cruz are about to look for her, the elevator opens and Alphas kill Cruz.

Martin traps the team in the basement, explaining that Bly cares only about the zombie head, which can create a zombie army for the government. When he steps outside, he discovers Lily stole the Queen’s head, and Valentine mauls him to death. Vanderohe attempts to fight Zeus but is easily overpowered. Dieter appears to sacrifice himself to get Vanderohe in the vault safely. Ward, Lily, and Guzman make it to the lobby where zombies attack them and swarm Guzman. Guzman detonates his grenades, killing the zombies and destroying the money he carried. Zeus confronts them on the roof. Lily distracts him with the Queen’s head as Ward and Peters escape. Zeus impales Lily, but she destroys the Queen’s head before dying.

Ward asks Peters to take him to the Olympus casino to retrieve Kate. There, Kate finds Geeta and kills Cummings. Zeus corners them, but Ward subdues him with a grenade launcher. Geeta, Kate, and Ward reach the roof but find it empty. Thinking Peters has deserted them, she reappears just as Zeus reaches the roof. All three jump aboard the helicopter, as does Zeus. Zeus overpowers Ward and bites him. Kate hits Zeus before Ward shoots and kills him. The nuke destroys the city and the shockwave causes the helicopter to crash, killing Peters and Geeta. Kate survives and finds Ward, who gives Kate money to start a new life before turning into a zombie. Kate kills him and cries as a rescue helicopter arrives.

In the opening shot, there is a tiny ball of light, which turns into a bright circular flash, slowly coming into view with a circular object. Amidst the ominous tone that plays, we hear a woman’s voice making sounds, trying to get her speech down to being perfect (down to a Scottish accent). We see what appears to be a black liquid circular pool. The light and the circular object come together to form an eye - a mysterious woman’s eye.

A shot of a long curving road among the mountains of Scotland with a single headlight appears. The view changes and we see it is an unknown man on a motorcycle.

The man rides his motorcycle to a tunnel where he stops. He gets off the bike and walks off the road into a ditch, appearing a moment later carrying a young woman’s body. We assume he knew the body was there because he goes directly to it, so he either knows how she died or was involved in killing her. He throws the body into the back of a white van.

Next, we see the woman’s dead body being unceremoniously undressed by another naked young woman (Scarlett Johansson) in a completely white, brightly lit room. This scene contrasts with the scenes of dark/black rooms we will see later in the movie. After the woman is dressed, she stands over the body and stares at it. The camera focuses on the now nude woman’s body and we see a tear fall from her eye. (We are not sure at this point if she was indeed dead, and the tear was simply a reflex, or if she is perhaps in some catatonic state.) The name and identity of this woman remains unknown throughout the film, but due to the tear falling, and due to the motorcycle man knowing exactly where the body was, she may have been in some sort of comatose state and aware of what was going on. The woman who took the clothing bends down over the body and seems to inspect something she picked up from the body. It appears to be an ant that was crawling on the dead/comatose woman’s body.

The next scene opens with a cloudy sky and mysterious lights above a tall skyscraper. This scene is supposed to indicate that it is an alien presence that the film is depicting, although this particular scene is so brief the significance of it is lost unless the viewer pays close attention.

The mysterious female (at this point we are unclear if she is an alien, a succubus, or some sort of machine, but since the movie is based on a book that was written about an alien, the prevailing theory is that she is an alien) is then seen leaving a dirty rundown looking house. The white van is parked outside, and the motorcycle man is there as well. The relationship between the two is unclear at this point, although they seem connected (In the book, the male is the female alien’s superior officer, and in the film we see hints of this relationship, although sparse and unexplained). These two, although seen together in a few scenes, and often in the same areas, do not communicate at all in the film, leaving us to assume they communicate telepathically or some other way. The man departs on his motorcycle, and the woman gets into the white van and begins to drive.

The following scene opens with the mysterious young woman/alien in a crowded shopping mall. She seems to pick out several items of clothing including a faux fur coat and red lipstick. She then continues to drive in the white van around Glasgow, eyeing men as she drives past. She passes through several crowds of people before stopping on a less crowded street to approach a man who is alone, like any good predator would. She asks him for directions to the local M8 motorway and they converse. Several separate scenes repeat the same pattern- she seeks out lone men walking and asks for directions or some other banal topic. She asks basic questions of these men, such as their names, where they are from, and also more in depth questions that lead you to think her intentions might be more sinister. She asks questions such as if they are alone, if they have a family, if they are going anywhere, and also more personal questions, studying her prey, such as, “Why do you like to be alone?” She drives off when a subject appears to not fit her criteria - at one point, a siren from a police car sounds nearby, and she drives away. At another point, one of the men she is speaking to is called to from somewhere in the distance. She loses interest and drives off. When she is able to determine a candidate is adequate, she invites him into her van for a ride and begins another line of questions - “Do you have a girlfriend? Do you think I’m pretty?” Finally, she finds a man with a green and white scarf who fits her criteria, and we see them entering the run-down house. The surroundings fade to black, and as she looks at the man seductively over her shoulder, undressing, he follows, also undressing. Once the man is completely naked, as he approaches her, instead of getting closer, he suddenly sinks into the floor, as if it were made of liquid. The man appears not to notice, seeming to be hypnotized by the woman. Once he has fully disappeared, the mysterious alien/woman picks up her clothing and walks off camera.

Some time passes, and we can assume the alien woman continues her preying on men, due to scenes of her in the van again driving around.

The alien woman is at the beach, and we see her watching a solo male swimming in a wet suit. When he comes ashore she begins her line of questions, what is he doing here, why is he in Scotland. The two are interrupted by the screams of a woman being pushed out to sea by huge waves after she tries swimming out to save her drowning dog, and a man in a heavy coat seems to be swimming after her. The man in the wet suit rushes over to help, while the alien woman stands there watching, completely passive, as these events progress. The woman in the water is eventually lost to sight, but the man in the wet suit manages to pull the man in the heavy coat, presumably the woman’s husband, to shore, only to have the man rush back into the waters chasing after his wife, who has already been swept too far out. The man in the wet suit, exhausted from his efforts, does not chase him, instead collapsing on the shore. We seem him move so we know he is alive. Finally, the alien woman springs into action, at first we think to help, but what she does instead is find a rock and bash the man in the wet suit in the head, to ensure he is either unconscious or dead.

The scene cuts to another part of the beach where she is dragging the body of the man in the wet suit past a crying child. Since the man in the wet suit was alone, we can assume the baby belonged to the man and the woman who were swept to sea. The alien woman is completely unfazed by the crying child, intent on her task of dragging the body. She eventually gets the body in the car, and we see the man on the motorcycle locate a tent on the beach which we can assume belonged to the man in the wet suit. He appears to fold up the tent, and take it with him. We are reminded of the opening scene in which he had originally found a woman either dead or comatose, so we can assume either he or another alien made a victim of that woman, and he was sent to clean it up like he is doing now. We hear the child still crying, and it is now night - the motorcycle man walks toward the child as if to console him, or to pick him up, but stops a few feet away and bends to pick up an article of clothing that was left behind - as if the wet suit man’s body and taking all of his personal belongings are of significance, but the crying child is not. We also see the woman, back in the van, and hear crying again - she seems to notice the crying this time, but looks out her window to see she is back in the city, and the crying is from the vehicle next to her, where a child is in the back seat of a vehicle parked nearby. It is not the same child from the beach, but perhaps she was thinking about that child.

The woman is next seen that evening in her white van in a parking lot. In the car on the other side of her is a group of rowdy men who seem to catcall her. She follows them around what seems like an abandoned building, and when she sees the man who called to her alone outside, she exits the van and starts to approach. As she nears the other side of the building, she suddenly sees a large crowd and realizes the man has gone into a club. A crowd of outgoing women intercept her as she turns to leave and insist she go into the club with them. The alien looks absolutely baffled by these woman and gets ushered into the club with the throng of women urging her to do so. As soon as she enters the club there is loud music, flashing lights, and people everywhere. The first door that she sees, the alien woman escapes into, but it is not a door that leads outside, instead it leads to some sort odd lounge area, where she is again approached by the man who called to her from the road. He insists that she let him buy her a drink, and we see them dancing in the club.

The scene then cuts to the all-black room in the run-down house where the first man sank into the floor. The club guy is dancing, half-naked. We see the alien woman undressing and staring at the club guy seductively. As she walks backward, the club guy sinks into the floor, exactly like the first man, staring at her so intently he seems not to notice that he is sinking. After he is gone, the alien woman walks off, and the camera suddenly pans to the view from under the liquid floor- the man stares up at her as she walks away, unaware of his surroundings until she is out of sight. It isn’t until she leaves that he seems to suddenly be aware of what is around him - nothing but blackness, he appears to be frozen somehow, not able to move and the sound seems deadened around him, but he is otherwise alive. Suddenly he looks up, and he sees the first man who was swallowed into the floor with him, floating before him, also in an apparent state of frozen preservation. The first man we saw sink into the floor seems older somehow, his skin twisting oddly on his frame, and he seems to be screaming or mouthing to the club guy, but there is no sound coming from his mouth. The two drift closer to each other - close enough to barely touch hands for a moment, and then the first guy starts drifting backwards with a pleading look of helplessness on his face. Suddenly a sharp snap noise punctuates the silence, and the first victim POPS like a balloon- his skin stretching out and then shrivel-ling up, just like a popped balloon would. The empty skin floats aimlessly in the black void, twisting like a plastic bag in the wind. The man from the club stares in shock as the empty skin of the first victim gruesomely floats away. We see what looks like a rivulet of blood and debris being funneled down a conveyor belt of some type, followed by disturbing musical tones, and then a bright piercing of reddish light engulfs the screen. We can interpret this as the woman somehow either devouring these men inside of her body (the black goo) where they are destroyed and their skins kept, or another interpretation centering from the novel is that they are in a state of stasis so they can be sent to the alien world to be devoured by the aliens, and the man’s body popping was him being eaten and the blood on the conveyor belt going down the hatch showing that he was killed and his body used by them, and the bright light following this scene is supposed to be another sign of alien presence although again, it is so subtle to the point of being almost insignificant.

We see the alien woman in the van the next day. There is a broadcast on the radio about a body that was found washed up on the beach, obviously drowned. The broadcast references that the man was supposedly at the beach with his wife and 18-month-old child. Obviously, this was the man and woman from the beach with their child. The alien woman seems to pay attention to the broadcast, but shows little emotion. Throughout the day, rather than staring at men, she pays more attention to women and children. But, eventually she does find a man, who tells her she is gorgeous, and that there is something about her eyes (hypnotic, perhaps). She barely seems as interested in him as she was previously with the males she abducted. They end up at the run-down house, and the two are seen entering, but the scene fades to black.

The woman is then seen applying her lipstick in a different room - this room is dark and with a cobbled stone floor, not the same dark room where she seduces and traps the men (resembling the interior of a stable or garage leading to an outside street). The motorcycle guy is there, and he paces around her angrily. It is obvious the two are communicating, albeit without words (maybe through telepathy). Something she has done has caused the motorcycle man to be displeased, causing him to somehow question or lecture her actions. (If the motorcycle man and the mysterious woman are communicating through telepathy, we do not hear and are not privy to the conversation… so one can only speculate). He stares into her eyes intently for a moment, and then abruptly turns away from her and leaves the room.

The woman is walking down the street and is accidentally tripped and falls flat, face first onto the pavement where she lies still. It is almost as if she is shocked by this event. She lays there unmoving, and eventually a passersby pull her up, asking if she is okay and insisting on helping. She seems perturbed by these events and continues walking. She takes notice of the people around her who pass - not just the men, but women, children, elderly. It is as if she is noticing them for the first time - people smiling, laughing, going about their daily tasks. Almost as if she can see herself in them.

Back in the van later that night, she watches as a single man crosses an empty street, but makes no move to approach him. A moment later, a younger man bangs on her window. He talks to her but he is muffled. He bangs harder and demands she roll down her window. Suddenly, more hoodlums show up and also bang on the windows, demanding she get out of the van. Could they possibly recognize her as the woman who picked up their friend from the club, or one of the other men she abducted? After all, she has been driving around for quite a while, approaching all the men she could find. She drives off and appears unfazed by the hoodlums.

Later that night she finds a single man and uses her same “I am lost” conversation starter to approach him. (Adam Pearson). His face is disfigured due to a condition called neurofibromatosis. She picks him up and gives him a lift. She begins to ask him the typical questions, but does not seem to understand that the man is disfigured and odd-looking, and therefore outcast by society. The alien asks the man when he last touched someone, and if anyone has touched him. He is nervous and uncertain as she takes his hand and lets him caress her face. Perhaps she is thinking she can give this man something nobody else has- because of his disfigurement, he has not been with a woman, and because she is an alien, she does not have the same emotional disgust, fear or shock that other women project toward this man. She takes him into the run-down house and for the first time we see how truly dilapidated the structure is. In the all-black room we see a dark, shiny silhouette approach. The alien woman completely undresses, which is different as she usually stays partially clothed. She lures the disfigured man into the black liquid, but after he is submerged, we see a slender black skeleton on the screen before the scene cuts away to the woman walking down the stairs afterward, like she has done before after seducing her prey, only this time she pauses and gazes into a dirty mirror, staring into her own eyes, perhaps reflecting on what she has done. She stares for a long moment. Her gaze is pulled away by a fly tapping against the door, perhaps trapped like the man she just seduced.

In the next scene, we see her leave the run-down house, with the deformed man alive, still naked, and seemingly still hypnotized, or not aware of what has transpired. She seems to let him free as he is seen walking naked through a field toward a town. It is dawn. The motorcyclist speeds into a housing estate, stopping by a bungalow. He strides up to a car in the driveway, smashes the driver’s window and then reaches in to flick a button to open the boot. He then purposefully marches to the back garden where he meets the deformed man climbing through the fence. We do not see him kill or harm the deformed man, but we see from a distance him placing a body into the boot, all the time being watched by a neighbor from her window. As he drives off he looks at the woman, unconcerned.

At this point, the film takes a different turn and focuses more on the alien woman’s attempts to understand humanity, rather than hunting them as prey.

Later that day, the alien woman is driving to a secluded beach. She has shed her faux fur coat. She stands in the fog at a lonely beach, perhaps taking it in, perhaps knowing she has done something wrong and unsure of what her next move should be. She hears singing in the background, and a bird chirping. We see her walking down a long abandoned dirt road in what looks like the middle of nowhere.

The motorcycle man, meanwhile, stands by the mirror of the abandoned house, as if looking for some clue of what the alien woman might have been thinking.

The alien woman has found a restaurant in the mountains. She watches the patrons eating, and is served a piece of delicious-looking chocolate cake. We see her carefully slice off a piece and take a bite, only to immediately spit it out. Any thought that she might still be human is gone at this point, as we realize that she cannot even do something like eat human food. She walks through the secluded mountain town as if she is going to leave, but a villager tells her the bus will be stopping soon, so she decides to wait at the bus stop. She seems uncomfortable, and that continues even after she gets on the bus. The bus driver questions her casually, as to why she is not wearing a coat, is she “feeling alright?” A man on the bus also questions her, concerned but also obviously interested in her. She gets off the bus with the passenger and together they go to the grocery store. She looks around at the items with confusion, as if she has never been in a store before. She is now wearing the man’s jacket, and they go to his house. She takes notice of the people in the buildings around them as they walk. She watches TV with the man from the bus while he eats, her food remaining untouched. They listen to the radio, and she idly taps her fingers while music plays. The man brings her a cup of tea and bids her goodnight. She explores the room she is staying in, and inspects her naked body, carefully looking at her legs, toes and fingers.

We see several men on motorcycles zooming down a road. They seem to go in different directions. They might be spreading out in search of the renegade alien woman.

The next morning she goes for a walk with the man from the bus, and he lifts and carries her over a deep puddle. The motorcyclist stops over a busy overpass and looks in both directions, perhaps trying to sense where the alien woman has gone.

Meanwhile, the nice treatment by the man from the bus causes her to exhibit more emotions. They are together in her room at his house and she turns to him as if to kiss him. He obliges, and they begin to undress. She seems unsure of what to do, which is funny considering how she had previously seduced so many men. She lets him take control, but before they can have intercourse, he seems to struggle while entering her. Sudden realization dawns on her, she grabs a light and gazes between her legs. It appears she has a human form that is not complete. She leaves the man’s house, and we see her walking alone across a barren field surrounded by a vast forest. She is running, still wrapped in the coat she got from the man on the bus, and she is wet from rain. She may be running from shame or embarrassment after the incident with the guy from the bus, or she could be trying to evade the motorcycle men searching for her.

She runs into a forest worker who begins talking to her about the forest, not getting any replies, and asking, “Are you on your own?” before wishing her well and leaving. Eventually, she comes across a stone-built hut for hikers in the woods. It continues to rain outside. She eyes a fireplace covered in black soot. Perhaps it reminds her of the dilapidated house with the black chamber where she would entrap men, or perhaps it simply reminds her that she is cold - something she rarely seemed to notice previously in the movie. She zips up her coat, huddles into a corner of the building and curls into a ball, falling asleep. Time passes and she awakens to find the forest worker in the cabin with her groping her. She snaps awake and runs from the cabin. She looks back but sees no one. She hides for a while until she realizes nobody is following and then she finds a logging truck, climbing into the driver’s seat. She sees the forest worker approaching and honks the horn to alert anybody but, as nobody comes, she runs back into the forest with him in pursuit. He catches her and starts to violently rip off her clothes. She seems confused and scared, and in the struggle he not only rips her clothes but also her skin, to find she has another black skin underneath. He staggers away in shock and she gets up, slowly walks away and starts to peel off her human flesh from her head and upper body, kneels down and looks at her still-blinking human face, held in her lap. The forest worker sneaks up behind her, douses her in gasoline, and deploys a match. The alien, carrying her broken human flesh with her, stumbles away, but it is too late, the flames progress up her legs and we see her running across the hillside on fire. Not too far away, she collapses.

We see the motorcycle man standing on a hilltop far above. It is unclear whether he sees the body burning, or if he suddenly lost any trace of the female alien and either knows she has come to harm or does not know what happened.

In the final scene, we see the alien woman’s form as nothing more than a pile of ash, the flames beginning to die down. The camera follows the smoke upwards as it drifts into the sky.

The movie opens at a hospital where Kate Coleman and her husband, Jon walk in and Kate is clearly pregnant and clearly in labor. While Jon registers at the front desk in the lobby, Kate is wheeled towards the delivery room, but a painful contraction hits and Kate sees she is bleeding heavily. The nurse pushes the wheelchair along as if nothing is happening, but the audience can see blood trailing behind the wheelchair. In the delivery room, Kate is in a lot of pain and asks where Jon is, but nobody will tell her anything. The doctor tells her to relax, but Kate knows something is wrong with her baby. The nurse tells her that the baby is stillborn but they have to deliver it anyway. Kate is in disbelief and tells them that the baby is alive. Before she has time to think, the doctor grabs his scalpel and begins to cut into Kate’s stomach, Kate wants to be put to sleep but the doctor says there isn’t time. Kate yells and screams as the doctor cuts into her, Jon walks into the room with a video camera and tells Kate that she is doing perfect. After a few seconds, a baby’s cry is heard and the nurse hands her a stillborn baby covered in a bloody blanket. Kate screams in horror.

Kate springs up in bed after her nightmare. Kate creeps out of bed, without waking Jon, and goes to the bathroom. For a moment, she stares at the large incision scar that goes from her bellybutton all the way to her abdomen. She pops an anti-depressant pill into her mouth and then crawls back into bed with Jon. The next morning, Kate goes to see Doctor Browning, her therapist. Kate says that perhaps the nightmares are happening because she and Jon are seeing children that same week, so they can adopt one. She also says that she passed by the liquor store on the way to the office, Doctor Browning asks if she went inside. Kate says she didn’t, but she was extremely tempted. Doctor Browning says that she is able to resist that temptation, then she is most certainly able to hold her own as an adoptive mother.

Kate goes straight from Doctor Browning’s office to a school for the deaf or hearing impaired. She is greeted by her and Jon’s five-year-old daughter Max. Max holds up a picture she drew and Kate says in sign language, that it’s very beautiful. As Kate is driving home with Max in her car seat, she spots a young man with his child walking together. Kate is so distracted that a large truck almost hits her. Back at home, Kate is playing the piano while something constantly keeps banging against the house. Finally having enough, Kate goes outside and sees Max attempting to shoot a basket. Kate tells her to stop, and Max says that she is sorry, but Kate apologizes and says she shouldn’t have yelled. Seconds later, Jon pulls up in the driveway with his and Kate’s son, Danny who takes the ball from Max and shoots a hoop. Jon takes the ball from Danny and hands it to Max, and lifts her up to the hoop so she can get a basket. Kate tries to say hello to Danny, but he rushes past her to go and play.

Later in the night, Kate goes to tuck Max into bed. Max removes her hearing aid, so everything goes silent for a while. Through sign language (and subtitles for us, the audience), Kate asks Max if she wants to read a bedtime story. Max grabs a book, but Kate doesn’t seem too happy to read it, but Max begs her. The story is about Max and how happy she was that she was getting a baby sister, but then Baby Jessica died and went to Heaven. Max was happy that she was in Heaven, but wishes that she could’ve met her. After the story, Max asks if Baby Jessica is an angel. Kate says that is a beautiful angel. After kissing Max goodnight, Kate goes to the bedroom and goes to the bathroom to take her anti-depressant. She is startled when Jon suddenly appears from behind her. Kate and Jon crawl into bed, and Kate says that even though she isn’t having second thoughts about adopting, she is excited and nervous. She hasn’t felt this way since she thought they were going to bring Baby Jessica home. Jon says that they shouldn’t adopt for his sake, Kate says they aren’t and that she really wants to take the love she had for Jessica and share it.

The next morning, Kate and Jon go to Saint Mariana’s Orphanage For Girls. When Kate and Jon get out of the car, they are greeted by Sister Abigail who thanks them for coming. As they walk inside, someone is watching them from a window. When Kate gets the feeling that they’re being watched, she looks up to the window but sees nothing. Kate and Jon separate, Kate is shown the girls by Sister Abigail while Jon goes to use the bathroom. Kate and Sister Abigail watch the girls play and Sister Abigail says that adopting an older child isn’t an easy decision to make, but Kate says they’re ready. Sister Abigail asks where Jon is and Kate says that he is using the bathroom.

Jon leaves the bathroom and goes to look for Kate, but stops when he hears the sound of a girl singing. He follows the singing and sees a young girl sitting alone in a room, painting. Jon begins to walk away, when the girl suddenly greets him. Jon steps into the room and the girl introduces herself as Esther, and Jon begins to look through her paintings. They are extraordinary, since Esther seems so young. Jon asks Esther about the painting she is working on, and Esther says that each of her paintings tell a story and that in her current painting, a mother lion is sad because she can’t find her cubs. Jon asks why the mother lion is smiling, and Esther says that it’s because she is dreaming of her cubs. Jon hopes that she finds them, and Esther says she will and begins to paint in the lion cubs. Kate and Sister Abigail walk in, and Jon introduces Kate to Esther. Esther talks to Jon and Kate, and soon the couple agrees that Esther is the one that they want to adopt. They speak to Sister Abigail in her office, and she mentions that Esther is a rather mature nine-year-old and says that she is very smart and very polite as well. She also mentions that Esther is like a princess, because she wears ribbons around her neck and wrists at all time. Sister Abigail says she will file the paperwork as soon as possible.

Jon and Kate take Esther home, and Max rushes out to greet them. Esther uses sign language to greet her, and Max takes an instant liking to her new sister. However, when Danny isn’t fond of her. He even asks Jon, rather loudly, why Esther is dressed so differently and Jon quickly shushes him. Esther is thrilled when she sees that they have a piano, and Kate offers to teach her to play and Esther accepts instantly. Jon, Kate, and Max show Esther her bedroom and Esther says that it’s perfect and she loves it. Esther is also introduced to Barbara who is Jon’s mother and Esther’s new grandmother. A few days later, a celebration is being held in honor of Esther’s adoption and this includes presents and cake. Almost like a birthday party. Danny doesn’t seem eager to join the family’s celebration, and instead plays “Guitar Hero” with his friend, Tyler. As Danny comes close to winning a game, he asks Jon to look but Jon is far too interested in Esther unwrapping his present, which just happens to be a large easel and paint supplies. Esther gives Jon a huge hug and smiles at Danny from over his shoulder. Danny tells Tyler that the game is getting boring, and he leaves. Tyler and Danny’s other friend follow him out into the woods near the house. They go to Danny’s tree house, and Danny lifts an old board to reveal hidden Playboy type magazines.

Kate is in the kitchen, putting away the cake and speaking with Barbara about what she plans to do. Kate says that she’ll get Esther settled and then begin to teach again; Barbara reminds her that she said she wouldn’t go back to that job. Kate assures her mother-in-law and says that she isn’t going back to Yale, but plans to give piano lessons to kids from the house. Barbara doesn’t think it’s a good idea but Kate says that she just wants some clarity which Barbara knows someone at an AA meeting suggested she needs. Barbara leaves the kitchen and Kate goes back to doing the dishes. Kate looks out of the window and sees Esther pulling Max on a sled over an icy pond. She rushes outside and yells for Esther and Max to get off of the ice and scolds them for playing in such a dangerous area. The next morning, Kate is sending Max and Danny off to school and calls Esther downstairs. Esther comes downstairs wearing a dress that is old-fashioned and outdated, which causes Max and Danny to laugh a little bit. Kate sends them to the bus and tells Esther that most girls don’t dress like that anymore, and she should change, but Esther says that she likes to wear dresses. Kate gives in and allows Esther to wear the dress to school.

The kids arrive at school and the teacher introduces Esther to her class. A girl named Brenda teases Esther. Esther says nothing, only stares coldly and walks calmly to her seat. Later that night, Kate runs a bath for Esther. Kate goes to do laundry, but hears Esther lock the door and immediately goes to check if she is all right. Esther unlocks the door and Kate warns that they do not lock doors in the house, but Esther says she was afraid that someone would walk in and see her. Kate assures her that no one will walk in and says she won’t even go downstairs until she is done. Esther says she will sing for her because she use to sing to the nuns at the orphanage so that they would know she was all right when she was taking a bath. Kate says okay and goes to finish the laundry. As Kate is putting away Esther’s clothes and listening to her sing, she finds that one of Esther’s drawers is stuck. After some tugging and pulling, Kate discovers a book with a photo of a man inside of it. Kate accidentally drops the book and Esther’s singing goes quiet, but starts back up after a minute. Kate shoves the book back in its hiding spot and continues about the laundry. As she goes down the hall to Max’s room, Esther opens the bathroom door and looks coldly out. Obvious, she knew what Kate was up to.

In the woods, Danny is shooting paint balls and seems to be enjoying it. Soon, a bird lands on the target and Danny shoots it on purpose. He becomes upset when the bird doesn’t move and rushes to see if it’s all right. It isn’t dead, but it’s barely alive and seems to be in pain as the wing is probably broken. Esther and Max suddenly show up and Esther asks what happened, Danny is sobbing and says he didn’t think the paintball would hurt the bird. Esther picks up a large brick and asks Danny to put it out of its misery, but Danny refuses. After awhile, Esther takes the brick and beats the bird to death and then throws the brick aside. Danny runs off, horrified by Esther’s actions. Esther takes Max’s hand and walks away from the dead bird and the blood-covered brick. The next day at school, Esther is passing down the hall at the same time as Danny and Tyler. Tyler comments that Danny’s “sister” is a total spaz, but Danny says that she isn’t his sister and purposely knocks a book out of Esther’s hands. As Esther kneels to pick up the book, Brenda comes along and picks it up for her. When Brenda sees that the book is a Bible, she holds it up and calls Esther a “Jesus-Freak.” Esther tries to take the Bible from Brenda, but it soon falls to the floor and the pages scatter everywhere. Esther panics and rushes to pick them up, while a group gathers and begins to laugh at her. Brenda reaches to pull off the ribbon around Esther’s neck, but becomes startled when Esther screams and kicks until everyone is silent. Danny is extremely weirded out as Esther continues screaming as though she were possessed.

The same day, Kate is giving Esther a piano lesson and Esther castigates herself because she made eleven mistakes. Kate wants to talk about what happened at school, but Esther says that there isn’t anything to talk about and leaves. The next day, Jon is with Max and Esther at the park, pushing Max on the swings. Joyce Patterson, the Coleman’s next door neighbor, arrives in risqué clothing. Esther listens in on her conservation with Jon, but suddenly becomes distracted when she sees Brenda walking across the playground. After Joyce leaves, Jon becomes a bit nervous and goes to smoke a cigarette while Esther and Max begin to roam the playground. Brenda is nervous as she makes her way towards the slide. She then gets the feeling that she is being followed. As she looks down the slide, Esther comes from behind her and pushes her off. Brenda is in a great deal of pain from a broken ankle. Esther walks away but realizes Max has seen everything so she tells Max that if they want to stay together then she cannot tell anyone what happened. At supper, Jon and Kate are asking Esther about what happened but she says that she and Brenda were playing and she accidentally fell. Kate asks Max if she saw what happened, and Max says that Brenda simply slipped. Max signs something to Danny, but he can’t understand her and asks Kate what she said. Esther interrupts and tells him that Max asked for him to pass the bread and butter. Danny says that he wasn’t asking her and Esther simply shrugs and begins to cut her steak, and Danny tells her to eat normally and Esther says she is eating normally. Danny asks if that is the way she eats in Transylvania, to which Esther says she is from Russia and Transylvania is in Romania. Danny goes further and says if she was taught that at the school for retards. Jon orders Danny to apologize to his sister, Danny has reached his breaking point and says: “She is not my f******g sister!” and rushes from the table.

As punishment for his outburst, Jon locks up Danny’s tree house and says he will unlock it when Danny apologizes to Esther. A few days later, Sister Abigail comes for a visit after being informed of Brenda’s accident. As Kate and Jon speak with Sister Abigail about the accident, Esther panics and goes to Max’s room and tells her that a “mean lady” is coming to take her away and asks Max for help, and Max agrees. They sneak into Jon’s office and begin to search around for the keys to the padlock to the tree house; Max finds some keys and hands them off to Esther. Esther uses the keys to unlock Jon’s safe, where she finds a gun, partially loads it and points it directly at Max’s forehead and asks Max if she wants to play. Max, clearly frightened, shakes her head and Esther lowers the gun. Max and Esther rush to the bridge that isn’t far from the house and they know Sister Abigail’s car will pass it. Esther tells Max to stand in front of Sister Abigail’s car and wave her hands to get her to stop, but Max is nervous. As Sister Abigail comes driving along, Max is frozen with fear and refuses to move. Having enough, Esther pushes Max onto the road and Sister Abigail slams on the brakes and her car swerves off the road. Sister Abigail climbs out of her car and rushes to a hysterical Max. Sister Abigail asks Max if she is okay, but a shadow looms over her and Sister Abigail looks up, just as Esther beats on her head with a hammer. Sister Abigail is bleeding and unconscious, but Esther knows she will probably wake up soon. She pulls Max to her feet and tells her to stop crying. Esther forces Max to help her move Sister Abigail’s body before another car comes along. They push her body down a hill, but Sister Abigail regains conscious and tries to climb back up. Esther grabs the hammer and beats Sister Abigail until she is pretty bloody and definitely dead. Esther takes a traumatized Max up to the tree house and removes her bloody gloves and dress, but Max is still crying. Esther says that if she is caught for the murder, then Max will go to jail with her and tells Max that she won’t tell on her if she doesn’t tell on Esther. Max agrees and Esther comforts her.

As the two are climbing down from the tree house, Danny watches from afar and Esther spots him but walks away anyway. As Danny sleeps, he is startled awake when Esther holds a box cutter blade to his throat and asks him what he saw. He says that he only saw her and Max coming down from the tree house, and Esther says that if he tells anyone than she will castrate him. Danny, clearly upset, accidentally wets himself. She releases Danny and leaves the room calmly. The next day, Kate is dropping Esther and Danny off at their school, and Max at the deaf school. When Esther leaves the car, Kate asks Max and Danny if Esther has done anything to hurt them. Terrified of Esther, they both say no and Danny hops out of the car. As Danny walks up the steps, his book bag spills but he doesn’t notice. Kate leaves Max in the car and goes to hand it back, and is confused because the book bag was new. As Kate helps Danny, Esther releases the brake and sets the car in neutral. The car rolls down a hill, and Danny quickly warns Kate since Max is still in the car. Kate chases the car and people try to stop it, but it does no good. Finally, the car hits a huge pile of snow, which causes it to stop suddenly. Kate rushes towards the car and quickly pulls Max out, who is thankfully unharmed.

That night, Kate and Jon argue about what happened. Kate swears she had set the parking brake, but Jon is still in a bit of disbelief. Jon finally gives in and he and Kate take Esther to Doctor Browning. But things take a bizarre turn when Doctor Browning says that Kate is the one at fault and not Esther. Kate is further frustrated when Jon doesn’t even back her up and just remains quiet the entire session, further estranging the couple. The next morning, Jon goes to wake Esther and get her ready for an appointment at the dentist, and Esther startles him by leaping out from underneath the covers. She says that she doesn’t want to go to the dentist, and Jon instantly gives into her demand as long as they reschedule and she goes to his office to draw with him (Jon is an architect). In Jon’s office, Jon is working while Esther is painting. Esther says that she has waited a long time for a father like Jon, and Jon asks if she waited for a Mother like Kate. Esther pauses and expresses that she feels that Kate doesn’t love her, but Jon says that it isn’t true that she is just having a hard time getting close to her. He suggests that perhaps she should do something nice for her. Esther agrees. As Kate is in the kitchen, Esther comes and says that she has a surprise for her. She holds out a bundle of white roses that Kate recognizes instantly. They were the roses from Baby Jessica’s dedication garden. Kate snaps and grabs Esther by the arm, and Esther lets out a scream. Jon hears the commotion and Esther runs off sobbing, while Jon comforts Kate who is weeping openly as she crumples on the floor and looks down at the roses. While Kate is in the greenhouse, still upset about the orchid, Esther sneaks into the tool shed and grabs a screwdriver. She wraps it in a rag and places it in her mouth, and then places her arm inside of a vice. She tightens the vice until her arm breaks and then goes to bed and cries for Jon that her arm still hurts from where Kate grabbed her. Horrified by the bruises on Esther’s arm, Jon takes her to the doctor.

Kate goes up to her bedroom and sees Esther laying in her and Jon’s bed, and being comforted by Jon. Jon tells Kate that she broke her arm, but Kate argues that she didn’t really grab Esther that hard. Jon says that it would be best for Kate to sleep downstairs. Kate contemplates drinking but decides not to after seeing the pond that almost cost Max her life. She pours the wine down the sink and sleeps downstairs. A few days later, Doctor Browning is called to the house and Kate still defends herself and says that she didn’t hurt Esther at all. At that moment, Jon places two wine bottles out on the table. He tells Kate that Esther found them, which simply infuriates Kate but Jon can’t help but ask if Kate is beginning to drink again. Doctor Browning is wondering the same thing as well. Kate defends herself again and says that she thought about drinking the wine but poured it down the sink, along with one of the bottles. Jon asks why she has the other bottle then, and he and Kate argue. Finally, Jon drops the bombshell: If Kate doesn’t go into rehab, and then he will divorce her and take the kids with him. At the top of the stairs, Max listens in and Esther comes really close to her and whispers that she will shoot Kate if she tells. The next day, Danny sneaks to Max’s room and asks her if she knows anything about Esther and Max confesses by showing Danny the pictures of Brenda’s accident, Sister Abigail’s death, and the car accident. Max also tells him that the hammer and Esther’s bloody clothes are up in the tree house, Danny tells Max that once they get the hammer that Jon and Kate will believe them and Esther will be locked away. Unfortunately, Esther overhears the entire thing.

The next day, Danny sneaks up to his tree house and searches for the hammer and clothes but can’t find them. Esther suddenly appears and throws the hammer and the clothes to the floor. She tells him that Max will be arrested to for helping her, but Danny says that Max was forced to do it. Esther pours lighter fluid over the evidence and lights a match, setting the evidence and the tree house on fire. She escapes and locks the tree house up with Danny still inside it, and simply watches with a smile as Danny screams for Kate. Danny crawls out a window, but it’s too late and the tree house crumbles and Danny is rendered unconscious and completely broken, but miraculously alive. As Esther lifts a rock to finish him off, Max pops out of nowhere and pushes Esther before she can do anything, and Kate arrives just in time. At the hospital, the family waits for word on Danny’s condition. A doctor comes and says that Danny is alive and in stable condition, Kate asks if he will remember anything and the doctor says they’ll have to wait awhile before they know. Kate and Jon walk away for a while and Kate says that either Esther or Danny started the fire, and Jon says that he doesn’t know which one did it. Kate is frustrated by Jon but gives in and says she’ll go to rehab only if Esther leaves the house at the same time. Esther asks Barbara for a dollar for the soda machine and then walks out of the waiting room, with no intention of getting a simple drink. She sneaks into Danny’s room, removes the heart monitor from his finger (and puts it on her own so no one will know there is a problem) and tries to suffocate him with a pillow. Max, getting the feeling that Esther is up to something, goes to get Kate. Meanwhile, Esther, thinking she has killed Danny, puts the monitor back on his finger and alarms go off. The doctors rush down the hall to Danny’s room. He has flatlined. Kate and Jon panic, but breathe a sigh of relief when Danny has a pulse and is stabilized again. Kate freaks out and knows Esther did something, She screams at Esther, calls her a bitch, and then slaps her hard. Orderlies sedate Kate while Jon comforts Esther and watches sadly as his wife drifts to sleep. When Kate wakes up, she is groggy but sees Jon is with her, she asks if Danny is okay and Jon says that they are running some tests and he should be home in a few days. He also says that he is taking Esther and Max back to the house, Kate makes him promise that Esther will get nowhere near Max. Jon says nothing and leaves the room to take the girls home.

As Jon is tucking Max in, Esther comes into the room and Max becomes frightened. Esther wishes her sweet dreams and kisses her forehead, stealing her hearing aid. Jon finishes putting Max to bed and Esther walks away, Max soon falls asleep and Jon leaves the room. Jon, clearly upset by all that has happened, finds the wine and pours quite a few glasses. Suddenly, Esther comes downstairs wearing dark makeup and a strapless dress, but Jon is so drunk that instead of getting angry, he sobs openly and tells Esther that he is scared for Danny. Esther assures him that he is a wonderful husband and father, and also tells him that she loves him. When Esther comes onto him, Jon comes back to reality and yells at her to go to her room. Esther runs to her room, sobbing hysterically as the makeup streams down her face.

Meanwhile, Kate is resting in the hospital when she gets a call on her cell phone. It is Doctor Varava from the Saarne Institute in Estonia, he says he received the picture of Esther and asks where she is. Kate says that she is at the house with her husband. Doctor Varava tells Kate to call her husband and to tell him to get their family out of the house and call the police. Kate says that Jon won’t believe her. He then explains to Kate that Esther is Leena Klammer, and she has a rare disorder called hypopituitarism, which causes dwarfism. She was born in 1976 and is 33 years old. Kate is in disbelief and asks why she was at their mental institution. Doctor Varava explains that she was on of their most violent patients and she was forced to wear a straitjacket to keep her from hurting their staff. She constantly tried to fight her way out of the straitjacket and has scars on her neck and wrists, which was why she wore ribbons on her neck and wrists. Dr. Varava also said she disappeared a year ago and they lost track of her warning: “If it’s really Leena, you don’t have much time.”

The scene cuts to Esther removing her fake teeth and taking off her makeup. Jon goes on the search for Esther in her room but finds she isn’t there, gut in the black light of the aquarium he sees Esther’s paintings for what they really are: images of violence and sex. Jon is mortified but continues on the search, just as the lights go out. He goes downstairs to the electric panel and is stabbed by Esther repeatedly, then looks at the top of the stairs and sees that Max has witnessed the whole thing.

Day 1

Lee Abbott (John Krasanski) drives into a town and goes to a store to buy oranges. In the store we see rocket space toys. The shop keeper is watching the news, where an extraordinary bomb in China is being reported. Lee then walks through the street to a park where his wife, Evelyn (Emily Blunt), is pushing youngest son Beau on a swing. The Abbott family are there to watch a baseball game in which eldest son Marcus is playing. Lee sits next to Regan (his eldest child, and only daughter, who is deaf) on the stalls and says hi to his friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who is sat behind them with his youngest son. Emmett’s eldest son bats the ball and makes a home run. As he runs to the final base the crowd and Emmett are shouting ‘dive!’ as the fielders are close. After this Emmett asks Regan how to say ‘Dive’ and she signals a diving motion with her hands in American Sign Language. Beau and Evelyn wish Marcus good luck as he goes up to bat. Marcus misses the first two balls, then is distracted by a large meteor in the sky. The game stops and everyone starts heading back to their cars / homes. Regan goes with her dad and Evelyn takes the boys. The aliens are already here though and start attacking the street and killing lots of people.

Day 474

The film cuts to moments after the events of A Quiet Place 1, the Abbott family leaves their home barefoot. (By this point, day 472-473, Evelyn has given birth to a baby boy, Lee was killed protecting Marcus and Regan from an alien, the house is both on fire and flooding and Evelyn has just killed several aliens with the help of Regan’s cochlea implant feedback noise amplified by a speaker which weakens the aliens. Beau died on day 89 due to taking a space rocket toy from the store at the beginning of a Quiet Place 1, the sound of the toy attracted an alien who quickly attacked).

Just before leaving the farm, Evelyn tells Marcus and Regan to ‘stay there’ whist she quietly heads back into the flooded cellar and tries to stay quiet as she swims in search of an oxygen tank. Meanwhile Regan tells Marcus she’s going back to the house, and leaves Marcus with the baby. Regan collects the amplifier and microphone. She uses her clipper to cut a cord off the amplifier. Regan and Evelyn individually return and the family walk along the sandy path Lee had created until they reach the furthest point, and then they quietly step onto the dry leaves and continue their trek. Evelyn and Regan carry the baby in a trunk sound proofed with blankets and the oxygen tank is feeding a baby respiratory mask so that the trunk lid can be closed.

The family reach a wire fence with an opening. As Evelyn walks through, her bag gets caught and a small sound is made, she looks behind her concerned about the noise and unknowingly triggers a trip wire that causes a bundle of bottles to fall and jangle. Evelyn whispers to Marcus and Regan “RUN”. Meanwhile we cut perspective to a the view point through a gun aim that has been fixed on the family. An alien starts chasing the family.

Whilst running, Marcus gets injured by a bear trap, which he handles silently until he sees his injured foot and lets out a primal scream. Evelyn tries to stop him screaming whilst Regan uses the amp, microphone and cochlear implant hearing aid to to create feedback that is unbearable to the alien. Evelyn shoots the alien in the head as it struggles against the sound.

The family head inside a nearby derelict building. As they walk round a corner a man grabs Evelyn, puts his hand over Evelyn’s mouth and signals shh while pointing to an alien on the ceiling. The man leads the family to a sound proof vault underground. A towel over the latch of the vault reduces noise and prevents the latch locking the door from the inside. He starts a timer on a stop watch and after a few minutes opens the door to let in air.

Once safe, he tells the family they can’t stay - there isn’t enough food or water. Evelyn thinks she recognizes the man and says, ‘Emmett?’ - to which Emmett unmasks his face from the scarf and baseball cap he’d been wearing. He reiterates they can’t stay. Evelyn asks about Emmett’s children and he explains his sons died on Day 1.

Evelyn asks after Lola, his wife. He explains Lola died 11 weeks ago, that she got sick and they moved down to the sound proof basement of this derelict warehouse once the pain was too bad and she was screaming. Emmett says ‘I couldn’t do enough’.

Evelyn asks if Emmett would see the fires lit by Lee each night and if ‘he knew it was him [Lee]?’. Emmett says he did. Evelyn asks why didn’t he didn’t come for them, since they were friends. (In A Quiet Place 1 the Abbot family had not had any contact from anyone and heard no radio signals despite searching and searching, very few survivors were left on Earth). Emmett explains that the people left, ‘you don’t know, do you? …they’re not people worth saving’. Regan signs and whispers ‘you’re nothing like him [Lee]!’ to Emmett.

Regan goes to her brother who is lying down to rest having had his ankle painfully dressed (in the vault to mute his screams). Regan gives Marcus headphones and plays radio white noise to him, scrolling through the frequencies. Suddenly Marcus hears music and sits bolt upright. Regan stops turning the dial and Evelyn rushes over. Marcus whispers ‘music!’ and Evelyn listens. Shocked she turns to Emmet who explains yes it’s just the song ‘Across The Sea’ on a loop, that’s all it ever does. Regan signs that he is a liar telling her mum that ‘Dad would have heard it, he would have told us’. Emmett explains that you can’t hear that signal down in the valley (where the Abbotts lived) - he and Lola only discovered it when they moved up here.

Regan works out the signal originates from an island nearby, about 1 day’s walk away. In the middle of the night she wakes Marcus and they go to the sound proof vault to talk. Regan attempts to convince Marcus to help her find a way to the radio tower, by following railway tracks to the coast then finding a boat. She wants to get to the station so that she can use the station to transmit the high frequency noise her hearing aid produces, that exposes weak spots on the aliens. In this way anyone (including the family) can use a radio to play the high pitch noise and protect themselves from the aliens - a significant step towards a better way of life. Marcus is very worried and does not want Regan to go. Regan insists she has to try because that’s what Dad would have done. Regan is forced to venture out on her own very early in the morning after Marcus threatens to tell Mum (Evelyn). She leaves a note on the radio saying ‘keep listening’.

In the morning, after discovering that Regan has gone, Evelyn pleas Emmett to go after her and bring her back. He eventually agrees when Evelyn says that she wishes Lee was here to look him in the eye and tell him Regan is exactly the type of person worth saving.

Meanwhile Regan comes across a train station with a derailed train and climbs aboard the front carriage, which is the only one still on the train track. There are several dead bodies, skeletons. She needs a first aid kit and finds one in the driver booth but struggles to open the door. She eventually reaches the box and takes it but the skeleton of the dead driver falls on her causing a fright and she screams. An alien shortly arrives and Regan is trapped struggling to hold the hearing aid to the microphone in one hand and operate the shotgun in the other. Luckily Emmett arrives and shoots the creature.

They hide in near by station office due to fear the noise will have attracted more aliens. Emmett explains he is here to take her home. Regan is not happy and says ‘what “home”’. Regan explains her plan to Emmett, and says that before when his wife died there wasn’t anything he could do but now there is. Emmett decides to help her complete the mission.

Back at Emmett’s base, Evelyn has to leave Marcus and the baby to get supplies they require - medicine for Marcus’ foot and more oxygen tanks for the baby for when the baby is in the trunk. Marcus is very scared and doesn’t want her to go. Evelyn explains his foot will get worse and she can’t lose him too. Marcus understands and let’s her go.

She walks back to the sand path and follows the route she and the family uses to get to the store (where Lee bought oranges on Day 1). Along the way she passes the bridge where Beau died where a make-shift shrine is. She touched the photographs crying, and places her wedding ring on top of the cross.

Back at base, after getting the baby to sleep, Marcus exits the bunker and explores the compound. The camera cuts to the baby’s oxygen tank the gauge for which is in the red zone, since its is running low. Heading upstairs, Marcus finds a room covered in drawings of Emmett’s sons. Behind some curtains separating a section of the room he finds a dead body half composed (probably Lola) lying in a bed. This startles him and he accidentally knocks a few objects over, alerting a nearby alien to his location.

He runs back to the basement, grabs the baby and puts him in the vault, he then steps out again to grab the stopwatch and radio and, as the alien approaches, he is able to get into the vault and close the door. The towel is not over the latch and the door locks shut unbeknownst to Marcus.

By nightfall Emmett and Regan reach some docks and look for a boat they can take to reach the island. They find a little girl at the end of the pontoon. Emmett goes up to her and she suddenly traps him in a noose. Several feral people appear who tie netting with bottles around Emmett and begin to search Regan for supplies. They take her hearing aid and rucksack full of supplies, then begin to lead her away. Emmett signs ‘dive’ to Regan, then he wriggles opens the netting making lots of noise and grabs the man who took Regan’s hearing aid. Several aliens appear and attack the docks, killing a number of feral people. Emmett is still holding the man and an alien comes to attack due to the noise of the bottles. Emmett dives into the water and the feral man is killed by the alien. The alien then hears Emmett swimming in the water, and jumps after him, only to drown as it cannot swim. Emmett is still tied to the dock and struggles to remove the noose from his neck. A small boat comes by and Regan’s hand reaches out to him. He climbs aboard and opens his mouth to reveal Regan’s hearing aid. They remove the noose and we see their boat heading to the island. In the corner of the screen an alien is stranded on top of a boat that has detached from the docks during the chaos.

Marcus is struggling to breathe and sees from the watch that he needs to open the door. He struggles with the door and eventually, distraught, gives up. He opens the baby’s trunk to find the baby screaming. With a pained expression he starts sharing the oxygen with the baby, until he falls asleep.

Meanwhile Evelyn returns to compound with the supplies and here’s an alien making a loud cry. She tries to explode the alien by shooting an oxygen tank but the alien is unscathed. The explosion does, however, trigger the fire sprinklers. The noise of the sprinklers helps Evelyn navigate around the alien and return to the basement. The alien does chase her though. Evelyn hides inside the bunker with Marcus and the infant, with the alien waiting outside the door for them.

In the opening scene, a young woman is fleeing from someone or something. She is shown driving to the beach. At the beach, she calls her father and tells him that she’s sorry for being so unkind to him. In the morning, it is shown that she was brutally murdered during the night. Her leg is twisted and a bone is seen sticking out of it.

The film then switches to Jay (Maika Monroe) who is on a date with Hugh (Jake Weary) at the movies. While they are waiting in line, Hugh starts talking about how envious he is of young children and how they have innocent, carefree lives. When they are inside the theater, Hugh spots a young woman at the entrance. He points her out to Jay, but she, however, cannot see her. Suddenly, Hugh starts getting afraid and demands to Jay that they leave the theater.

On their next date, Jay and Hugh are having sex in his car, when he suddenly chloroforms her. When Jay awakens, she is tied up in a wheelchair. Hugh is there and he explains to her that when they had sex, he passed on a curse to her. This curse is an entity that can only be seen by the person with the curse (which is now Jay). The entity can take the form of any person and will follow her repeatedly at a walking pace. If IT catches her, it will kill her and will go after the previous person who had the curse (which would now be Hugh) to get them to pass the curse on to someone else.

Hugh says he got the curse from some girl he had a one night stand with. IT will continue to stalk Hugh until he passes the curse on to someone else, hence why he slept with Jay.

At that moment, Hugh spots a naked woman walking towards them. Jay and Hugh then flee. Hugh drops Jay off at home and continues to flee. The police are searching for Hugh, but are unable to find him.

While at school, Jay spots an old woman in a hospital gown walking towards her. Everyone around does not appear to notice the old woman. Jay’s friend, Paul (Keir Gilchrist), who has a crush on Jay, and her sister Kelly (Lili Sepe) agree to help.

That night, Jay, Paul, Kelly and another friend, Yara (Olivia Luccardi), all agree to spend the night in the same house. During the night, Paul hears a noise and examines a smashed window in the kitchen. He looks around, but does not see anyone. Jay then sees an almost naked woman with dark eyes walking towards her.

She runs to tell the others, but none of them can see anything. Suddenly, a tall man with dark eyes walks into the room. Jay then runs out of the house.

Jay runs to a playground nearby, where her friends eventually catch up to her. A neighbor named Greg (Daniel Zovatto) offers to help the group by giving them a ride. Jay and her friends plan to confront Hugh, so after tracking him down by figuring out his real address, he insists on his original story, telling Jay that she needs to sleep with someone in order to successfully pass the curse on to someone else.

The group then goes back to Greg’s house. Jay deduces that she needs to learn how to use a gun. While the group is sitting by the water, the entity takes on the appearance of Yara and begins to attack Jay. Jay flees and then IT takes the appearance of the tall old man and then Paul. Jay manages to shoot IT, but it does not die. Jay gets into a car and drives away, but she only manages to crash into a cornfield.

When Jay awakens, she is in the hospital being treated for her broken arm. Before she is released, Jay decides to pass the curse on to someone else. She sleeps with Greg in her hospital bed in hopes of successfully passing the curse on to him. Paul is heartbroken after finding out that Jay was with Greg.

At home, Jay looks out the window to see Greg walking down the street to his house. When he gets to his window, he breaks it and enters. Jay then figures out that IT has taken the appearance of Greg. Jay runs over to the house and peeks inside to see IT taking on the appearance of Greg’s mom. Jay then tries to warn Greg, who is on the telephone. IT jumps on top of Greg and kills him. Now, the curse has reverted back to Jay, who flees to the woods.

When she awakens in the morning, Jay is near a beach and spots three young men on a boat. She undresses and goes into the water, hoping that she can sleep with one of the men and can pass on the curse to buy herself more time.

Back at home, Paul wants to sleep with Jay, but she rebuffs him, since she does not want him to be killed. Jay spots IT, posing as a naked man, spying on her from the roof. Paul then comes up with a plan to kill IT.

The group goes to a deserted swimming pool in hopes of luring IT into the water and then electrocuting it. Jay is the bait and gets into the pool. When she finally spots IT, it has taken on the appearance of her father. But, IT has figured out the plan and starts throwing electrical devices into the water to kill Jay. Since they cannot see IT, the others fire blindly to try to kill it. In the ensuing chaos, Paul accidentally wounds Yara, but then shoots IT in the head, supposedly killing the entity.

After heading home, Paul and Jay finally have sex. Paul then drives to a run-down part of Detroit where there are prostitutes walking the street. (The implication seems to be that the Paul plans to have sex with a hooker in order to quickly pass the curse to someone else…)

Sometime later, Jay and Paul are walking down the street hand-in-hand. Behind them, a person is following them.

Mark is a spy who returns home to West Berlin from a mysterious espionage mission to find that his wife, Anna, wants a divorce. She won’t say why but insists it’s not because she found someone else. Mark reluctantly turns the apartment and custody of their young son, Bob, over to her. After recovering from a destructive drinking spree, he visits the apartment to find Bob alone, unkempt, and neglected. When Anna returns, he stays with Bob, refusing to leave her alone with the child but attempts to make amends. Anna leaves in the middle of the night.

Mark receives a phone call from Anna’s lover, Heinrich, telling him that Anna is with him. The next day, Mark meets Bob’s teacher, Helen; she inexplicably looks identical to Anna but with green eyes. Mark visits and fights Heinrich, who beats him; then beats Anna at home, after which she flees. The next morning, they have another hysterical argument during which they both cut themselves with an electric knife, Anna on the throat and Mark on the arm.

Mark hires a private investigator to follow Anna and discovers that she has been keeping a second flat in a derelict apartment building. When the investigator discovers a bizarre tentacled creature in the bedroom, Anna kills him with a broken bottle. The lover of the now-dead detective, Zimmerman, goes to the flat himself, where he finds the creature and his lover’s dead body. Anna beats Zimmerman in a rage before stealing his gun and then shooting him to death.

Anna continues her erratic behavior and recounts to Mark a violent miscarriage she suffered in the subway while he was gone. She claims it resulted in a nervous breakdown; during the miscarriage, she oozed blood and fluids from her orifices. Heinrich visits Anna at the second apartment and is shocked to discover the creature in the bedroom, as well as a collection of dismembered body parts in her refrigerator. She attacks him and Heinrich flees, bleeding.

Heinrich calls Mark and begs him to pick him up. Mark stops by Anna’s apartment first and discovers the body parts; the creature, however, is gone. Mark meets Heinrich at the bar where he murders him, but stages it as an accidental death in the bathroom stall. He then sets Anna’s apartment on fire before fleeing on Heinrich’s motorcycle. At home, he finds Anna’s friend Margie on the point of death as she emerges from the lift, bleeding from knife wounds. She dies; he drags the body inside where Anna greets him, and the two have sex in the kitchen. Afterward, he makes plans to cover up Margie’s death. He then discovers Anna having sex with the creature as she cries “Almost!” over and over again. Heinrich’s mother phones Mark asking about her son. When he goes to meet with her, she commits suicide by poisoning herself.

The next day, as Mark wanders the street, his former business associates pressure him to rejoin them. He is evasive and returns to Margie’s apartment to find it surrounded by police and his former employers. He stages a distraction, allowing someone, possibly Anna, to sneak away in his car, but he is wounded in the ensuing shootout. Fleeing on the motorbike, he has a horrific accident and races into a building where he is pursued by Anna, the police, and his business associates. Anna reveals the creature, now fully formed as Mark’s doppelgänger. Mark raises his gun to shoot it but he and Anna are gunned down by a hail of bullets from the police below. Bloodied and dying, Anna lies atop Mark and uses his gun to shoot herself. She dies in his arms and he jumps to his death through the stairwell. The doppelgänger flees through the roof.

This sequel to the 2017 film opens in 1989. Shortly after defeating the evil entity known as Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard), the Losers Club - Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Martell), Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), Stanley Uris (Wyatt Olef), and Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) - gather as Bev tells the boys about the vision she saw of all of them as adults when she faced Pennywise. The Losers make a blood pact to return to Derry in the event that they must face IT once more.

27 years later in 2016, a gay couple - Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) and Don Hagarty (Taylor Frey) - are enjoying a night out at the carnival when they are harassed by homophobic thugs. Even as they walk away from the carnival, the thugs follow them and start to viciously assault them. They throw Adrian over the bridge and flee into the night. Adrian almost drowns until he is pulled out of the water… except the one who pulled him out was Pennywise. Don watches in horror as the monster clown grabs Adrian and takes a huge bite out of his chest. Mike (now played by Isiah Mustafa) overhears a report of the incident over a police scanner, and when he arrives at the scene, he discovers the message “COME HOME” written in blood on the side of the bridge. Mike knows that IT has returned.

We catch up with the other Losers in adulthood. Bill (now played by James McAvoy) is married to Audra (Jess Weixler) and has found success as an author/screenwriter, but he is frequently told that his endings are not good. Eddie (now played by James Ransone) is a risk assessor who is married to a woman, Myra (Mollie Atkinson), who is just as controlling as his own mother. Ben (now played by Jay Ryan) has slimmed down and is a successful architect, though he lives alone. Richie (now played by Bill Hader) is a stand-up comedian. Stanley (now played by Andy Bean) is a partner in an accounting firm. Bev (now played by Jessica Chastain) is a fashion designer, married to the abusive Tom Rogan (Will Beinbrink). Mike calls everyone, and they do not immediately recognize his voice until he mentions he is from Derry. Everybody becomes slightly unnerved by the phone call, and Mike beckons them to return to Derry. Bev tells Tom that she will be returning to Derry to visit friends, but he is paranoid and thinks she is lying to him and is cheating on him since he heard Mike’s name. Tom starts to hit Bev until she fights back and runs away from their home. The other guys start to make their way back to Derry. The only one who doesn’t go is Stanley, as he commits suicide by slitting his wrists in the tub rather than facing the nightmare from his childhood again.

A flashback shows that psychotic bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) survived being pushed down the well by Mike and had washed out of the sewers. When he returned home, police arrested him after they came across the body of Henry’s father and deduced that he murdered him. Today, Henry (now played by Teach Grant) is in a mental institution and has become even more insane. He is visited by Pennywise in the form of a zombified Patrick Hockstetter (Owen Teague), who presents Henry with his old knife.

The Losers meet at the Jade of the Orient restaurant and catch up after a long absence. They joke and reminisce, but also note Stanley’s absence. They start to split fortune cookies, only to each get single word fortunes that they realize form a full message. Bev’s fortune reads “Stanley”, and put together, the fortunes read “Guess Stanley Could Not Cut It”. The Losers know that Pennywise has found them. The fortune cookies then start to crack open and reveal hideous little spider-like creatures. The Losers bash at them on the table, which only makes them look crazy when others see them attacking a table. Outside the restaurant, Bev calls Stanley’s wife. Before she can say what happened, Bev knows that Stanley was found in a bathtub, and the other guys figure what happened to him.

Everyone gathers at the hotel where they are staying, and Mike confesses that this is the real reason he summoned everyone back to Derry. They ask Bev how she knew how Stanley died, and she says she has seen how they all die, as she was the only one who saw the Deadlights when Pennywise captured her. Bill goes back to Mike’s house, where Mike drugs Bill’s water to cause him to experience a trippy vision. Mike explains that in all the time he has stayed in Derry, he has studied the history of IT and learned from a Native American tribe of the Ritual of Chud, which can be performed to destroy IT once and for all. He produces a ritualistic piece of pottery with a depiction of the ritual. They bring it back to the other Losers, and Mike explains that they need to gather artifacts from their childhood and place it in the pottery so that they can destroy Pennywise.

Somewhere else in Derry, we see a little girl named Victoria (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) at a football game with her mom. Victoria is lured away by a firefly, and she follows it under the bleachers until she meets Pennywise. He uses the same manipulative trick on her to make her think he is playful, and he appeals to her sympathy when he cries about not having friends, as Victoria is made fun of for a birthmark on her cheek. Pennywise promises to make it go away, only to end up devouring Victoria.

The Losers go to an old clubhouse that Ben built for them over the summer they all became friends. There, they find an artifact for Stanley, which is a shower cap. A flashback shows them as kids with Stanley asking if they will all remain friends as adults. His friends assured him that they would be.

The gang splits up as they head back to their homes in Derry. Bev goes to her old home and meets the elderly Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson). She invites Bev inside for tea and cookies as Bev looks around. She finds an old pack of cigarettes, as well as the poem that Ben wrote for her, although she still thinks it was written by Bill. As Bev sits with Mrs. Kersh, the old woman displays unusual behavior. Bev notices what looks like rotted flesh on Mrs. Kersh’s chest. She mentions to Bev that her father joined the circus. Bev sees what looks like a human Pennywise in an old picture. Mrs. Kersh then asks Bev if she is “daddy’s little girl,” as her father had called her. The old woman is then revealed to be Pennywise as she takes on a grotesque and monstrous form that chases Bev out. Before Bev gets away, she sees Pennywise in his human form as “Bob Gray”, who wears his clown makeup and scratches the red lines on his face to taunt Bev.

Richie goes to an old arcade he went to as a kid where he picks up a token as his artifact. In a flashback, he is seen playing a game with Henry’s cousin, and the bully teases Richie for being a “fairy”. Adult Richie is then found and tormented by Pennywise, who claims to know his “dirty little secret.” He takes on the form of a Paul Bunyan statue and tries to attack Richie, but he gets away in time.

Bill goes to an antique shop and sees that his old bike is on sale. He asks the shop owner (played by none other than Stephen King) if he can buy the bike. The owner knows of Bill’s work, but agrees that his endings suck. Bill gets the bike and rides around his old street, passing the sewer where Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) was taken. Pennywise taunts Bill with an apparition of Georgie calling to him from the sewers. Bill is almost lured in by the monster clown. As he rides away, he sees a kid named Dean (Luke Roessler), whom the gang had seen at the restaurant because he is a fan of Richie’s stand-up. Dean has also seen Pennywise lately after Bill had mentioned it. He firmly orders Dean to get himself and his family out of Derry as soon as possible.

Ben gets an old yearbook page, in which Bev was the only one to write for him. He is haunted by a flashback to his childhood where Pennywise took on Bev’s form to ridicule Ben for his weight, as Pennywise knew that Ben loved Bev, and he still harbors feelings for her to this day. Her form’s head took fire as Ben hid in a locker, only for Pennywise to be in there with him.

Eddie goes to the pharmacy where he would pick up his medications. Creepy Mr. Keene (Joe Bostick) and Gretta (Juno Rinaldi) still work there. Eddie gets an inhaler before he is haunted by Pennywise in the form of his mother being attacked by the Leper (Javier Botet).

Henry kills a guard and escapes the institution. He finds the Losers and attacks Eddie by stabbing him in the cheek. He manages to pull the knife out and stab Henry in the chest, albeit non-fatally, and he runs to his friends for help. However, Henry gets away again before he is caught.

In another Pennywise haunting, Bill sees the message “The fun is just beginning” written, which is what Dean said to Richie at the restaurant, itself a line from Richie’s stand-up. Bill knows that Pennywise is referring to Dean, and he goes to a carnival to try and save the boy after learning he will be there. Bill follows Dean into a hall of mirrors, but Dean just thinks Bill is a crazy weirdo. The two are then found by Pennywise, who bares his long tongue and razor-sharp teeth. Bill desperately tries to kick the glass out to save Dean, but Pennywise breaks through first and brutally attacks the boy, blocking Bill’s view. Bill can only watch in horror as he fails to save the boy.

Mike is in the library where Henry finds him and attacks him. Not long after, Richie comes and kills Henry by stabbing him in the back of the head. This causes Richie to puke.

Bill reunites with his friends and vows to kill IT himself. His friends gather their artifacts and they join him at the Neibolt House to face off the evil entity for the last time. While there, they make it into Pennywise’s lair and use the pottery to begin the ritual. The Losers throw in their artifacts, being Bev’s poem, Ben’s yearbook page, Richie’s token, Eddie’s inhaler, the boat that Bill helped make with Georgie, and a rock that Mike recovered from their rock war with the Bowers gang. The Deadlights appear and sink into the pottery with the artifacts, but just when it seems that things worked, out rises a red balloon that produces Pennywise. He faces the Losers again in his true form, as a monstrous spider that still carries his clown face, and he states how he has waited so long to see them again. Mike then reveals that the ritual never worked, and the tribe that attempted it on Pennywise got killed themselves. He splits the Losers up with more nightmare visions, including one of Stanley’s severed head as a spider.

Eddie and Richie find themselves in a similar scenario to when they were kids as Pennywise places three doors with “Scary”, “Very Scary”, and “Not Scary At All” for them to walk through. They see the severed half of Betty Ripsom’s body, as well as a small Pomeranian that morphs into a monster. Meanwhile, Ben and Bev are trapped and split from each other, and Pennywise tries to kill Ben by having him sink into the earth while Bev is trapped in an illusion of a bathroom stall where he is harassed by the forms of Mr. Keene, Gretta, Henry, and her own father. Bev fights back against the visions and manages to pull Ben out from sinking, and she realizes he is the one who wrote her the poem as he had recited it as he was almost dying.

Bill is trapped in what looks like his childhood basement. He sees his young self talking to Georgie, as the image of the little boy blames Bill for lying on the day that he died, as Bill had pretended to be sick so he wouldn’t go out to play with Georgie in the rain. This had haunted Bill for years, and Pennywise knew he blamed himself for it. Young Bill goes to his adult self with a nail gun, but Adult Bill forgives himself and shoots the apparition instead.

The Losers get close enough to fight Pennywise, with Eddie managing to muster up the courage to strike Pennywise himself. As he runs to Richie, however, Pennywise impales Eddie with one of his talons. The Losers try to seek a way out of there, and they figure that since Pennywise is a spider, he can make himself small to try and go after them. They then quickly realize that the only way to make him small enough to defeat him is to force him to believe he is small. They begin to yell at Pennywise and call out all of his otherwise harmless forms before he starts to shrink and shrivel into a powerless shell of his former self. This allows the Losers to pull his heart out of his chest and crush it, destroying him for good. The lair begins to crumble and collapse around them. Richie tries to get Eddie out, but he is already dead. The Losers escape the house and watch as it collapses on itself.

The remaining five head to the quarry where they all swam as children. They think about Eddie and how he would have hated it since it’s so dirty. Richie then starts to cry for his fallen friend, and the others console him. As they continue to swim, Ben and Bev share a kiss. As they later walk home, they see their reflections on a window and see their childhood selves, including Eddie and Stanley. One last flashback shows the group as kids riding their bikes home.

Later on, Bill has gone back to work with writing, and he feels his endings are getting better. He speaks on the phone to Mike, who is thinking about finally seeing the rest of the world. They tell one another that they love each other, and Mike mentions a letter that all the Losers have been getting. Bill finds his letter and sees that it’s from Stanley, written before his suicide. We hear his voice reading the letter over a small montage of the other Losers in the present. Ben and Bev are now in a relationship, while Richie goes to a bridge where he carved his and Eddie’s initials, revealing that he was in love with him. Stanley’s letter states that he knew he could never be brave enough to face Pennywise again, so he removed himself from the equation to give his friends a chance to honor him, which would give them the strength to fight IT. He turned out to be right.

At a hospital in Greece, 10-year-old Michael Morbius welcomes his surrogate brother Lucien, whom he renames Milo; they bond over their shared blood illness and desire to be “normal”. Their adoptive father and hospital director Nicholas arranges for Morbius to attend medical school in New York while he focuses on caring for Milo.

25 years later, Morbius publicly declines a Nobel Prize for his work with synthetic blood. His colleague Martine Bancroft discovers he has secretly captured dozens of vampire bats from Costa Rica hoping to splice their genes with his own to cure his condition. After informing Milo of his planned illegal experiment, Morbius receives funding from him to outfit a private mercenary vessel in international waters with his equipment. While the cure works, it transforms Morbius into a vampire, who kills and drains the crew of their blood after they attack him out of fear. Once his bloodlust subsides and he regains his senses, a horrified Morbius erases all CCTV footage of his experiment before contacting the authorities and jumping overboard.

Morbius returns to New York and discovers he now has superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and echolocation, with his vampire bats treating him as a bat. To control his bloodlust, he subsists on his synthetic blood until it gradually ceases to satisfy his needs. FBI agents Simon Stroud and Al Rodriguez investigate Morbius’ victims and deduce his involvement. Milo learns Morbius is cured, but becomes furious when Morbius refuses to cure him as well. While checking on a hospitalized Bancroft, Morbius finds a dead nurse, drained of her blood. Believing he was responsible, he attempts to escape before being cornered and arrested. In prison, he is visited by Milo, who offers to use his wealth to free him. Upon realizing Milo took his cure and killed the nurse, Morbius escapes to confront him. An unrepentant Milo confesses to his bloodlust-induced crime and urges Morbius to embrace his powers as he has. Unwilling to hurt his brother, Morbius flees.

Morbius meets Bancroft to explain what Milo has done before acquiring a new lab and developing an antibody against vampirism to stop and kill Milo; he also plans to use it on himself since he will become unable to resist his bloodlust. Stroud and Rodriguez find footage of one of Milo’s attacks and, believing Morbius’ vampirism to be spreading, release it to the media. Nicholas recognizes Milo and pleads with him to stop. Angered by Nicholas’ perceived preference for Morbius, Milo wounds and forces him to call Morbius, who watches Nicholas die while Milo attacks Bancroft. Morbius returns to Bancroft, but she dies in his arms and he drinks her blood. Morbius confronts Milo and summons an army of bats to restrain him and inject the antibody. Milo dies and Morbius flies off with the bats, mourning his loved ones and embracing his identity as a vampire. Unbeknownst to him, Bancroft is revived as a vampire herself elsewhere, having ingested a drop of Morbius’ blood whilst he was feeding on her.

At an officers club in Anchorage Alaska, Ned “Scotty” Scott (Douglas Spencer) meets with a group of air force officers playing cards. Amid the small talk Scott tells the men that he is a reporter looking for a story. One of the officers admits that a large number of scientists are at the North Pole. Scotty takes an interest in the matter but nothing more is said.

Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) is paged to General Fogarty’s quarters. Fogarty explains that a strange aircraft has been found at the Pole, Hendry is put in charge of the recovery mission. Remembering the earlier conversation he asks if Scott can fly up with the recovery team.

Arriving at the pole they meet with the scientists who are excited about the potential of the find. Hendry catches up with a science assistant Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan). It is clear from their encounter they have an extensive social past.

Nikki introduces Hendry to Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), leader of the scientists based at the North Pole. Carrington tells Hendry the crashed aircraft is located about 48 miles from the base. When the vehicle crashed instruments recorded an explosion and magnetic flux disturbance that indicates the object weighs approximately 20,000 tons.

Hendry suggests that, given the recorded weight of the vessel, they must be dealing with a meteor. Carrington, however, shows him a number of radar tracks that show the object changed course and speed a number of times before crashing.

The expedition flies to the location to begin to unravel the mystery, as they approach the reported location the aircraft’s compass begins to malfunction, then Geiger counters begin registering erratic levels of radiation. Finally they see a teardrop-shaped area of ice in the snow.

Arriving at the actual crash site they realize whatever landed was so hot that it melted enough snow to sink down so that only a stabilizer fin protrudes. To establish the actual size of the craft the team slowly spreads out over the object. After a few moments it becomes obvious the craft is circular. “We finally got one” exclaims a scientist, believing they have just located a UFO.

Thermite bombs are used to melt the ice around the craft, unfortunately something in the metal used to build the ship reacts to the Thermite and the scientists look on in horror as the whole vehicle disintegrates destroying all evidence of the ship. A minute later, second object is found in the ice near the remains of the spaceship and on closer investigation they believe it may have been the pilot of the ship. Not willing to risk using Thermite again, they cut the creature out of the ice and make plans to transport the complete block of ice back to base.

At the base, Hendry refuses to allow the scientists to defrost the block before he’s checked in with his superiors – after the destruction of the ship he doesn’t intend to take any more chances. He also has a concern about potential disease that may be carried by the creature, or what could happen once the creature’s body is exposed to Earth’s atmosphere.

To secure the block Hendry moves it to a storeroom then breaks the windows to stop any possibility of the ice melting. Hendry sets watches at 4 hour intervals. The first watch is stood by Lt. Ken “Mac” Macpherson (Robert Nichols). The base radioman, Corporal Barnes (William Self) reports that the weather has cut the base off from communication with the outside world. He cannot receive messages but thinks he might still be able to send.

Hendry gives him a report on the situation, as well as a request from the scientists to examine the creature. Later that night Barnes reports he got through and has received instructions. Scotty is frustrated that someone in Washington has leaked the story, and although he is the only reporter at the base, no one can hear his version. General Fogerty has also forwarded Hendry’s report to the highest levels of government, and is waiting for further instructions.

Everyone standing watch on the creature is becoming badly spooked. The ice block has become a little transparent and the creature’s face can be seen. The eyes give the impression the creature is still alive, Hendry adjusts the watch from four to two hours.

The base settles in for the night and Nikki confides in Hendry that she is unsure about what to make out of the situation. She also compliments Hendry on his handling of the situation; she then offers to buy him a drink. They retire to her office and the obvious attraction begins to flower, ending in a steamy kiss and admission of mutual feelings for each other.

Back at the storage room, Barnes has taken over the watch on the creature. The creature’s appearance has him spooked and not thinking, he throws an electric blanket over the block of ice causing it to defrost unnoticed. Distracted by the novel he is reading, Barnes doesn’t notice movement behind him before it is too late. Jumping to his feet he draws and fires his pistol as he retreats from the storage room.

Somewhat hysterical, Barnes reports to Hendry and the scientists that the creature is alive and it chased him. Hendry and the group return to the room to find the hollowed out block of ice and creature gone. Through a broken window they can hear a battle going on between the camp dogs and the creature. The men race to the aid of the dogs, but the creature escapes.

The scientists discover an arm of the creature torn off during the attack. The scientists begin inspecting the arm. They discover the arm is made of chitin and laced with barbs and they suspect this makes the creature amazingly strong. The arm also appears to have no nerves and the cellular structure is identical to vegetable matter.

Dr. Carrington, having found seed pods attached to the creature’s arms, surmises that on its home planet, plants rather than animals evolved into intelligent beings. As the debate continues the arm begins to move by itself. Carrington theorizes that some of the frozen blood from one of the huskies had thawed and was absorbed into the arm, causing temporary re-animation. Although surprised, he thinks this is caused by various parts of the creature being able to become independent organisms.

Hendry is concerned the creature may re-enter the base. Everyone is armed with guns and axes and a search begins. At the greenhouse, Carrington notices something wrong with some moles near the back door of the greenhouse. After the soldiers leave, Carrington points out to his colleagues that a number of the most temperature-sensitive plants have died, probably from exposure to cold air. They conclude that the back door to the greenhouse had been open for a short time, allowing a blast of cold air inside. Searching the room they discover the body of a dog in a small storage container, drained of blood. The creature had been there and had fed on the dog. He asks the scientists to watch the room that night without telling Hendry.

Having swept the base, Hendry searches outside. As they discuss their plans to find the creature, Dr. Stern, badly injured, staggers into the room and faints. He explains that two scientists have been attacked and killed in the greenhouse. Stern adds that he saw the bodies of his comrades hanging from rafters with their throats slit.

Hendry races to the greenhouse and orders the door opened. He is immediately attacked by the alien. Hendry slams the door shut briefly on the creature’s arm, which has regenerated. One of his officers shoots through the door before the team shores it up to stop the creature breaking into the rest of the base. Hendry scolds Carrington for sacrificing the lives of his comrades – when the door was open, Hendry saw them hanging from the ceiling just like Chapman described.

Carrington later quietly gathers the remaining scientists and explains the situation. The alien is intelligent and he believes it intends to reproduce. He then shows them an experiment he’s set up. Taking a number of seeds from the creature’s severed arm, he’s planted them and fed them a diet of blood from the stores in the infirmary. Within four hours the seeds had sprouted and were continuing to grow quickly into small pulsating pods. Using a stethoscope he believes he can hear the plants wailing like new born children looking for food. Some of the scientists are repulsed by Carrington’s actions and try to convince him to tell Hendry. He refuses believing only the scientists should handle the situation. Carrington is also convinced that they can communicate with the creature.

Nikki finds Hendry and shows him Carrington’s notes. Hendry realizes this explains a secondary issue they have had: to find the basic blood supply that is needed to treat Stern for his injuries, Stern is receiving blood from volunteers who provided some of their blood for transfusions. Hendry confronts Carrington, who refuses to buckle and stop the experiment. Hendry wants the plants destroyed and the creature trapped and destroyed in the greenhouse. A message from Fogerty interrupts the exchange, he has instructed all efforts must be made to keep the alien alive. Carrington sees this as validation for his actions.

Deciding Fogarty is not in full understanding of what is happening at the base, Hendry decides to ignore the General’s instructions. He gathers all the military personnel in the mess hall to consider options. They agree on an idea of dousing the creature with kerosene and lighting it, hopefully cooking the alien. Nikki points out one of the Geiger counters has begun to react. It means the creature is on the move and if the readings are correct, heading for the mess hall.

Everyone scrambles to get ready as the alien bursts into the room. They successfully ignite the kerosene and set the Thing on fire, but the creature escapes outside, using the snow to douse the flames. Scotty, wanting to take a picture of the monster, fails to do so when he trips over a nearby bunk. Regrouping the men decide to repeat the attack, only this time using a lot more kerosene. However, the method proves to be more dangerous since they burned out nearly a whole room and the effort failed to kill the monster.

The creature shows its intelligence by cutting the oil flow to the heating system. Hendry believes the creature is trying to set its own trap. Anyone who attempts to repair the oil line will be ambushed and killed. Hendry thinks if this fails the creature will next attack the power generators. One of the other scientists recommends a more effective and safer trap using electricity from wires strung from the rafters of the camp’s main tunnel & a grating placed under the wooden pallets covering the floor.

Frantic preparations ensue as the men build barricades to force the creature to approach from a specific direction. Almost as soon as they are finished one of the men reports movement near his barricade. The creature moves off and then begins attacking in the direction needed to trigger the trap.

Suddenly the lights go out and Nikki shouts that Carrington has cut the power, Carrington is quickly overpowered and power is restored.

Carrington furiously rushes towards the creature and tries to explain to it that humans are intelligent and that both species could learn from each other. The creature seems completely unimpressed with the encounter and swats Carrington away before once again advancing menacingly. Hendry sees his chance and springs the trap as electrical bolts hit the Thing. The creature struggles briefly before being reduced to a small pile of ash. Nothing is recognizable; no evidence is left to show the threat from space ever existed. Even Scotty, too overwhelmed by the incident, was unable to take a picture and he faints.

A little later, the men are gathered and going over what’s been accomplished. Carrington is alive and only mildly injured. The men report that all Carrington’s notes have been destroyed along with the alien arm and all the seedlings.

With things settling down Nikki corners Hendry and discusses the possibility of taking their friendship a step further and would he consider settling down. He seems to suggest he might and they go to a corner to discuss their future.

Edit

Jessie and Gerald arrive at an isolated lake house in Fairhope, Alabama, for some time away. While Gerald takes Viagra, Jessie feeds a stray dog outside, but when re-entering the house notices the door is left ajar. Jessie changes into a new night dress, placing the tag on a shelf above the bed, and practices sexy poses. Gerald takes a second Viagra and leaves his glass of water on the same shelf. He restrains Jessie with one handcuff on each wrist locked to the bedposts. She seems a bit surprised by this, but goes along. He begins to enact a stranger rape fantasy, telling her to scream for help, knowing no one will hear. She half heartedly plays along but soon becomes uncomfortable, telling him to stop and uncuff her; he replies, “What if I won’t?” After a heated argument where he accuses her of not even trying to rekindle their relationship, Gerald dies of a heart attack, falling onto the floor, leaving Jessie in handcuffs.

The dog enters and Jessie tries to scare it away, but it bites a chunk out of Gerald’s arm and eats it. Gerald stands up and begins talking, but Jessie notices his body remains on the floor. He taunts Jessie about the truths of their strained marriage and his erectile dysfunctions. He then informs her that she has wasted hours already doing nothing, and she is beginning to suffer from of-hydration and fatigue. Jessie miraculously pulls a hand out of a cuff and breaks free. She gloats to Gerald, but then turns around and tells herself, the one still trapped, that it is easy to escape. Gerald and the self-assured Jessie tell things about herself and Gerald that she never had the courage to acknowledge. They trigger her to remember the glass of water above the bed, which she is able to reach but cannot bring all the way to her mouth. The hallucinations remind her of the tag she put on the shelf, which she rolls into a straw in order to reach the water.

Jessie falls asleep, wakes up in the dark, and sees a tall, deformed, obscured figure who reveals a bag of various bones and trinkets. She closes her eyes saying “You’re not real.” But Gerald appears to say that the figure is Death waiting to take her. Gerald begins to call Jessie “Mouse”, which unsettles her. This triggers a memory of her father, Tom, who affectionately referred to her as “Mouse.” She is 12 years old, vacationing at a lake house with her family. As Jessie and her father sit alone outside to watch a solar eclipse, he suggests she sit on his lap, as she did when she was younger. Once on his lap, he masturbates. The handcuffed Jessie awakes to intense pain due to her circulation being cut off and cramping. Gerald and the confident Jessie are skeptical about her claims that she dealt with the pressure of keeping such a secret, and her claims that it had nothing to do with her marriage, even though she married a man just like her father. Gerald teases Jessie about the disfigured man she saw, who he calls “the man made of moonlight”, and points out what he suspects is a bloody footprint on the floor. After the eclipse, her father tells her he was ashamed of what he did, and manipulates her into agreeing never to tell anyone.

Jessie remembers cutting her hand that night, when she squeezed a glass too hard when her mother asked her about the eclipse. The adult Jessie smashes the water glass and cuts her wrist in a way that enables her to peel back the skin, allowing her bloody hand to slip through the cuff. She drags the bed to the key, unlocking her other hand. She drinks water and bandages herself, but then passes out on the floor from blood loss and fatigue. When she wakes, the “man made of moonlight” is at the end of the hall, and she gives him her wedding ring for his trinket bag. She makes to her car and drives away, but sees the man again in the back seat. The car crashes into a tree, but people from a nearby house come out.

Late one night, British animal rights activists break into a laboratory to free chimpanzees being used for medical research. Disregarding the warnings of a lab staffer, the activists ultimately free the Rage virus subjects, which attack and infect the activists and scientist. The infection seems to spread very quickly through its victims, turning them into uncontrollable monsters in a matter of seconds.

Twenty-eight days later, a bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma in a deserted hospital after he was treated for injuries he sustained on the job. As he leaves the hospital, he discovers London is completely deserted and rife with signs of catastrophe. While he wanders the streets, calling out for anyone who might still be around, he finds a church where a large group of people have gathered. He quickly discovers that the people are raging monsters who attack him. He’s chased through the streets by the infected people before being rescued by two survivors, Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), who rush him to their hideout in the London Underground, using explosive charges attached to gasoline pumps to cover their escape. They reveal that while Jim was comatose, the virus spread uncontrollably among the populace, turning most people into vicious murderers (“the Infected”) and resulting in societal collapse, possibly on a global scale.

Jim insists on going to his parents’ house. Though they think it’s a bad plan, Selena and Mark accompany Jim. He discovers that his parents committed suicide. That night, several Infected attack the survivors, and when the fight ends, Mark is bleeding from a nasty slash on his arm. Despite his pleas, Selena immediately hacks him to death with a machete, explaining to Jim that infection is spread through contact with contaminated blood and overwhelms its victims in seconds, rendering them deadly to others. She warns that should he become infected, she will kill him “in a heartbeat.” As the two journey through the derelict city the next day, Selena rules out intimacy between her and Jim, declaring that only the fight for survival remains. They see Christmas lights blinking in a high-rise tenement and go to check it out. About halfway up the stairs, Jim has to stop because he has a pounding headache. Selena explains that he’s crashing from the sugar in the soda he’d been drinking for the past few days. They then hear the sounds of approaching infected and race up the remainder of the stairs where a man in police riot gear directs them to his apartment and fends off the infected. Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teenage daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), have holed up in their flat. Invited to spend the night, Selena and Jim privately debate whether they should remain with Frank and Hannah. Jim says they seem like good people, while Selena fears they will slow them down, warning Jim that putting others ahead of one’s own personal survival is a sure way to get killed.

The next morning, Frank informs Jim and Selena that supplies, particularly water, are dwindling. There hasn’t been any rain for several weeks despite all the collection receptacles they’ve placed on the tower’s roof. Frank also shows them a prerecorded radio broadcast loop transmitted by soldiers near Manchester who claim to have “the answer to infection.” Frank tells Selena and Jim that he and Hannah need their help to get out of the city.

The survivors board Frank’s cab in search of the blockade and bond with one another during the trip. On their way out, they pass through a tunnel blocked by a pile-up of cars and one of the cab’s tires goes flat. When they realize that a horde of infected are on their way, they frantically change the tire and race out. On the other side, they find an abandoned store and stock up on provisions. The group overnights in a pastoral area. Before they go to sleep, Jim sees that Selena is carrying a small stash of pills. She mostly uses them for sleep and to control the anxiety she feels but tells Jim she won’t give them up.

Selena’s steely resolve begins to soften, while Jim’s experiences on the trip begin to toughen him up. At a roadside rest stop with a restaurant, Jim explores the place and is attacked by a infected young boy who says “I HATE YOU!”. Jim kills him with a baseball bat and walks out sullen and remorseful.

When the four reach the deserted blockade, Frank is infected by blood from a dripping corpse. Knowing that he’s doomed, he harshly tells Hannah to stay away from him and becomes infected in seconds, nearly killing her. He is quickly shot by hiding soldiers, who then commandeer the cab and take Selena, Jim and Hannah to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston).

As Hannah goes into shock, Selena and Jim reach out to each other romantically. Jim discovers that West’s “answer to infection” involves waiting for the Infected to starve to death, while giving hope for future community survival by forcing sexual servitude on the female survivors. Shocked, Jim attempts to escape with Selena and Hannah, but is captured by the soldiers, along with Sergeant Farrell (Stuart McQuarrie), who disagrees with the Major’s plan. While Jim and Farrell are imprisoned for the night, Farrell theorizes that there is no worldwide epidemic. The infection takes hold of its victims so rapidly that it would have been impossible for any infected to escape the British Isles, leading the rest of Europe and perhaps the world to impose a strict quarantine on the British Isles.

The next day, as two soldiers lead the prisoners into the woods to be executed, Selena and Hannah are trapped as the soldiers circle, wanting to begin raping them. Selena asks to be left alone briefly with Hannah to prepare her. Selena tells Hannah she’ll give her one of her sedatives so the experience will be less traumatic.

While the two executioners fight about how to kill Farrell, Jim runs off. They run after him, however Jim has hidden himself among the pile of corpses they were going to throw him and Farrell upon. He observes the contrails of a jet aircraft flying high overhead and realizes that someone in the outside world is still functioning. After luring West and one of his men to the blockade, Jim runs back to the soldiers’ headquarters where he unleashes Mailer, an infected soldier that West kept chained outside for observation. Mailer attacks the soldiers in the mansion, while Jim stealthily skulks around, killing a soldier and maneuvering around the growing number of Infected. Selena, held hostage by the last uninfected soldier, is horrified when Jim, covered in blood, bursts into the room and savagely kills the soldier, leading her to believe that he may be infected. Raising her machete, she hesitates before striking; he quips, “That was longer than a heartbeat,” and the two kiss passionately. Hannah finds them and the trio run to Frank’s cab, only to encounter West, who shoots Jim in the stomach. Hannah commandeers the cab and throws West to the infected Mailer, then escapes with Jim and Selena.

As a baby raccoon, Rocket is a test subject for the High Evolutionary in order to create a Counter-Earth populated by anthropomorphic animals. He becomes friends with Lylla, Teefs, and Floor, three of the High Evolutionary’s other test subjects. Rocket displays intelligence and aptitude beyond the other animals and deduces the flaw in the anthropomorphization process, angering the High Evolutionary. They later learn that they will not be part of the new Earth after the High Evolutionary perfects the formula to anthropomorphize. When the High Evolutionary suspects an escape attempt, he kills Lylla, Teefs and Floor, enraging Rocket, who mauls him and escapes.

Years later, the Guardians of the Galaxy have established their headquarters on a rebuilt Knowhere. The night after settling in, they are attacked by Adam Warlock, a super-powered being created out of revenge by his “mother” the empress of the Sovereign, Ayesha, for previously stealing from her people. They are ordered to bring Rocket to the High Evolutionary, who has become obsessed with retrieving his subject for the purpose of isolating and replicating Rocket’s intellect. During the fight, Rocket is seriously injured, leaving the Guardians unable to tend to his wounds due to a killswitch embedded in him. The team resolve to travel to the Orgoscope, headquarters of the High Evolutionary’s company Orgocorp, in the hopes of finding an override code.

With the assistance of the Ravagers and a reluctant 2014-Gamora, the Guardians infiltrate Orgosphere and retrieve Rocket’s file. However, they are attacked by Orgosphere’s guards, barely escaping after Peter Quill remotely activates the guards’ suit jet-packs. They deduce that Theel, one of the High Evolutionary’s scientists, may have the override code stored in his memory, and decide to track him down. The team visits Counter-Earth against Gamora’s advice, followed by Ayesha and Adam. With help from a family of bat-like humanoids, Quill, Nebula and Groot trace Theel to the High Evolutionary’s ship, while Drax and Mantis remain with Gamora and Rocket. Quill and Groot board the High Evolutionary’s ship, leaving Nebula behind. Mantis unwillingly accompanies Drax to the High Evolutionary’s ship, which begins to launch with Quill and Groot captured on-board, a process that also destroys Counter-Earth.

Gamora stays with Rocket, but is attacked by a pig warrior sent by the High Evolutionary, who, herself, is killed when Warlock arrives looking for Rocket. Gamora overpowers Adam and launches the Guardians’ ship. Quill and Groot successfully defeat the High Evolutionary’s forces and kill Theel, jumping off with him and retrieving his memory before Gamora meets them. Meanwhile, believing Quill and Groot are still on-board, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax board the High Evolutionary’s ship to rescue them, and a weakened Adam senses that his mother is in danger but is too late to save her. On the Guardians’ ship, Rocket flat-lines and has a near death experience, where he is met by Lylla, Teefs and Floor, who tell him that his time has not yet come before Quill successfully implements the override code and revives him.

Mantis, Nebula, and Drax come across hordes of imprisoned children on the High Evolutionary’s ship before being captured themselves, and placed in a chamber with Abilisks. Mantis is able to persuade the Abilisks to side with them, and the three escape the chamber before reuniting with the Guardians and overpowering the High Evolutionary’s army. Kraglin and Cosmo arrive in Knowhere, which Cosmo connects to the High Evolutionary’s ship with the help of Nebula and Kraglin, through her powers of telekinesis allowing them to free the captured children.

Rocket discovers a litter of baby raccoons and other test subject animals, but is attacked by a deranged High Evolutionary while attempting to free them before being rescued by the Guardians. The High Evolutionary is left to perish on his ship while the animals are rescued and board Knowhere along with most of the Guardians. After Cosmo is unable to hold the ships together for long enough for him to board, Quill barely escapes, beginning to freeze in space before being rescued by Adam.

The Guardians decide to disband. Quill bestows the rank of Captain of the Guardians upon Rocket before leaving for Earth. Mantis embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the Abilisks. Gamora reunites with the Ravagers, Nebula and Drax remain on Knowhere to raise the rescued children.

In a mid-credits scene: Captain Rocket is seen leading the new Guardians of the Galaxy, composed of a fully-grown Groot, Adam, Cosmo, Phyla-Vell, Kraglin and Blurp as they prepare a new mission.

The movie starts with Bowser’s ship landing in front of the penguin king’s palace in the penguin kingdom.Then, Bowser (Jack Black) tells the penguins to either come out or die, to which they come out and fight him, using snowballs. however they only take out one man using a catapult and an ice block. then, the penguin king (Khary Peyton) informs Bowser that “that is but a taste of our fury” and questions if they yield. to which Bowser laughs and informs that he does not. he then has his henchman, Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson) remove them from the area using magic. then, Bowser burns the palace down to the ground, and Kamek uses his magic (and the remaining rubble) to make stairs for Bowser. once Bowser climbs up the stairs, he punches a ? block, uncovering a super star. He then boasts that no one can stop him at this point. in the next scene, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are watching their plumbing ad that they spent all their savings on in a pizzaria called Punch Out! Pizza. after that, they are made fun of by their former boss, Foreman Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco) who resents them for quiting their job with him to start their own plumbing business. he jokes with them that they probably didn’t even get a call yet and calls them “The Stupid Mario Brothers” and attemps to throw his napkin at Luigi’s face, but Mario catches it and stands up for himself and his brother. Just then, they recieve a call from a couple in Brooklyn for a plumbing job. when they get into their car however, it wont start, so they walk and take a shortcut through a construction site. when they get their they meet the couples dog, Francis who starts out liking them, but after Luigi accidentally stepped on Francis’ bone, Francis no longer liked them. then, they fixed the leak in the house, but are confronted by Francis, who attacks them and wrecks the faucet. When they get back home, even their family makes fun of them. However, their mom (Jessica Dicicco) supports them. when Mario asks his Dad (Charles Martinet) what he thinks his dad tells him that hes crazy and that the worst thing about it is that he’s ” Bringing your brother down with you”. after that, Mario leaves the table and plays Kid Icaris on his NES. then, Luigi walks into their room and comforts him, telling him that hes not bringing him down with him. then, on the news, Mario and Luigi learn that there’s a problem with the brooklyn water main, so they set out to fix it. after they get into the sewers, they accidentally fall into a hidden part of the sewers, and discover a warp pipe. Luigi goes inside, and gets sucked in, prompting Mario to go after him. then, they are both sucked into the warp zone, and are separated. Mario gets sent to the Mushroom Kingdom, where he meets Toad (Keegan Michael Key). after Mario discribes the place Luigi got sent to, Toad is convinced that he ended up in The Darklands, a land ruled by Bowser. However, Toad tells Mario that the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), will be able to help him, so they set out to find her. Back in the Darklands, Luigi realizes that Mario isn’t there. He is then Chased by Dry Bones and escapes by getting inside a castle and locking the door, but is then captured by Shy Guys. Back at the mushroom kingdom, Mario and Toad travel through the mushroom kingdom and make it to Peach’s Castle. when they get to the castle door, however, the guards tell them that ” Your Princess is in another castle” but after toad cooks them up some food, they let Mario pass. in Peach’s throne room, one of her councilmen tell her that Bowser is coming to the Mushroom Kingdom next. however, Peach informs him that she is planing to make an alliance with the kong army from the Jungle Kingdom. Just then, when she walks out of her throne room, she meets Mario and both are surprised to see a human. Mario tells her that his brother is in the Darklands, and she tells him that she is going to the jungle kingdom to make an alliance to stop Bowser, so they both team up, and peach tells him that he can come with her… If he finishes a Practice course. However, He fails Multiple times, and gets so close to finishing it, but is stopped by an obstacle. however, peach still agrees to let him come with her, and attempts to make him feel better by telling him that she only finished it on her first try because she grew up there. back in the darklands, Luigi is headed towards bowsers castle in a hot air balloon. Back at Bowsers castle, bowser sings a song about how he only desires to marry peach and rule the world with her, but he is interrupted by Kamek who informs him that Mario and Peach are headed to The Jungle Kingdom to make an alliance with them, and bowser sees him as a competitor over peach’s affections. back to Mario and Peach, after travelling through the Bomb-Omb battlefield, the Desert Kingdom, and Yoshi’s Island, they Finally make it to a Fire Flower Field. There, Peach activates the fire flower and uses it to ignite a campfire. she then notices that Mario is upset about something and asks him if he is worrying about his brother, and Mario tells her that he is and that they’ve never been apart that long before. she comforts him, telling him that they are going to save his brother. mario then asks peach where she is from, and she tells him that she is not sure, and that her first memory was arriving in the mushroom kingdom. Mario tells her that she might be from his world, and they gaze up at the stars. back to bowser, bowser is informed that the koopas had captured Luigi and found him wandering around. bowser brings luigi in to interrogate him. at first, Luigi is reluctant to reveal whether Mario is his Brother or not, but after bowser looses his temper, Luigi spills the beans. bowser asks him if princesses find mario attractive and luigi tells him they do if they have good taste. then, mario, peach, and toad end up at the jungle kingdom, and are given a ride through the city and dropped of at Cranky Kong’s Palace, but Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) refuses to make an alliance. but after Mario tells him that they aren’t leaving without the kongs army, Cranky Kong tells Mario that he can have the army if Mario can beat His Son in a wrestling match in the Great Ring of Kong. Mario Agrees. Peach, However informs him that it is a very (very) bad idea. when Mario Starts the Fight with cranky’s son, Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), it starts out rough, but mario remember what peach told him about the power ups. then mario gets a mushroom that he thinks is the Super Mushroom, but after eating it, discovers that it is actually a mini mushroom. after returning to regular size, Mario attempts to use the fire flower, but Donkey Kong blows it out, rendering it useless. then, after getting the cat bell, Mario defeats Donkey Kong. Peach tells mario that she is proud of him and that he never gave up. then, Cranky sugests that they get back home by taking rainbow road. however bowser learns of this and dispatches his army to stop them. in the end, Mario and Donkey Kong get sent of the track and into the belly of a sea beast, while the kong army are captured, leaving only peach and toad left. when they get back peach gets everyone to evacuate, and sets out to try and stop bowser herself. when bowser gets their and proposes to peach, she declines, telling him that she would never marry him. however, when bowser gets kamek to torture toad using his magic, she quickly complies. back to Mario and Donkey Kong, they escape the beast using a rocket from DK’s kart. then toad hands peach a bouquet, and peach walks up to bowser, only to discover (to her horror) people dangling from a cage above a pool of lava. bowser tells her that he will be sacrificing them in her honor, and lowers the prisoners. just before kamek can start reading the wedding book though, peach knocks him out and reveals a ice flower in her bouquet, activates it and uses it to stop the prisoners from being lowered (Luigi being one of them) and to freeze bowser. back to mario, mario and donkey kong make it and save luigi. but then, bowser orders a boomer bill be launched to destroy the mushroom kingdom, but mario stops it by luring it into the warp pipe, using the super leaf. after this it causes everyone to get sucked into brooklyn, and, after a brief fight with bowser, mario realizes that he may not be able to win this one. but after seeing his friends getting hurt, and watching his plumping ad which is playing on the tv in punch out pizza, he gains enough strength to fight bowser one last time. mario attempts to steal the super star from bowser, but bowser attempts to stop him using his fire breath. however, luigi saves mario by using a manhole cover as a shield. then they lunge forward to get the super star. at first, they are thought to have been scorched by the flames, but it turns out that they activated the super star at the last second, making them invincible. then, they defeat bowser and are acknowledged as a hero by marios family, foreman spike, and even francis. as for bowser, he is shrinked using the mini mushroom and put in a bottle. at the end, it shows that mario and luigi have moved into a house in the mushroom kingdom.

End Credit Scene #1 Bowser sings the second part of his song, and is told to be quiet by one of the guards in peachs castle.

Prior to imprisonment, bard Edgin Darvis served as a member of the Harpers, an order of peacekeepers, until disciples of a Red Wizard he had arrested killed his wife. Accompanied by barbarian Holga Kilgore, Edgin attempted to make a new life for himself and his daughter Kira by turning to theft, teaming with amateur sorcerer Simon Aumar, rogue Forge Fitzwilliam, and Forge’s mysterious acquaintance, Sofina. While raiding a Harper stronghold, Edgin attempted to steal a “Tablet of Reawakening” to resurrect his wife, but he and Holga are captured while their accomplice’s escape.

After two years in Revel’s End arctic prison, the pair escape to Neverwinter and learn Forge has become Lord there, after its prior lord fell mysteriously incapacitated. Forge has been taking care of Kira, convincing her that Edgin’s selfish greed led to his arrest. Sofina is revealed as a Red Wizard, and she and Forge deliberately orchestrated their capture. Sofina attempts to execute Edgin and Holga, but they escape and decide to rob Forge’s vault and bring Kira home during the upcoming High Sun Games, needing the tablet to prove their innocence to Kira and resurrect Edgin’s wife.

The gladiatorial games had previously been banned, but Forge re-instituted them, promising that the games would bring in tourists and money. Edgin and Holga track down Simon to help and he suggests also recruiting Doric, a Tiefling druid, whose forest community is fighting forced logging ordered by Forge. Shapeshifted into a fly, Doric infiltrates Forge’s castle, finding the vault has magical defenses from Mordenkainen, which Simon lacks power to disable. Simon proposes that a magic relic, “The Helm of Disjunction,” could disable them. They travel to an old graveyard to ask Holga’s ancestors where to find it. Simon resurrects the dead with a talisman long enough for them to answer five questions each; the corpses reveal they gave the Helm to Xenk Yandar, a paladin who fled his country, Thay, when Red Wizards turned his people into an undead army. One corpse is left “alive”, not having been asked all five questions.

Xenk, after forcing Edgin to swear to distribute any gained bounty to the people, guides the group through the Underdark to retrieve the Helm. With the help of a teleportation staff obtained from Holga’s halfling ex-husband, they find the relic, but are attacked by Thayan assassins sent by Sofina. Xenk fights off the assassins and helps the group escape from Themberchaud, a pudgy red dragon, before departing. Simon has trouble mastering the Helm’s power, so they decide to use the staff to enter the vault during the games. Simon and Holga infiltrate the magically sealed door but find the room empty except for a magical trap. Sofina, disguised as Kira, subdues Edgin.

The group is captured and forced to participate in the games but manages to escape the stadium. Doric discovers Forge has loaded the treasure onto a boat and is preparing to flee; the group steals the boat for themselves and rescues Kira from Forge, who threatened Kira’s life. As they escape, the group realize Sofina organized the games to draw a massive crowd and turn them into an undead army using the curse that destroyed Thay. The group returns, transporting Forge’s stolen riches out of the boat with the teleportation staff and spreading them across the city by hot-air balloon, drawing the people out of the stadium before Sofina’s spell takes effect. Outraged at her defeat, Sofina attacks the group, but Simon can master his magic and nullify Sofina’s time-stop spell, allowing Kira to use an invisibility pendant Edgin and Holga gave her as a child to place an anti-magic bracelet on Sofina. Sofina is killed when attacked by Doric in owl-bear form and then crushed by falling debris, but Holga is fatally injured.

Otto Anderson, a 63-year-old widower, lives in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After retiring from a steel company, he plans suicide, having lost his wife Sonya, a schoolteacher, six months previously.

During a suicide attempt by hanging, he is interrupted by his new neighbors: Marisol, Tommy, and their two daughters, Abby and Luna. Otto has flashbacks to his past; years previously he tried to enlist in the army but was rejected due to his hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He meets Sonya on a train after returning a book she dropped.

Otto attempts suicide again, this time via carbon monoxide poisoning. He experiences a flashback to a dinner with Sonya, confessing to her that he is not enlisted in the army due to his heart condition and does not have a job, prompting Sonya to kiss him. Marisol disrupts Otto’s suicide attempt, asking him to take her and her kids to the hospital after Tommy fell and broke his leg using a ladder Otto had lent to him. Otto reluctantly agrees.

Otto has a flashback to his graduation when he asked Sonya to marry him. During a suicide attempt by train, an old man faints and falls on the railroad tracks. Otto saves the man and the incident goes viral. Otto takes Marisol for a driving lesson and they visit Sonya’s favorite bakery, which the couple formerly frequented every weekend. There, he tells her about his friendship with a man named Reuben, the two having worked together to establish rules and order, with Otto as chairman of the neighborhood association board. The two grew apart after Reuben’s preference for Fords and Toyotas over Otto’s Chevrolets and the “coup” of replacing Otto as chairman. Reuben, who had a stroke, now uses a wheelchair and is cared for by his wife Anita and neighbor Jimmy.

A local transgender teen, Malcolm, recognizes Otto as Sonya’s husband while delivering newspapers and circulars in the neighborhood. Malcolm cuts through Otto’s disgruntlement at receipt of the newspapers and recounts that Sonya was his teacher, and one of the few people who accepted him as he was. A friendship forms between the pair and Otto fixes Malcolm’s bicycle. After dodging a social media journalist named Shari Kenzie who is attempting to interview him in relation to the earlier viral video, Otto gets angry at both Marisol and a Dye & Merika real estate agent, not wanting to come to terms with Sonya’s death. He attempts to commit suicide by shotgun, but is interrupted by Malcolm, who asks to spend the night after his father kicked him out.

Otto learns that Dye & Merika is planning to force Reuben into a nursing home and take their house, after illegally finding out that Anita was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Otto agrees to help Anita and Reuben. Marisol refuses to assist Otto until he tells her that he and Sonya went to Niagara Falls to celebrate Sonya’s pregnancy. On the bus back home, they were involved in a crash, and Sonya became paralyzed and had a miscarriage. The neighborhood was not accessible to Sonya and Otto was voted out of the chairmanship after a heated confrontation with a Dye & Merika representative. Otto wanted to put all of the real estate companies out of business but decided against it to care for Sonya. With the help of the neighborhood and Shari Kenzie, Reuben and Anita are able to keep their home.

Otto collapses and is taken to the hospital, where he lists Marisol as his next of kin. After being told by a cardiologist that Otto’s heart is too big, she laughs, before going into labor and gives birth to a son.

Earth, 1988:

Young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) sits in the waiting room of a hospital, listening with headphones to “Awesome Mix Tape no. 1” on his Walkman. His grandpa (Gregg Henry) comes out and gets him so he can say goodbye to his mom, who is dying from a brain tumor. His mom gives him a present and tells him his father was an angel, and that Peter is just like him. She asks for his hand, but he’s too scared to take it. Just then, she dies. The distraught Peter runs outside and is abducted by a spaceship.

Morag, 2014:

On the planet Morag, an adult Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-lord (Chris Pratt), is searching for a mysterious Orb whilst listening to Awesome Mix Tape no. 1. He finds the Orb and takes it out of a laser enclosure. Almost immediately, he is ambushed by Korath the Pursuer (Djimon Hounsou) and his henchmen. After a shootout, Peter makes it to his ship, the Milano, and escapes.

His father figure, Yondu Udonta, (Michael Rooker) who heads the Ravager platoon that raised Peter, calls and tells Peter to give him the Orb. Peter decides he’s going to sell it on his own. After Peter hangs up, Yondu’s men reprimand him for always being soft on Peter despite his constant betrayals, which Yondu brushes off, being more interested in finding out who else is interested in the Orb.

Korath returns to the Dark Aster, a Kree warship led by a genocidal tyrant, Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who seeks to destroy the planet of Xandar after their people killed his father and grandfather. Korath reports that he failed in getting the Orb and that it’s in the hands of Peter. Ronan wants the Orb because he can trade it to Thanos in exchange for Thanos destroying Xandar. Ronan decides to send Thanos’ daughter Nebula (Karen Gillan) after Peter, but her sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana) volunteers. Over Nebula’s complaints, Ronan sends Gamora.

On the planet Xandar, Peter takes the Orb to a broker (Christopher Fairbank) and asks what it is, because Ronan’s goons are after it too. On hearing Ronan’s name, the broker immediately backs out, not wanting anything to do with the orb, and removes Peter from the shop. Outside, Gamora jumps Peter and tries to retrieve the Orb herself. As they fight, they are ambushed by Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Groot ( Vin Diesel), seeking to claim a bounty on Peter. (Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as an old man on Xandar, chatting up a young lady. Rocket calls him a pervert.). Its not too long before Peter, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot are arrested by the Nova Corps, and after processing, are sent to a space prison called the Kyln.

Pretty much everyone in prison wants to kill Gamora because she’s the daughter of Thanos. One of the inmates, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), has a vendetta against her because Ronan killed his wife and daughter, so he wants to avenge them by taking the life of one of Ronan’s family members in return. Gamora explains that she’s not related to Ronan and she was planning on double crossing him. Peter argues in Gamora’s favor.

Meanwhile, Ronan is summoned to meet Thanos at his at his domain in an asteroid field. Ronan reports to Thanos (Josh Brolin) that Gamora is a traitor, and kills one of Thanos’s underlings for showing disrespect to him. Thanos tells him to take care of her and get the Orb, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t. He also notes that Gamora is his favorite daughter, which angers Nebula.

Back a the Kyln, Gamora has a plan to sell the Orb to someone else. Peter, Rocket, and Groot agree to help and split the reward. Rocket has a plan to escape the prison. He needs one of the guard’s wrist devices, a prisoner’s prosthetic leg and a battery from a tall column in the prison. As he explains that it’s very important to take the battery last, Groot grabs it first. The alarms go off and security droids fly in. Gamora goes to get a wrist device as Peter negotiates for the prisoner’s leg. Drax decides to join in the escape, realizing that eventually Ronan will go after Gamora and then he can kill Ronan himself.

Everyone gets the item they agreed to get, and they all make it to a guard station near the top of the prison. Rocket is surprised that Peter actually got the leg and says that he (Rocket) was only kidding, and he didn’t really need it. Just as it seems that they have run out of time, Rocket rigs up the stuff to turn off the gravity in the prison and to use the security droids as jets to fly the guard station out of the prison. They escape, but Peter leaves the others, telling Rocket that he left something behind. It turns out that he is retrieving his Walkman with the Awesome Mix Tape from one of the guards.

Yondu goes to his broker and finds out Peter still has the Orb. Threatening the broker with his arrow, he gets the man to reveal where Peter might have traveled.

Everyone on Peter’s ship gets to know one another better. They don’t like each other at all. Soon they arrive at Knowhere (a space station built in the severed head of a Celestial) to meet with the Collector. While they wait for their appointment, Drax, Rocket, and Groot get drunk and gamble. Gamora and Peter bond over music. He explains that his mom made him the mix tape of her favorite songs. She listens and likes it. He asks her to dance, but she doesn’t trust him. He says it reminds him of an old fable about other people who didn’t dance, called Footloose. He makes a pass at her, but she says she’s not one of the doe-eyed girls he’s used to and she won’t fall for his pelvic sorcery.

Before they can meet with the Collector, Drax, Rocket, and Groot (all drunk) get into a big fight. Drax thinks Groot is dumb and Rocket is tired of people calling him a rodent. Peter talks them out of fighting. The Collector’s assistant fetches them and they all go to meet him. Drax goes off on his own and makes a call to Ronan.

The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) has a giant assortment of collectibles from all over the galaxy, including Howard the Duck and Cosmo the Soviet space dog. The Collector puts the orb into a kind of lathe, which unscrews the two halves of the Orb to reveal that it’s a capsule for an Infinity Stone. The Collector explains that the Infinity Stones are six singularities created during the Big Bang. There are more of them and they can destroy planets. The Collector’s assistant suddenly grabs the stone, trying to kill him. The Infinity Stone is poisoning her, and then she and everything in the area blow up. Most of the people survive, along with Cosmo. Peter and the others manage to escape with the Orb holding the Infinity Stone. They decide the safest place to take the stone is Nova Headquarters. It’s too dangerous to be anywhere else.

Suddenly the group is ambushed by Ronan and his crew, responding to Drax’s call. Yondu’s Ravager platoon also shows up, having tracked Peter down from the broker. Gamora, Rocket and Quill take off in single passenger ships while Nebula and some of Ronan’s goons chase after them. Drax tries to fight Ronan, but gets beaten up badly.

Nebula chases Gamora’s ship above the atmosphere and blows it up. Nebula gets the Infinity Stone and leaves Gamora floating in space to die. Peter realizes that he can’t allow Gamora to die, so he calls Yondu to tell him where he is, then exits his ship, and floats to Gamora, where he gives her his gas mask to keep her alive.

Yondu arrives and collects Peter and Gamora with a tractor beam right before they can freeze to death. This is where we see that Yondu’s ship is the same ship that abducted Peter as a child.

Meanwhile, onboard the Dark Aster, Ronan tells Thanos that now that he (Ronan) has the Infinity Stone, he can cut Thanos out of the deal. Instead, he will destroy Xandar himself and then go after Thanos. He puts the Infinity Stone into his hammer.

Back on Yondu’s ship, Yondu is going to kill Peter for double-crossing him, but he reconsiders when Peter says that he has a plan to get the Orb back. Meanwhile on Knowhere, Drax, Groot, and Rocket decide to join forces and save Peter and Gamora from Yondu. They fly the Milano to Yondu’s ship and threaten to blow it up with a special weapon Rocket built unless Yondu releases Peter and Gamora. Peter emerges from the crowd aboard Yondu’s ship, and persuades Rocket that he doesn’t need to be rescued.

Now on board the Milano, Peter explains that they must prevent Ronan from touching the Infinity Stone to the ground of Xandar, which will wipe out the planet, and that he has a plan to stop Ronan. The others ask Peter if he really has a plan, or if he was lying. He says he has part of a plan. After much discussion, he says that he has 12% of a plan. Everyone scoffs, except Groot who says (translated by Rocket) that this is more than 11% of a plan. Rocket says that they will most likely die if they try to stop Ronan. Peter points out that they’ve already lost so much, that at this point they have nothing to lose. Slowly, each of them stands up and announces that he will join the fight against Ronan.

Peter warns the Nova Corps that Ronan is coming to destroy them and they should get ready, telling them that they should believe his message, because he’s not 100% a dick.

Rocket’s idea is to blow a hole in Ronan’s ship so Peter, Groot, Drax and Gamora can board it. Gamora is going to cut the power for Ronan’s security and then they’re going to blow him up with a cannon that Rocket made.

They start the plan. Rocket blows a hole in the Dark Aster and then helps Yondu and his men defend Xandar against Ronan’s fighter ships. Yondu is shot down. On the ground, told to surrender, he instead uses his arrow to take out an entire platoon of goons.

On the Dark Aster, Gamora and Nebula get into a big fight, while Drax, Peter and Groot go to the bridge of the ship.

Dozens of Nova ships link together to form a giant net and slow the descent of the Dark Aster. Gamora finally beats Nebula, who falls, landing on a Ravager ship and commandeers it, throwing the Pilot of the ship out the window and flying away. Ronan orders his ships to kamikaze into Xandar. Rocket and Yondu’s men shoot as many of the ships down as they can.

Almost to the bridge, Drax kills Korath. Groot grows a long thin branch and thrashes a large number of Ronan’s men. Eventually, everyone makes it to the bridge to fight Ronan. Again, he’s too strong for them, but Peter manages to shoot Ronan with Rocket’s super cannon, to no avail. Rocket crashes the Milano into the bridge and seems to have destroyed Ronan. The entire ship is plummeting towards Xandar, so Groot forms a giant nest around all of them for safety. Rocket is upset because he knows that what Groot is doing will end up killing him. Groot, who up to this point has only said “I Am Groot,” responds with “We are Groot.”

The ship crashes. Everyone except Groot is okay. Groot is a pile of twigs strewn all about. The battle is not over though, because Ronan is still alive and well. He sarcastically calls Peter and his crew the Guardians of the Galaxy. As he raises his hammer for a final blow, Quill stands up and starts to dance to the song “Ooh-ooh Child,” and challenges Ronan to a dance-off. Ronan is confused, until Peter reveals it was all one big distraction, as Drax and Rocket shoot Ronan’s hammer at Ronan, releasing the Infinity Stone. Peter grabs the stone before Ronan can. Peter starts to be affected in the same way as the Collector’s assistant. Holding the stone is going to kill him, but Gamora tells him to take her hand. He flashes back to when he didn’t have the courage to take his mom’s hand, and he now grabs Gamora’s. Drax and Rocket hold hands with the others, and the power from the Infinity Stone is spread among the four of them, causing a burst of energy that vaporizes Ronan. Rocket collects one of the sticks that was once Groot.

Yondu appears and demands the Stone as per his original deal with Peter. Peter hands him the Orb. As Yondu and his men take off, one of them notes that he likes Peter and he’s glad they didn’t take him back to his dad like they were supposed to all those years ago.

Gamora is upset that Peter gave up the stone. Peter reveals that he switched the Orbs, and he still has the one with the stone.

At Nova HQ, they turn over the Orb that contains the Infinity Stone and Peter learns he’s only half human and half something ancient and unknown. They speculate that his nonhuman genes allowed him to hold the Infinity Stone without dying.

There is a party on Yondu’s ship. His crew is celebrating but Yondu looks suspiciously at the Orb and then decides to open it. In it is a troll doll. He smiles.

Peter finally opens the present his mom gave him before she died. It’s a cassette labeled “Awesome Mix Tape no. 2.” He asks the Guardians where they want to go. Gamora says, “You lead, Star-lord.” He asks if they want something good or something bad. He then decides they should do something that is both. Rocket holds a pot in which he has stuck the stick that he retrieved after Groot’s sacrifice. We can see the face of a tiny Groot on the stick.

End Credits

During the credits, the baby Groot (slightly larger than in the previous scene) dances in his pot to Quill’s 1980s music, with Drax in the background. The baby Groot stops when Drax looks at him, but he starts again when Drax looks away.

In 1989, Jack Toretto (JD Pardo) participates in the last car race of the season, with his sons Dominic (Vinnie Bennett) and Jakob (Finn Cole) in his pit crew. While Jakob works, Dom argues with rival racer Kenny Linder (Jim Parrack) about his dirty tactics. As Jack and Kenny resume the race, Kenny’s car clips Jack’s bumper and causes him to hit a wall and explode, killing him. Dom runs onto the track but is held by Buddy (Michael Rooker), another member of Jack’s crew. Dom and Jakob mourn their father’s death.

In the present, Dom (Vin Diesel) is retired and off the grid, raising his son Brian with his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) arrive with news of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) apprehending Cipher (Charlize Theron), but his plane being attacked and her being extracted by rogue agents. The plane crashed in Montecinto, Central America, and the team asks for his help in investigating the crash site. Dom declines, but Letty agrees. Dom replays the distress signal and realizes Jakob (John Cena) is behind the hijacking. Searching the plane, they find part of a device named Aries, which can hack into any computer weapons system. The team is attacked by a private army and Jakob, who steals the device and escapes. The team rendezvous with Stasiak (Shea Whigham) en route to their safe house.

Back in 1989, after the crash, Kenny Linder pays his respects to Jack. After an altercation with Jakob, he insults and punches Dom, who nearly beats him to death. Dom gets arrested as Jakob watches. In the present, Jakob meets with Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen), his associate. Cipher is held at their base and tries to sway Jakob into working for her, but he declines. She tells him the other half of Aries is in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Dom and the team are joined by Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), who wishes to help, as Jakob is her brother too. Dom is reluctant to put Mia at risk, but she and Letty reassure Dom that their children are safe with Brian. The team debriefs, and they find out that Han (Sung Kang) has been working with Mr. Nobody. The team splits up, with Dom going to LA to meet Buddy.

In 1991, while Dom serves his sentence, he recalls that Jakob was working on Jack’s car the day he died, and realizes that Jakob is responsible for his death. When Dom is released, he goes to the LA street racing scene, where Jakob has been winning every race. Dom confronts and challenges him, in an arrangement that culminates in Jakob leaving town, with only Mia keeping contact with him.

Dom meets with Buddy, who took Jakob in after Jack’s death. Buddy chastizes Dom for taking away Jakob’s family, and tells him to make peace with the past, informing him that Jakob is in London. Dom departs.

Letty and Mia arrive in Tokyo to search for Han, while Roman and Tej arrive in Germany to recruit Sean (Lucas Black), Twinkie (Bow Wow) and Earl Hu (Jason Tobin), who have been working on a rocket car. Dom arrives in London and meets Queenie Shaw (Helen Mirren), who gives him Jakob’s location. Dom confronts Otto, and then Jakob, who tells Dom to leave. Otto has Dom apprehended by Interpol agents. Leysa (Cardi B), an old friend of Dom, helps him escape and gives him Jakob’s gun, so he can track him with his biometric imprints. In Tokyo, Letty and Mia encounter Elle (Anna Sawai) and Han.

Tej, Roman and Ramsey meet up with Dom in Edinburgh, where Jakob is using an electromagnetic field to disrupt security systems in order to steal the second Aries device. Tej and Roman are compromised when they find the magnetic device and fight their way out, with Ramsey commandeering the truck the magnet is attached to while chasing to Otto. Meanwhile, Dom notices Jakob zip-lining between buildings and intercepts him. The two fight throughout the city, while Otto prepares for an extraction, until Ramsey runs his car off the road. Jakob tries to escape by stealing a car, but Dom uses the magnet in the truck to apprehend him.

Otto returns to his base and recruits Cipher. At the Toretto safe house, Jakob is held in a cell. Han reveals that Giselle was a former CIA operative working with Mr. Nobody. Han, grieving over Giselle’s death, was assigned by Mr. Nobody to protect Elle and Aries, as Elle’s DNA is its final component. When Mr. Nobody informed Han that one of his agents went rogue, the two used Deckard Shaw to fake Han’s death, for him to protect Elle. Otto attacks the safe house and frees Jakob, who had been Mr. Nobody’s rogue agent. Jakob also reveals that in 1989, Jack had been in massive debt and was planning to fake his death in the race to give his family a better life. He had Jakob tamper with his car, but the plan went awry, causing the car to explode. Jakob and Otto kidnap Elle and take the second Aries device.

Otto has a satellite launch into orbit, while Jakob has Elle activate the Aries device. They plan to wait for Aries to be uploaded to the satellite, while moving throughout Tbilisi in an armored truck. Dom, Letty, Mia, Ramsey and Han give chase to rescue Elle and stop the upload. As Mia and Han try to breach the truck, Jakob is betrayed by Otto, and is thrown off the truck. Dom and Mia save him, and Jakob uses Mia’s car to escape, but returns to help Dom and Ramsey gain access to the truck. Meanwhile, Tej and Roman enter orbit and destroy the satellite before Aries can be uploaded. Cipher uses a remotely controlled jet to bomb the truck, attempting to kill Dom, but fails, killing Otto instead, as Dom escapes. The truck ricochets into Ciphers plane, destroying it. Cipher escapes.

Jakob arrives in Dom’s car and gives him his keys back. Dom tells him that there will be a lot of people after him, and hands him back the keys. He reconciles with Jakob, forgiving him for his role in their father’s death. Mia tells Jakob she lost him once and she’s not going to lose him again. Jakob takes Dom’s car and escapes. Another spaceship spots Tej and Roman and brings them back to Earth.

Missouri, Planet Earth, 1980

Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock) is riding in a car, listening to tunes on the radio with her boyfriend (Kurt Russell), whom she calls her “spaceman”. They go behind a Dairy Queen and run into the woods where the man shows Meredith a small alien seedling, which he says will eventually be all over the place. He then kisses Meredith.

34 years later.

The Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) are standing on a platform as they try to secure Anulax Batteries from their latest employers, the Sovereigns. The Guardians have their weapons ready as they gear up to battle an interdimensional beast known as the Abilisk. The Abilisk descends, leading the Guardians to spring into action, except for Groot, who is jamming out to “Mr. Blue Sky” on a speaker that Rocket set up, all while the others are trying to annihilate the Abilisk. Drax ends up falling on the speaker, to Groot’s dismay. Since they cannot harm the Abilisk from the outside, Drax tries to kill it from inside by allowing it to swallow him. Star-Lord notices a cut on the monster’s neck and orders Rocket to get it to look up. Gamora then slices the Abilisk downward, killing it and letting Drax spill out of the hole.

The Guardians bring the batteries back to the Sovereigns and meet with their High Priestess, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki). In exchange for the batteries, the Sovereigns deliver Gamora’s sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) to the Guardians so that they can take her to Xandar and collect the bounty for her. Before they leave, Ayesha talks down to the Guardians, but Peter in particular, noting his half-human/half-alien heritage gives him something she deems reckless. The Guardians leave, with Rocket swiping some of the batteries for himself.

On their way to the planet Xandar, the Guardians are suddenly met by a fleet of Sovereign drones, all going after them for the stolen batteries. The others figure it was Rocket that took them, and they’re all pissed off. The drones start attacking as Rocket tries to steer the Milano toward a wormhole that will lead them to another planet. In the distance, another craft passes by and starts to destroy the Sovereign drones. A man appears to stand on his ship and wave to the Guardians. The Guardians escape the drones but must crash-land on a nearby planet.

As the Guardians observe the wreckage of their ship, the other ship that saved them descends. Stepping out is Ego, who reveals himself to be Peter’s father. With him is his empathic assistant Mantis (Pom Klementieff).

On another planet, Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker) and his team of Ravagers have fallen on hard times. He is staying in a nearby hotel (where Howard The Duck is also in attendance). Yondu spots his old comrade Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), who has exiled Yondu from the Ravager team for child trafficking. Among the Ravagers is Taserface (Chris Sullivan), who thinks the Ravagers need a new leader, along with Kraglin (Sean Gunn), who has since also come to question Yondu’s leadership. After Yondu finishes talking to Stakar, the Sovereigns arrive, and Ayesha approaches Yondu with a proposition.

Peter is still in shock to finally be meeting his father. Ego explains that he sent Yondu to pick Peter up after his mother died. Peter still also doesn’t understand why Ego left Meredith in the first place. He invites Peter and his friends to his planet, which Peter is hesitant about until Gamora convinces him to join his father. Peter, Gamora, and Drax go with Ego and Mantis while Rocket and Groot stay behind to fix the Milano and keep an eye on Nebula.

On Ego’s ship, the three talk to Mantis, who shows off her powers by seeing into their minds. She lets everyone know that Peter has sexual feelings for Gamora, which Drax finds hilarious.

The Ravagers come across the woods where the Guardians crash-landed. Most of them end up walking into traps laid out by Rocket until Yondu shows up with his Yaka Arrow controlled through his whistling. The Ravagers get Rocket and Groot, but when Taserface plans to get Peter, Yondu isn’t quite as willing to turn him over. Nebula then breaks the crest on Yondu’s head to knock him out. She aligns herself with the Ravagers as they take Rocket, Groot, and Yondu prisoner.

Ego brings everyone to the planet that literally lives through him, as Ego is a Celestial and his consciousness is the core of the planet. He explains to the three that he came up with a human form to travel the galaxy and he came to Earth and fell in love with Meredith, but could not see her so often because it would take up a lot of his energy. Peter continues to hold hostile feelings for Ego for leaving Meredith alone to die. As Peter grows more emotional, his hands produce powerful energy that is linked to Ego’s own power. Ego shows him how to control and use it.

On the Ravager ship, Taserface and his goons start ejecting those that are still loyal to Yondu, except for Kraglin, who only watches in disbelief as his friends are killed. When Taserface boasts of his greatness and “fearful” name, Rocket only mocks him. Nebula enters and suggests that the Ravagers turn in their captives to the Kree for the bounties on their heads. She also makes other demands, including a new hand. Kraglin brings her to a ship that she uses to get off the Ravager ship and to go find Gamora.

Mantis and Drax form a bond, though Drax continues to remind Mantis that he finds her hideous, but that it is a good thing because he thinks he is hideous as well and still managed to find someone else that loved him for who he is. Mantis says that she needs to tell Drax something important, but Gamora interrupts things and Mantis keeps quiet, instead just taking the two to their rooms.

The Ravagers throw Rocket and Yondu in a cell while they take Groot for their own entertainment. Yondu mentions how he was Kree battle slave before Stakar pulled him out and made him a Ravager. When Rocket asks about why Yondu kept Peter around, he insists it’s because Peter was small enough to fit in spaces where the others couldn’t. The two then resolve to work together to break out of there. They get Groot to come by, and Yondu tells him to get a prototype fin for his head. After bringing a bunch of wrong items, Yondu gets his fin and gets himself and Rocket out. Yondu sends the arrow through every mutinous Ravager they come across, which Rocket and Groot get in on some Ravager ass-kicking themselves. The three board an escape ship with Kraglin, but not before Yondu sets the whole ship to blow up. Taserface gets hit with flames, but he manages to notify Ayesha to Yondu’s whereabouts before he goes down with the ship. The other four must go through 700 jumps to get to Ego’s planet.

Back on Ego’s planet, Peter tries to woo Gamora with his dance moves, but it doesn’t quite work as she cannot bring herself to express her own attraction to him. After she leaves, Gamora then sees Nebula coming down on her ship, shooting at Gamora. As Nebula crash-lands, she jumps out to start fighting Gamora. Nebula manages to overpower Gamora but reveals that she never wanted to prove she was better than her, just that she wanted to have a real sister. Gamora’s success as a warrior led to their father Thanos mutilating Nebula, leading to her resentment of Gamora. The two then form a sort-of alliance as they come across a cavern filled with about a hundred skeletons.

Peter and Ego continue to bond. Ego tells Peter that as long as there is light in the planet, Peter will retain his powers, as well as immortality. Mantis sees that Ego has Peter wrapped around his finger now that he knows about his own powers. She rushes to wake up Drax to warn him that Ego’s true intentions are now clear.

Rocket, Groot, Yondu, and Kraglin make it to their destination. Rocket starts to gloat that he wants to save Peter just to prove he’s better than him and can hang it over his head, but Yondu shuts Rocket up by stating how scared Rocket really is and how he puts on the tough guy thing as a facade. They then set off to take on Ego.

Ego explains to Peter that he wants to make what he calls “The Expansion”. He went around the galaxy to thousands of other worlds to plant the seedlings to grow his power over the galaxy and cover the planets in an extension of himself. He impregnated women from those worlds and produced many children that Yondu delivered to him, but when they did not possess the same power of a Celestial, Ego had them killed, and now their bones are what Gamora and Nebula found. Peter just so happens to hold the power that Ego was looking for. Ego also reveals that he put the tumor that killed Meredith in her head so that he would not feel the pain of being apart from her. Peter snaps out of it and begins to unload his guns on Ego in fury. In response, Ego takes Peter and controls him to start spreading the seedlings across the planets, causing mass destruction. To top it off, Ego crushes Peter’s Walkman and Awesome Mix Volume 2 that his mother left him.

Rocket, Groot, and Yondu meet up with Gamora, Drax, Nebula, and Mantis as they gear up to stop Ego. Unfortunately, they are also met by a fleet of Sovereigns out to kill them as well. Peter fights Ego’s human form, but his entire planet self fights back. Mantis is able to put Ego to sleep while the Guardians take care of the others. They fight back against the Sovereigns and eventually destroy their whole fleet with a bunch of lasers. Meanwhile, Rocket builds a bomb using the batteries he stole, which Groot takes and runs off with, despite Rocket warning him not to push the wrong button or else they’ll all die. Mantis gets knocked out by a fireball, breaking her hold on Ego and reawakening him. As the others try to get safe, Ego begins to consume them. Peter continues fighting his father using his Celestial powers. Now freed, Groot then finds Ego’s brain in the planet’s core, and he sets the bomb to go off in five minutes.

Drax carries Mantis to the ship while Gamora and Nebula make it back. Rocket gives his last spacesuit to Yondu, knowing he cannot save both him and Peter. Gamora tries to go back, but Rocket stops her so he doesn’t lose another friend. Ego pleads with Peter to stop the bomb, or else Peter will just be a normal human. Peter sees nothing wrong with that and lets the bomb go off. Ego’s human form disintegrates as the rest of the planet starts to explode. Yondu flies by and grabs Peter. As they leave the planet’s atmosphere, Yondu puts the suit on Peter to save him. He tells Peter that while Ego was his father, he was never his daddy. Yondu then starts to freeze up in space, and Peter sadly watches him die.

The Guardians prepare to give Yondu a proper Ravager funeral. Kraglin gives Peter a Zune to make up for his lost Walkman, which Yondu had been meaning to give him for a while. In return, Peter gives Kraglin Yondu’s arrow, feeling that Yondu would have wanted him to take it. Nebula sets off to hunt Thanos down herself, but not before reconciling with Gamora. Mantis decides to stay with the Guardians. As Yondu’s body goes out into space, the Guardians see dozens of other Ravager ships arriving to pay their respects to Yondu.

There are five end credits scenes that follow:

Kraglin tries to practice using Yondu’s arrow. He doesn’t quite get the hang of it, and he ends up sticking Drax with it.

Stakar honors Yondu’s sacrifice by forming his own team with Martinex T’Naga (Michael Rosenbaum), Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), Starhawk (Michelle Yeoh), and Mainframe (Miley Cyrus).

Ayesha and her Sovereign chambermaid discuss their new plan to take down her enemies. Ayesha is seen sitting by a birthing pod, waiting to break out whatever is inside to use against the Guardians. She decides to call her new creation “Adam” (as in, Adam Warlock).

Groot is now a teenager. Peter scolds him for leaving his roots lying around, but Groot just mocks him and plays video games.

Over a decade after the events of the first film, the film begins with Jake Sully narrating his modest and peaceful life as Chief of the Omaticaya Clan and raising a family with his wife Neytiri, which includes his sons Neteyam and Lo’ak and his daughter Tuk, his adopted daughter Kiri (born from Grace Augustine’s comatose Na’vi avatar), and a human boy named Spider, the son of Miles Quaritch who was born on Pandora but was unable to be transported to Earth in cryostasis as an infant. While Jake is able to accept Spider as an adopted son, Neytiri is distrustful of him given his human origins. However, all the children mingle and socialize well with each other including Spider, whom Kiri is affectionate with even though he is a human. Spider does not embrace his human heritage and feels more inclined to Na’vi culture and traditions. They lead a normal life until one day they notice a strange star in the night sky. Much to their dismay, they realize its a RDA space-ship with humans returning to Pandora to colonize it, erecting a new main operating base yet again, causing significant destruction to Pandora. Among the new arrivals in the ship is Colonel Quaritch, who has been cloned into a Na’vi body and with his memories uploaded from before his death. As a result, Quaritch is unable to remember his demise at the hands of Jake but is only able to recollect the events in the past and his vengeful mission to eliminate Jake.

To prevent the RDA from exploiting Pandora again, Jake leads a strategic guerrilla operation against the RDA supply lines weakening them. In one of the operations, Lo’ak who disobeys Neteyam and is eager to prove himself as a Na’vi warrior, tries to assist Jake in battle but is wounded. Jake rescues and disciplines him to not endanger his own safety by being reckless. That night, while tending to his wounds, Neytri calmly reminds Jake to be not too hard on Lo’ak, to which Jake expresses his concern as a father for the safety of his children. Meanwhile, the retaliatory strike on the RDA supply lines doesn’t sit well with Quaritch who initiates a search mission to kill Jake. During a playful venture, Jake’s children along with Spider explore deeper into the rainforest. Unbeknownst to them, Quaritch and his team are in the vicinity exploring the site where Quaritch discovers his human remains. An observant Lo’ak notices their presence and quickly informs Jake. A skirmish ensues and Quaritch’s squad captures Jake’s children. Jake and Neytiri arrive in time and free most of them, but Spider is taken by Quaritch, who recognizes him as his son. Aboard the ship, the RDA tries to coerce information about Jake from Spider whom refuses. Changing strategy, Quaritch addresses Spider as his son and also to explain more about the Na’vi in exchange for his freedom on his side. Although un-cooperative and unaware of Quaritch’s actual mission, Spider teaches Quaritch about Na’vi culture. Quaritch is also successfully able to tame an Ikran flying creature as his vehicle.

Knowing the danger Spider’s knowledge of his whereabouts poses to their safety and also to avoid another catastrophe, Jake convinces a reluctant Neytri and his family to banish themselves from the Omaticaya Clan and retreat to the eastern seaboard of Metkayina, a coral reef island whose clan and lifestyle is adapted to Pandora’s aquatic habitat. Jake passes on his chief mantle to his successor and leaves together with his family to Metkayina. Once arrived, they are greeted by the clan chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal who is doubtful of them initially. However, Jake explains their situation and they are agreed to stay and given shelter. Even though some tribesmen deride Jake and his children for their genetic human heritage, the family learns the ways of the reef people earning the respect of them. Kiri is fascinated with the aquatic life of Metkayina and develops a spiritual bond with the sea and its creatures, while Lo’ak befriends Tsireya, the daughter of clan chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal.

While adapting to their new environment, Lo’ak gets into a fight with Tsireya’s brother Aonung when he makes a crude joke about Kiri and him of their mixed human lineage. Jake admonishes his son for his behavior. At Jake’s insistence, Lo’ak returns to apologize to Aonung and his friends. However, they entice him to a trip into the territory of a dangerous sea predator, the akula, and leave him stranded in revenge. The akula tries to attack Lo’ak. However, Lo’ak is saved by and befriends Payakan, a tulkun, an intelligent and pacifistic cetacean species whom the Metkayina consider their spiritual family. Lo’ak is able to communicate with Payakan through signing and removes an old harpoon head from the beast’s right fin. Upon his return to Metkayina, Chief Tonowari, who became aware of Aonung’s tricking of Lo’ak, asks the former to apologize to Lo’ak, However, Lo’ak takes the blame himself, winning Aonung’s friendship. He is also told that Payakan is an outcast among his species. Meanwhile, on a trip to an offshoot of the Tree of Souls, Kiri links with it to meet her mother, but suffers a violent seizure. She is healed by Ronal, but when Jake calls Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help, Quaritch is able to track them to the archipelago where the reef people live. Bringing Spider with him, he commandeers a whaling vessel which is hunting tulkuns to harvest their brain enzymes for creating anti-aging remedies. Quaritch begins to brutally question the indigenous tribes about Jake’s location; failing that, he orders the whaling crew to wantonly kill the tulkuns in order to draw Jake out. Lo’ak mentally links with Payakan and learns that the tulkun was cast out because he went against the ways of his species and attacked the whalers who killed his mother.

When the Metkayina learn of the tulkun slaughters, Lo’ak takes off to warn Payakan, followed by his siblings, Tsireya and Aonung. They find Payakan being chased by the whalers, and Lo’ak, Kiri and Tuk are captured by Quaritch. With their children in danger, Jake, Neytiri and the Metkayina set out to confront the humans. Quaritch forces Jake to surrender; but seeing his soul brother imperiled, Payakan attacks the whalers, triggering a fight which kills most of the crew and critically damages the vessel, causing it to sink. Neteyam rescues Lo’ak and Spider, but is fatally shot. Jake faces Quaritch, who uses Kiri as a hostage. When Neytiri does the same with Spider, Quaritch at first denies his son, but desists when Neytiri cuts Spider on the chest.

An inbound Los Angeles Blue Line train pulls in to Firestone light rail station, and professional thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) exits, disguised as a paramedic. He enters a nearby hospital, where the uniform allows him to walk through the emergency room unnoticed. He registers the activity going on around him as he travels down the hall holding a clipboard, acting like just another employee as he drives off in a Goodhew ambulance.

At a construction supplier, one of Neil’s associates, Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), purchases some explosive charges, showing a valid driver’s license, and pays in cash when the clerk asks him how he wants to pay.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a robbery-homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, after having sex with his wife Justine (Diane Verona), leaves for work. Just after he leaves, his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Lauren (Natalie Portman), suffers a slight breakdown in front of her mother while she’s preparing to meet her father.

This same day, Neil, Shiherlis, and three other men, Trejo (Danny Trejo), Waingro (Kevin Gage), and Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore), carry out the robbery of a Gage armored car. Neil and Shiherlis, wearing paramedic uniforms, station the stolen ambulance on Venice Boulevard just east of the Interstate 10/Interstate 110 overpass. While this happens, Waingro is picked up at a café by Cheritto in a stolen green big rig tow truck. As they drive towards the scheduled ambush point, Waingro tries to make conversation with Cheritto, who merely asks for him to shut up. Waingro is quite agitated at the order. They park their truck underneath the highway at a 90 degree angle to the street. Trejo tails the armored car as it leaves the depot and radios in its location as it gets closer to them.

When Trejo radios back that the armored car is 300 yards away, Neil, Shiherlis, Cheritto and Waingro slip on hockey goalie masks to conceal their faces. They then move their vehicles into position. Neil puts the ambulance in drive, activates the lights and siren, and starts to execute a three-point turn to block the armored car as it approaches from the west on Venice Boulevard, while Cheritto floors the gas pedal of the tow truck. The armored car stops, its path obstructed by Neil. The two guards in the back are reading their newspapers, oblivious to what is about to happen. As he waits, the driver looks left and his eyes go wide when he sees the tow truck bearing down on him. The tow truck rams the armored car at full speed, and the impact partially caves in the truck’s grille, while the armored car turns over and slides 50 feet on its passenger side into a car dealership parking lot.

As the dust settles, the robbers climb out of their vehicles carrying assault rifles and pistols and take up positions around the overturned truck as one of the guards makes a radio call for help. Hearing a dispatch call for a “211” (armed robbery) on his police scanner, Trejo radios to the others that they have three minutes, and Neil starts a stopwatch. Shiherlis sets off an explosive charge to blow open the back doors. Neil and Cheritto then climb into the armored car and drag out the now-deaf and shaken guards, and hand them over to Waingro, who holds the them at bay on the sidewalk with a pistol. While Neil and Cheritto cover the street, Trejo runs a spike strip across the street to stop any police that pursue them, and Shiherlis searches the truck for several envelopes. When Neil yells that they have eighty seconds remaining on the clock, Waingro suddenly gets aggressive and pistol-whips the first guard, who can’t hear Waingro’s order to back up. Cheritto harshly admonishes Waingro, calling him “Slick.”

Once Shiherlis has found the specific envelope the crew is after, he exits the back of the truck and the men begin to head back to the ambulance and move out. Waingro mutters something about the guard challenging him and suddenly shoots the first guard in the face, killing him instantly. The second guard tries to reach for a backup revolver in his ankle holster, but Neil shoots him with an automatic rifle. The guard is thrown back against the armored car and crumples dead. Cheritto holds his rifle on the last guard, looking to Neil with approval. With a slight nod from Neil, Cheritto aims his rifle at the guard, and shoots him twice in the chest. He then steps forward and shoots the guard again in the head. They then run back to the ambulance, removing their masks as Trejo drives. Neil is quite angry at Waingro for shooting the 1st guard, Waingro insisting the man was making a move to stop them.

As the crew speeds away from the scene, the first police cars come speeding towards the scene from the other direction. The first three units are unable to see the spike strip in time, blow out their tires, and crash into each other. The police officers jump out of the cars and run over, frantically signalling the units right behind them to stop just in the nick of time. As the police descend on the area, Neil and his crew pile out of the ambulance a few blocks away and climb into a nearby station wagon. Shiherlis plants a firebomb in the back of the ambulance that destroys their weapons and gear as they drive away.

That evening, Neil meets in a parking garage with Nate (Jon Voight), his money-laundering expert. Nate tells Neil that the envelope they stole contains hundreds of millions in bearer bonds from a company called Malibu Equity & Investments, owned by a crooked entrepreneur named Roger Van Zant (William Fichtner). Nate agrees to set up a meeting where Van Zant will send someone with cash to exchange for the bonds. Nate tells Neil of another job offered by a man named Kelso, that will bring in at least $10 million. Neil agrees to meet with Kelso (Tom Noonan). Nate also asks Neil what went wrong with the heist, but Neil refuses to talk about it.

At the scene of the heist, Hanna arrives and begins investigating. With Hanna are his team of detectives, Detective Casals (Wes Studi), Detective Bosko (Ted Levine), Sgt. Drucker, (Mykelti Williamson) and Det. Schwartz (Jerry Trimble). The vehicles left at the scene of the robbery have been identified - the big rig was reported stolen out of Fresno two weeks earlier and Trejo’s pickup truck out of Whittier two days prior to the robbery. Other than that, there are no leads – only a nickname, “Slick”, dropped by Cheritto, was heard by a homeless man across the street. Hanna is able to recount the heist itself quite accurately, noting that those who committed it are definitely professionals. He orders his team to begin talking to their informants and fences to find out who might be handling the money. He also charges Casals with running the name “Slick” as an alias to the FBI, knowing that it likely won’t lead anywhere but wants it checked anyway.

At a truck stop diner in a different part of town, the rest of the crew and Waingro wait for Neil, who shows up. He tells them all that Waingro has forfeited his share of the heist and he beats him briefly in full view of the other diners. Neil is nervous because of the killings of the three guards which will warrant a deeper investigation by the LAPD’s robbery/homicide unit. As they all leave, Neil suddenly hits Waingro, and throws him to the pavement with the intention of killing him. He is about to shoot Waingro with his pistol when Cheritto yells for him to stop. He has spotted a police car on the street. They watch nervously, hoping the police officers haven’t noticed them. There is a sigh of relief when the police car suddenly activates its lights and siren, makes a u-turn, and drives away. When Neil looks back, Waingro has vanished. He and the others search the immediate area, but find no sign of him.

At his home, Chris gets into a heated argument with his wife, Charlene (Ashley Judd) about the amount of money he’s brought home from the heist – it’s considerably less than Charlene was expecting. Chris tells her he’d paid off his bookies. When she challenges him on his gambling problem, he tells her she can leave and storms out.

The next morning, Hanna and Drucker bust in on the chop shop of Albert Torena (Ricky Harris), one of Hanna’s informants. After a tense conversation where Hanna intimidates Albert and threatens him with jail time, Albert tells Hanna that his brother Richard will meet with Neil at a club in Koreatown at 2 AM with a possible lead in the case.

Neil meets with Nate’s associate, Kelso (Tom Noonan). Kelso tells Neil about a new potential heist - the main downtown branch of the Far East National Bank collects hard currency for distribution to its other branches. On certain days of the week, the bank holds at least $10 million. Neil scoffs at the idea at first; it would be impossible for his team to rob the bank without at least one employee setting off an alarm that the police would respond to rapidly. Kelso, a computer hacker himself, tells Neil that he knows how to reprogram the alarm system to shut itself down 15 minutes before they arrive. Neil agrees to take the job and Nate gives him Van Zant’s business number.

Neil returns to his Spartan oceanside apartment and finds Chris sleeping on his living room floor. Neil makes him coffee and asks him what’s going wrong with his personal life and his marriage. Chris explains a few things and Neil reminds him of an inmate they knew in Folsom who’s longtime mantra was not to have anything serious enough in their personal lives that they can’t leave behind in a hurry (“30 seconds flat”) if they know they’ll be caught as criminals. Neil tells Chris they’re going to get their money from Van Zant for the bearer bonds they’d stolen and then take Kelso’s bank job.

Neil sets up arrangements to transfer the bonds. A few days after the armored car robbery, he calls Roger Van Zant at a payphone and tells him to have one of his employees call him back with an arranged meeting point to exchange the bearer bonds for cash. While he’s on hold, Neil notices Charlene (Ashley Judd), Shiherlis’ wife, at a cheap hotel with another man, Alan Marciano (Hank Azaria). One of Van Zant’s bookies calls back to inform Neil that the meeting will be tomorrow at a drive-in movie theater. Afterward, Neil confronts Charlene, warning her to give Chris one last chance.

Hanna goes to the club in Koreatown Torena mentioned, and talks to Richard who tells him that he was incarcerated with a man whom he saw outside prison recently who pulls off large heists, getting Cheritto’s name. He calls his unit immediately and tells them to set up extensive surveillance on everyone Cheritto associates with.

Neil goes to the drive-in theater where Van Zant has arranged to make the exchange. The drop man arrives shortly thereafter in a pickup truck. Neil orders the driver to hold his hands up to prove that he is not holding any weapons, and then instructs the man to toss the package with his right hand into Neil’s shotgun seat. Unbeknownst to Neil, an assassin armed with a machine pistol is hiding in the back of the pickup and preparing to kill him.

As the assassin creeps up to the passenger’s side window of Neil’s car and aims his gun, Shiherlis, armed with a rifle and stationed on the rooftop of the projection building, spots him and gives Neil a warning through his headset. The next moments happen in an instant: Neil looks in his rear-view mirror, sees the assassin, and instantly floors the car in reverse, crushing the assassin against the pickup and injuring his leg. Shiherlis rolls over once, aims his rifle, and fires at the pickup truck. Bullets hit the windshield, splintering it, and the truck pulls forward. The assassin, struggling to regain his footing, fires a wild burst at Neil’s car, and Neil fires back through his windshield with his pistol. Now with a clean opening, Shiherlis draws a bead on the assassin and shoots him in the back. The hit spins the assassin around, at which point Neil fires another round that hits him in the chest, before his car runs over the assassin, killing him. Just as the driver is about to reach the exit, Cheritto steps out from behind the fence and kills him by emptying a shotgun into the truck. The now driverless and bullet-riddled truck rolls to a stop against the berm. As they leave, Neil examines the package and finds nothing but scrap paper. Neil later calls Van Zant and tells him to forget about the payment and very slyly threatens to kill him.

What Neil, Shiherlis and Cheritto do not realize is that in this time, Waingro has started to work for Van Zant. Nor do they know that the guard Waingro shot in the armored car robbery is not Waingro’s first victim: he is a serial killer who kills young prostitutes. Later, while at a party with his fellow detectives, Hanna is called away to a motel where one of Waingro’s victims has been found stuffed into a garbage can by a pool. Hanna is exasperated upon learning that the dead girl’s family has shown up. When the distraught mother arrives, Hanna stops her from seeing her daughter’s body and holds her while she wails.

Neil and his men begin to pull another heist at a precious metals repository. Cheritto deactivates the alarm system above the ground on a utility pole and Shiherlis begins to crack a safe inside, while Neil himself stands guard out front watching for trouble. Across the street, hidden in moving vans, Hanna, his detectives, and a SWAT team, observe the scene, watching Neil stand guard, on infrared monitoring equipment. While they watch, one of the SWAT team members in Hanna’s van sits down, banging his rifle against the wall of the truck. Neil, standing watch outside, hears the noise. He looks right in the direction of the police surveillance trucks. Realizing they’re being watched, he quickly enters the repository and orders Shiherlis and Cheritto to withdraw, to Shiherlis’ chagrin. The three men leave empty-handed and Hanna orders the SWAT officers on the stakeout to let the crew go, as he knows that simple breaking-and-entering would carry a shorter sentence than outright theft would.

A short time later, Hanna and his team observe Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis seemingly casing another job near a shipyard. When Neil and his guys leave, Hanna and his men go to the scene and try to figure out what Neil’s next heist will be. They determine that there’s nothing worth stealing from any of the businesses in the immediate area. Suddenly, Hanna has an epiphany; he realizes that Neil’s casing of the area was a ruse to lure himself and his crew out in the open. Neil, from a high vantage point on a cargo crane, takes pictures of the detectives with a high-powered camera. With the pictures, Neil is able, through Nate, to identify Hanna and his men. When Neil meets with Nate to pick up the schematics for Kelso’s bank heist, Nate tells him about Vincent, who has a long and successful history of taking down major criminals and that Vincent “admires” Neil. Neil decides that the heist is still worth the risk.

Vincent returns to his house & finds that his wife is gone. Vincent decides to join a surveillance team trailing Neil in unmarked cars and a helicopter on an LA freeway. Vincent is taken to one of the ground units and pulls Neil over, seemingly on a routine traffic violation. He cheerfully invites Neil to join him at a nearby restaurant where they both reflect on their own personal lives. During their meeting Hanna says that while he may not like it, he will kill McCauley if need be to prevent the latter from killing an innocent. McCauley points out the “flip side” by saying that he will not hesitate to kill if the cops box him in. McCauley also explains the purpose of his “30 seconds” creed by saying he never wants to go back to prison.

The best-laid plans of the thieves for the bank heist are being secretly thwarted behind the scenes by Waingro. Waingro has been laying low since Neil’s attempt on his life at the truck stop; he eventually meets Van Zant after looking for criminal work in a biker bar after one of his prostitute killings. Waingro leads Van Zant to Trejo, who calls Neil and tells him that the police are following him. Neil tells Trejo to head in the opposite direction to throw the police off them. When Neil receives the call, he, Shiherlis and Cheritto are eating at a local diner. Neil has just spotted an old prison friend of his behind the grill - an ex-con named Donald Breedan (Dennis Haysbert), who is currently frustrated with his job as a short-order cook, especially since the manager is a jerk who treats him like dirt and extorts part of his pay. Neil approaches Breedan and offers to give him the job of getaway driver as a last-minute substitute for Trejo. Given how much he hates his boss, Breedan simply cannot refuse Neil’s offer and quits, pausing momentarily to throw his slimy and oppressive boss to the floor.

With his wife being beaten and raped by Waingro and Van Zant’s crew, Trejo is forced to reveal Neil’s latest plans. One of Van Zant’s subordinates, a police informant named Hugh Benny (Henry Rollins), then tips off the police as to which bank Neil plans to hit.

At 11:30 A.M., Neil’s enters the Far East National Bank downtown. While Breedan waits in the car, Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis take up strategic positions inside the bank’s lobby wearing business suits to hide their weapons and spare magazines. They enter through different doors to avoid raising suspicion. Once inside the lobby, they take up positions near lobby guards. Neil and Cheritto station themselves at either end of the lobby, while Shiherlis waits in line at a teller’s desk.

Cheritto gives a small cough, signaling for him and Neil to slip on their ski masks. At that point, Shiherlis sets down a briefcase at the teller’s desk, then suddenly whirls around and hits the guard closest to him with a small sap, and tackles him to the floor. Simultaneously, Neil and Cheritto whip out assault rifles, order everyone in the bank to get on the floor, and disarm the other guards by binding their hands behind their backs with zip ties and then removing their service weapons. Neil stands atop the teller windows and informs the customers that they are not going to be hurt and they won’t lose their own money because it’s insured by the federal government. He then punches an uncooperative bank manager in the mouth, grabs the man’s vault key, and hands it to Shiherlis. While Neil and Cheritto guard the lobby, Shiherlis unlocks the double doors to the vault, unloads a set of empty gym bags, and begins packing the money into them. The money sheets are packed so tightly that Shiherlis has to cut the wrapping open with a folding knife to fit them in. Shiherlis loads three bags, each one containing $4 million - two for Neil and one for himself. Neil relays one bag over to Cheritto in the lobby, who removes his ski mask, dons a set of sunglasses and begins to walk out.

Meanwhile, at LAPD headquarters, a detective receives a phone call from Hugh Benny about Neil and his crew planning to rob the bank and quickly relays it to Casals who shouts out the location and all of the officers, Hanna included, race to the bank. When they arrive, they see that Neil and his crew have already begun to exit the bank. Hanna orders everyone to capture them in the car and to watch their backgrounds if they have to begin shooting.

At the bank, Neil and his crew quietly leave the bank carrying their bags over their shoulders. Cheritto walks across the plaza to the getaway car where Breedan waits, climbs into the backseat, and laughs as he pats Breedan’s shoulder. Once Cheritto has gotten into the car, Neil walks across the plaza and climbs into the shotgun seat.

The last to cross the plaza is Shiherlis. Just as Shiherlis reaches the getaway car, a U-Haul truck moves and he spots an armed Drucker and Casals standing across the street. Shiherlis immediately raises his rifle and opens fire on Drucker and Casals. As bystanders dive for cover, Hanna and Bosko, stationed just up the sidewalk, open fire on Shiherlis. Cheritto fires a burst out the left passenger window, and Shiherlis turns and fires at Hanna and Bosko. Despite wearing a bulletproof vest, Bosko suddenly falls when a bullet hits him in the neck and is killed almost instantly. Shiherlis then gets into the car as Hanna checks Bosko’s pulse. Breedan starts to pull away from the curb, tires screeching, as Shiherlis fires a burst out the rear window.

Drucker and Casals break cover and run down the street. Cheritto fires at them through a side window. Seeing a police roadblock forming ahead of them, Neil fires through the front windshield. Sprinting to the street corner, Drucker raises his shotgun and shoots out the getaway car’s left rear tire. As Breedan tries to regain control of the car, Drucker and Casals open up on the car. Breedan is killed when a bullet strikes him in the head, and the getaway car rear-ends an abandoned vehicle. Neil, Shiherlis and Cheritto get out of their car as police officers behind the roadblock begin firing pistols and shotguns at them, and open fire.

Hanna and his remaining detectives, pursuing on foot, fire on the three robbers from behind as they exchange fire with the police officers, whose only cover is a chain of six police cars. Several of the officers manning the roadblock are wounded. Neil, Cheritto and Shiherlis fire back at Hanna’s men, providing suppressing fire for each other as they advance up the street, while the others shoot at the blockade, riddling the police cars with bullet holes. Cheritto manages to shoot one of Hanna’s other detectives, Schwartz (Jerry Trimble), and becomes separated from Neil and Shiherlis. Shiherlis reaches the roadblock first, and while firing at a police car has failed to check to his left. Casals spots Chris and shoots him in the shoulder. Neil fires another suppressing burst at the police cars, bringing down another officer, then slings the wounded Shiherlis over his shoulder and carries him toward a grocery store parking lot.

As Neil makes his way across the parking lot, two officers - one carrying a shotgun and another carrying a pistol - come running around the corner. Neil fires a burst at the officers. At that point, Hanna comes running around. Neil fires another burst, and the shotgun-wielding officer is hit in the chest. Hanna is pinned down as Neil continues firing at him. With a clean opening, he fires four times at Neil, but misses. Neil promptly returns fire, and Hanna is unable to fire back because of civilians running around in front of him trying to avoid Neil’s gunfire. By the time he has a clean aim, Hanna can only watch as Neil puts Shiherlis into the backseat of an abandoned station wagon, climbs into the front seat, backs out onto the street (pushing another car with it), and drives off.

Hanna hears more shots and takes off running towards the sound. The noise is Cheritto, who is being chased by Drucker and Casals. As Cheritto exchanges fire with them, Hanna arrives. As bystanders flee a nearby plaza, a little girl remains behind. Cheritto then trips in a water fountain, gets back up, and grabs the little girl as a human shield. He then opens fire on Drucker and Casals with his rifle. Hanna runs over, takes up a position behind Cheritto, and draws a bead on him. Hanna waits until Cheritto turns around towards him, giving him a clean aim. When Cheritto turns around, he has only a split second to realize he has forgotten to check his surroundings before Hanna fires, the bullet hitting Cheritto flush in the forehead, killing him instantly. Hanna then grabs the little girl and carries her away as Drucker, Casals, and two uniformed officers run up to the fallen Cheritto and train their weapons on him.

Neil takes Chris to a cooperative doctor named Bob (Jeremy Piven), who treats Chris’ wound. Neil arranges for Nate to pick Chris up and keep him hidden until Neil can find another way for them to escape LA - Neil doesn’t trust the “out” he’d already arranged and has to find a new way to leave town which could take several hours for Nate to arrange. Chris is heavily sedated after having his wound treated but tells Neil he won’t leave without Charlene. Neil tells him to seriously consider the idea because of the high risk. Neil also tells him that he believes it was Trejo who betrayed them and he has to find him.

Neil goes to Trejo’s house with the intent to kill him, only to find he’s too late: Trejo lies severely beaten and dying and his wife already dead. In his final moments, Trejo tells Neil that Waingro and Van Zant are responsible. Trejo inquires into his wife’s whereabouts, and Neil informs him that she is dead. Distraught over his wife’s death, Trejo tells Neil, “Don’t leave me like this”. Respecting Trejo’s final wishes, Neil mercifully kills him and goes to Van Zant’s house, where Van Zant is watching a hockey game. As he’s watching, he is startled when Neil throws a patio chair through the living room window, shattering it. Neil trains his pistol on Van Zant and demands to know Waingro’s whereabouts. When Van Zant claims he doesn’t know, Neil shoots him dead.

Meanwhile, the police move Charlene and her son Dominic to a safe house. Sgt. Drucker explains that Charlene will be charged as an accessory to her husband and serve jail time if she refuses to turn him over to the police. Drucker also informs her that her son will become a foster child and more prone to a criminal life if she will not cooperate. Shiherlis, slightly recovered from the bullet wound he received from Casals, eventually shows up, sporting a new hairstyle to disguise his identity. However, despite their marital problems, his wife surreptitiously warns him that the police are present. The two share one last emotional look before Chris gets back in his car. He comes close to being caught as he passes a police checkpoint, but a fake ID card shows that he has a different identity and Drucker orders Chris to be let go.

Neil inadvertently breaks his “30 seconds” creed by asking his new girlfriend Eady, who he met while researching the precious metals heist, to flee the country with him. Nate had made prior arrangements for the two to escape to New Zealand; however, upon receiving a tip concerning Waingro’s whereabouts from Nate (thanks to Nate’s police contacts), Neil makes the impulsive decision to kill him in his hotel room, which is near the airport. After setting off the hotel’s emergency alarm to clear the area, Neil breaks in and executes Waingro by shooting him twice in the chest and once in the head, then escapes after disarming a stakeout detective.

Having beaten further information out of Hugh Benny, Hanna finds out where Waingro is staying and had one of his detectives leak Waingro’s location to other snitches, bail bondsmen and criminals on the street in the hope that Neil would go for him. From a distance, Hanna spots Eady calmly waiting in Neil’s car. Recalling the “30 seconds” discussion that he and Neil had at the coffee shop (during which Neil mentioned his girlfriend), Hanna becomes suspicious and approaches Eady. At that moment, Neil emerges from the building and begins heading for his car, only to realize that Hanna has spotted him. Hanna grabs a shotgun and begins moving towards Neil. At this critical and emotional moment, Neil defaults to his “30 seconds” rule and abandons Eady; he disappears into the crowd with Hanna in pursuit.

Part 1: Everything

Evelyn Wang (Yeoh) is a Chinese-American woman who runs a struggling laundromat with her husband, Waymond (Quan). The business is being audited by the IRS, which has caused rising tensions on the eve of the Chinese New Year. Furthermore, her father, Gong Gong (Hong), has just arrived from China and is living with them. As she sorts the receipts on the dining room table before their IRS appointment, she does not notice Waymond’s attempts to serve her divorce papers. Her daughter, Joy (Hsu), and her girlfriend, Becky (Medel), arrive, as Joy is meant to help breach any language differences at the IRS meeting. Evelyn is still struggling to accept her daughter’s lesbianism and is reluctant to introduce Becky to Gong Gong. After he comes down the stairs into the laundromat while she is dealing with a customer, Evelyn introduces Becky as Joy’s “good friend,” causing them to storm out.

In the IRS building elevator, Waymond’s personality changes when he is briefly taken over by a version of himself from the “Alpha Universe.” Upon being connected to a headset, Evelyn sees an overview of important moments from her life: her father’s disappointment at having a daughter, meeting Waymond, her family renouncing her for marrying him, buying the laundromat, and having Joy. Alpha Waymond explains that every decision creates a new parallel universe and that they may be in danger, then he gives her a list of instructions on the back of the divorce papers. Sitting down with IRS Inspector, Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Curtis), the Wangs are scolded about their stacks of receipts and tax-deducted items. In accordance with Alpha Waymond’s instructions, Evelyn swaps her shoes to the opposite feet, imagines herself in the janitor closet, and then clicks the green button on her headset. She is pulled backwards into the closet where Alpha Waymond awaits to further explain that she is an important woman in his universe that discovered “verse-jumping.” Before he finishes his explanation, however, Evil Deidre pulls him through the door and breaks his neck. Back in the real world, Deirdre agrees to allow them another chance to turn their receipts in again by 6pm, but fearing another attack, Evelyn punches her in the face. Furthermore, she realizes that her instructions were written on the back of divorce papers that Waymond had already filled out. Alpha Waymond returns to fight off the security guards and take them to the break room. He explains that they are being chased by Jobu Tupaki, a woman whose mind was overloaded and splintered after being pushed too hard by Alpha Evelyn. Now she can verse-jump and manipulate matter at will, but has become a being of pure chaos and evil.

Alpha Waymond explains that verse-jumpers can access skills, memories, and bodies of their parallel universe counterparts by performing a statistically improbable action that slingshots them towards that universe. Upon being attacked in the stairwell by Evil Deirdre, Evelyn is able to tap into a universe in which she did not meet Waymond and instead became a kung fu master and movie star. She is able to fight off Evil Deirdre, but Jobu Tupaki approaches and Alpha Waymond is knocked out. It is revealed that Jobu is actually Alpha Joy, and she kills all of the security guards sent to arrest Evelyn. Jobu shows Evelyn the “everything bagel” black hole that she has created with which she can potentially destroy the multiverse. Alpha Gong Gong arrives before Evelyn is sucked into the black hole, but he wants to kill Evelyn to prevent her mind from further fracturing. Waymond and Joy return to themselves and are confused by their predicament, which Evelyn futilely attempts to explain. Alpha Gong Gong tries to get Evelyn to kill Joy, but she refuses, instead opting to become more like Jobu so that she may have enough power to defeat her. Alpha Gong Gong calls all of the nearby verse-jumpers to come kill Evelyn, but she is able to use the skills and memories from her multiverse selves to defeat them all. Unfortunately, Alpha Waymond is killed by Jobu in the Alphaverse before he is able to kiss Evelyn goodbye. Right after, Evelyn’s mind fractures from the stress of splintering herself and she dies.

Part 2: Everywhere

Evelyn’s mind splinters across the multiverse and she witnesses many bizarre universes: one where she spins signs for a living, one where she has hot dog fingers and is dating Deirdre, and one where a fellow teppanyaki chef is controlled by a raccoon. Jobu once again finds Evelyn and explains that she is not trying to kill her. Instead, she created the “everything bagel” to destroy herself because she is tired of never being present in any one universe; she merely wanted someone to accompany her into the unknown. Evelyn stares into the bagel and accepts Jobu’s nihilistic view that “nothing matters.” She begins being cruel and uncaring in other universes, including using her loved ones, disregarding her responsibilities, and even stabbing Waymond. She nearly accepts Jobu’s offer to enter the bagel, but stops when she hears Waymond still fighting for her. In every universe, even when she hurts him, he defends and cleans up after her. He explains that his optimism is not naivete, but rather a conscious choice to be kind, since “that is how [he] fights.” Evelyn resolves to fight more like him and defeats Jobu’s minions by sifting through the multiverse, discovering what is causing them anguish, and helping them find happiness. In the Tax-Universe, Evelyn confronts Gong Gong about his life-long disappointment in her and finally stands up for herself and Joy. Finally Evelyn reaches Jobu and attempts to pull her back from the brink, but Joy cries out asking Evelyn to just let her go. Evelyn does so for a moment before pulling her back and telling her that she will always choose to be with her, regardless of everywhere else she could be. While Jobu initially rejects Evelyn’s hand, she reaches back from inside the bagel and returns to embrace her.

Part 3: All At Once

Pagan Rome, 37 A.D.

Prince Gaius Germanicus “Caligula” (Latin term for ‘Little Boots’) (Malcolm McDowell) the 24-year-old young heir to the throne of the syphilis-ridden, 77-year-old, half-mad Emperor Tiberius (Peter O’Toole), thinks he has received a bad omen after a blackbird flies into his room early one morning. Shortly afterward, Macro (Guido Mannari), the head of the Praetorian Guards, appears to tell the young man that his great uncle (Tiberius) demands that he report at once to the Island of Capri, where he has been residing for a number of years with close friend, Senator Nerva (John Gielgud), Claudius (Giancaro Badessi), a dim-witted relative, and Caligula’s younger stepbrother, Gemellus (Bruno Brive), Tiberius’ favorite. Fearing assassination, Caligula is afraid to leave, but his beloved sister Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy) convinces him to go. Macro seeks to curry favor with Caligula, who will be the next Emperor, by tempting him with the promise of sleeping with his wife Ennia (Adriana Asti).

At Capri, Caligula finds his uncle has become depraved, showing signs of advanced venereal diseases, and embittered with Rome and politics. Tiberius enjoys watching degrading sexual shows, often including children and various freaks of nature in his underground grotto. Caligula observes with a mixture of fascination and horror. Tiberius demands his grandson perform a dance from his youth when he was a mascot in his father’s army. At first, Caligula claims to have forgotten, but Tiberius angrily insists. After a few minutes, Tiberius interrupts, and confronts Caligula about gossiping and praying for his grandfather’s death. Caligula denies the accusations. Soon, Tiberius warns Nerva to be wary of Macro after his death. Tiberius embraces Caligula, and cautions him that it is a myth that emperors are gods. Tiberius is curious to know if he is missed in Rome, and Caligula assures him that he is loved. Tiberius believes he is not loved but feared. He cautions Caligula that every senator aspires to be emperor, and therefore is a traitor. Caligula denies being intimate with Drusilla, but Tiberius warns him that he knows everything that goes on in the kingdom. Soon, Tiberius greets Gemellus with affection. He offers Caligula a cup of wine, but Caligula passes the cup to Gemellus. However, Tiberius stops Gemellus from drinking, and warns him that Caligula will kill him once Tiberius is dead. A servant drinks the poisoned cup of wine and quickly dies.

Later, Caligula wakes from a nightmare, and tells Drusilla that Tiberius plots to kill him, but she reassures him he is the only one who can be emperor because Gemellus is too young to rule and Uncle Claudius is not mentally fit. Caligula wants Drusilla to be his empress, but she reminds him that he has been promised to Macro’s wife, Ennia. Even Macro agrees with the arrangement.

Meanwhile, Nerva chooses suicide over a natural death by slashing his wrists in a bath. Tiberius discovers Nerva in the midst of his suicide. As Tiberius orders his wounds bound, Nerva admits that he hates his life. Tiberius says he cannot live without Nerva at his side, and promises to kill Macro, but even with Macro gone, Nerva does not want to be ruled by “the reptile” Caligula. Nerva begs to be allowed to die, and Tiberius leaves. Meanwhile, Caligula wants to know what dying is like, and asks Nerva if he can see the goddess Isis. When he cannot, Caligula believes he is lying, pushes him down in the tub, and hastens his death.

Nerva’s death hastens Tiberius’ own when he soon collapses from an apparent stroke and is bedridden. Late one night, Macro escorts all the spectators out of the ailing Tiberius’ bedchamber to allow Caligula the opportunity to murder his grandfather, but when Caligula fails and falls into an epileptic trance, Macro finishes the deed himself by strangling Tiberius with a scarf. Caligula triumphantly removes the imperial signet from Tiberius’ finger and suddenly realizes that Gemellus has witnessed the murder.

Back in Rome several days later, Tiberius is buried with honors and Caligula is proclaimed the new Emperor, who in turn proclaims Drusilla his equal, to the apparent disgust of the Roman Senate. Afterward, Drusilla, fearful of Macro’s influence, convinces Caligula to get rid of him. Caligula obliges by setting up a mock trial, in which Gemellus is intimidated into testifying that Macro alone murdered Tiberius. Caligula then has Macro’s wife, Ennia, arrested for “insubordination” and has her exiled to Gaul, never to be seen or heard from again.

Macro is then executed in Caligula’s public courtyard by a large decapitation machine; Macro and other convicts are buried up to their necks in the earth ground, and the blade-slashing machine, standing over 100-feet tall and wide as a city block, runs over him. At one point Caligula, when booed by the crowd, mutters “If only all of Rome had but one neck…”

With the powerful Macro gone, Caligula appoints Tiberius’ former financial and political adviser Longinus (John Steiner) as his new adviser and right-hand man, and pronounces the docile Senator Chaerea (Paolo Bonacelli) as the new head of the Praetorian Guard. Drusilla endeavors to find Caligula a wife amongst the priestesses of the goddess Isis, the mystery cult they secretly practice. Disguised as a woman, Caligula chooses a candidate from among the shapely priestesses in the Temple of Isis. He is attracted, despite Drusilla’s protests that she is promiscuous, to Caesonia (Helen Mirren), an eloquent, sensual divorcee, who becomes his mistress.

Over the next several months, Caligula proves to be a popular, yet eccentric ruler, cutting taxes and overturning all the oppressive laws that Tiberius enacted. One of Caligula’s first duties is to settle a land dispute between two senators. Instead of listening to arguments, he makes an arbitrary decision based on the size of the legal documents. Within a few months, the Roman Senate begins to dislike the young emperor for his eccentricities and various insults directed towards them. Darker aspects of his personality begin to emerge as well. When Caligula eyes a young woman named Livia (Mirella D’Angelo), whom is engaged to Proculus (Donato Placido), one of his most loyal soldiers, Caligula and his entourage crash Livia and Proculus wedding party where he lures both to the kitchen and rapes both of them in a minor fit of jealousy. Proculus is later disemboweled and castrated in a gory torture-murder by Caligula himself. When asked why he murdered one of his most loyal officers, Caligula’s insane reply is: “because I can.”

The much darker side of Caligula begins to show itself as he comes to realize that no one will challenge his absolute power. His terror during a thunder and lightning rainstorm is the first sign of a mental breakdown; his reaction is to run outside and dance naked. As Drusilla is summoned, Caligula tells her that he knows Gemellus plots to kill him. She kisses away his fears, and soon, Caligula is making love to both Drusilla and Caesonia. In another bedchamber, two Isis women, Messalina and Agrippina, watch the threesome unfolding and then engage in lesbian sex with each other.

A few more months later, Caligula’s actions become increasingly senseless. His only confidant is his Arab stallion, Incitatus, which he rides into a banquet where Gemellus is one of the guests. In a macabre mood, Caligula accuses Gemellus publicly of treason and has him arrested merely to provoke a reaction from Drusilla. Caligula defends his increasingly erratic and outspoken actions as he is the Emperor of the Roman Empire and he feels that he can do anything he wants with impunity.

After he discovers Caesonia is pregnant, Caligula suffers a severe fever, but Drusilla nurses him back to health. Right after he recovers, Caesonia bears Caligula a daughter, whom they name Julia Drusilla, and Caligula marries her on the spot. He is enraged to learn the child is a girl and insists on calling her “my son.” During the celebration, Drusilla collapses in Caligula’s arms from the same fever he’d suffered. Soon afterward, Caligula receives another ill omen in the guise of a black bird. He rushes to Drusilla’s side and watches her die. Caligula experiences a nervous breakdown, smashes a statue of Isis and drags Drusilla’s nude body around the palace while screaming hysterically.

Now in a deep depression, Caligula walks the Roman streets, disguised as a beggar. When Caligula is dragged drunk and dirty into a prison for causing a disturbance at an outdoor theater, his signet ring is spotted by a giant (Osiride Pevarello) and his true identity becomes known. Caligula is released and has the Giant become his companion and ‘flunky’.

After his brief stay in jail, Caligula becomes determined to destroy the senatorial class, which he has come to loathe. Over the next year, his reign becomes a series of humiliations against the foundations of Rome. He orders the execution of several senators and their families without the slightest provocation.

Caligula officially proclaims himself a god and awards free games and food to every citizen for one month. When Longinus protests by saying that the economy will never be able to handle such an expense, Caligula shows him how easy it is to replenish the Imperial purse. He builds a large ship in the palace that is to be used as a brothel. Forcing the wives and daughters of his senators into prostitution, Caligula himself collects the fees from citizens eager to sample their betters.

Afterward, estates are confiscated, the old pagan religion is desecrated, and Caligula initiates an absurd war on Britain to humiliate the army. Caligula orders his officers to attack papyrus growing in the water of a lake so he can claim to have conquered Britain. Back in court, he announces his victory while servants parade the captured papyrus. During a celebration, Caligula orders Longinus to recite a list of citizens who have failed the empire, and they are arrested. His final public act of madness is to proclaim his horse, Incitatus, a senator.

Having overruled every branch of the government, mocked the Roman gods, humiliated and killed all of the most loyal and trusted members of the Senate, destiny finally catches up with Caligula; Chaerea, Longinus, the Imperial physician Charicles (Leopoldo Trieste), the Chief Executioner, the Roman High Priest, and a few other senators and members of the Praetorian Guard have quietly begun plotting his assassination.

On the last night of his life, Caligula wanders into his bedroom where a nervous Caesonia awaits him. The black bird makes a final appearance, but only Caesonia is frightened of it. By this point, Caligula is so consumed by his insanity that he no longer exhibits fear or any kind of strong emotions.

The next day, on a cold January morning in 41 A.D., after rehearsing an Egyptian play, Caligula and his family leave the stadium to return to the Imperial Palace. On their way back, a vengeful Chaerea awaits them in the front corridor. After Caligula teases Chaerea one final time by giving him the secret password “scrotum”, Chaerea answers, “So be it!”….. he draws his sword and strikes Caligula on his head. To insure that none of Caligula’s line will follow him to power, Caesonia is also stabbed, the child Julia has her head smashed on the marble steps by the Executioner, and the Giant is decapitated by Chaerea. Deranged to the last, the mortally wounded and bloodied Caligula rises to his feet and to which he defiantly whimpers: “I live!” Chaerea responds by stabbing Caligula a final time and he falls to the floor. Caligula is finished off when 10 or more of his own guards, seeing their now-hated Emperor dying, gorily stab him to the marble floor with their spears while the horrified Claudius watches. Begging to spare his life, Claudius is given Caligula’s robe and ring by Longinus and the servants who hail him as the new Emperor, proclaiming a new era for the Empire. As the unwilling and dull-witted Claudius is carried away, Chaerea, Longinus, and the other conspirators flee from the scene of the crime.

More than 30 years after graduating from Top Gun (1986), United States Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is a test pilot. Despite many achievements, repeated insubordination has kept him from flag rank; his friend and former Top Gun rival, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, now commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, often protects Maverick. Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain plans to cancel Maverick’s hypersonic “Darkstar” scramjet program in favor of funding drones. To save the program, Maverick unilaterally changes the target speed for that day’s test from Mach 9 to the final contract specification of Mach 10. However, the prototype is destroyed when he cannot resist pushing beyond Mach 10. Iceman again saves Maverick’s career by assigning him to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island for his next assignment, but Cain tells Maverick that the era of crewed fighter aircraft will soon be over.

The Navy has been tasked with destroying an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, located in an underground bunker at the end of a canyon, before it becomes operational. It is defended by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), GPS jammers, and fifth-generation Su-57 fighters as well as older F-14 Tomcats. Maverick devises a plan employing two pairs of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs, but instead of participating in the strike, he is to train an elite group of Top Gun graduates assembled by Air Boss Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson.

Maverick dogfights his skeptical students and prevails in every contest, winning their respect. Lieutenants Jake “Hangman” Seresin and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw-son of Maverick’s dead best friend and RIO Nick “Goose” Bradshaw-clash: Rooster dislikes Hangman’s cavalier attitude, while Hangman criticizes Rooster’s cautious flying. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, to whom he reveals that he promised Rooster’s dying mother that Rooster would not become a pilot. Rooster, unaware of the promise, angrily resents Maverick for dropping his Naval Academy application-impeding his military career-and blames him for his father’s death. Maverick is reluctant to further interfere with Rooster’s career, but the alternative is to send him on the extremely dangerous mission. He tells his doubts to Iceman, who has terminal throat cancer. Iceman advises that “It’s time to let go” and reassures him that both the Navy and Rooster need Maverick.

After Iceman dies, Cyclone removes Maverick as instructor following a training incident in which an F/A-18F is lost. Cyclone relaxes the mission parameters, so they are easier to execute but make escape much more difficult. During Cyclone’s announcement, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight through the course with his preferred parameters, proving that it can be done. Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as team leader.

Maverick flies the lead F/A-18E, accompanied by a buddy lazing F/A-18F[c] flown by Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace and WSO Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Floyd. Rooster leads the second strike pair, which includes Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch and WSO Lieutenant Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia. The four jets launch from an aircraft carrier, and Tomahawk cruise missiles destroy the nearby air base as they approach. The teams destroy the plant, but the SAMs open fire during their escape, as anticipated. Rooster runs out of countermeasures, and Maverick sacrifices his plane to protect him. Believing Maverick to be dead, the others are ordered back to the carrier, but Rooster returns to find that Maverick ejected and is being targeted by an Mi-24 attack helicopter. After destroying the gunship, Rooster is shot down by a SAM and ejects. The two rendezvous and steal an F-14 from the damaged air base. Maverick and Rooster destroy two intercepting Su-57s, but a third attacks as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman arrives in time to shoot it down, and the planes return safely.

The story opens with a woman telling a portion of her people’s history on the desert planet, Arrakis. The woman, Chani, is a Fremen. She explains that since before she was born the planet has been ruled by the cruel Harkonnens who have grown enormously rich harvesting the psychogenic substance “melange” also known as the spice. The Fremen have been trying to expel the Harkonnens, but to no avail. Recently, however, the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV has ordered the Harkonnens to leave Arrakis. Chani wonders who the new rulers will be.

On the planet Caladan, Paul Atreides eats breakfast with his mother, Lady Jessica, Duke Leto’s concubine. A member of the quasi-religious order of the Bene Gesserit, Jessica has been trying to teach her son the special powers of her order. She tests Paul by having him try to compel her to pass him a glass of water. Paul is only partially successful. Paul learns about the planet Arrakis and its people. It is the only source of the psychoactive spice, which extends life and perception. Spice is necessary for interstellar travel since it makes possible the expanded consciousness of the navigators who plot faster than light jumps, “folding” space time to travel instantly from one planet to another.

Leto Atreides, along with soldier Gurney Halleck and mentat Thufir Hawat, receive an imperial envoy who formalizes the awarding of Arrakis to House Atreides. The emperor fears Leto’s growing political power and popularity in the Landsraad, a conclave of noble houses. Leto recognizes that his appointment to oversee Arrakis is a trap of some kind, but cannot refuse an imperial offer. Paul asks his friend, the elite soldier Duncan Idaho to take him along when Duncan goes to Arrakis weeks ahead of time to scout things out. Duncan refuses. Paul confides that he’s been having dreams about Arrakis and the Fremen, including one where Duncan falls in battle. Duncan dismisses this as merely a dream, telling Paul that “Everything important happens when we’re awake”.

Paul discusses his wish to travel to Arrakis early with his father, but Leto refuses, saying that he needs Paul by his side. He explains the political situation: the emperor has set up a conflict between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, a war which will weaken them both, to the benefit of the Emperor. Leto instead intends to strike an alliance with the Fremen in order to harness their “desert power” to his own and outwit the Emperor. Paul expresses his doubts about his ability to succeed his father as a leader. Leto confides his own doubts when he was young and insists that Paul will find his way to leadership, just as he did.

Gurney has a sparring session with Paul, insisting that the young ducal heir must be more wary about the danger posed by the Harkonnens and more ruthless in battle. Paul begins to have dreams of Chani. Jessica’s Bene Gesserit superior, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam arrives on Caladan to test Paul. Before the meeting he is inspected by Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, who warns Paul that the Bene Gesserit have their own agenda. Mohiam puts Paul through the test of the Gom Jabbar, using a poisoned needle and a pain-inflicting box to judge his character. After the test, Mohiam asks Paul about his dreams and whether they sometimes come true. Afterward, Mohiam berates Jessica for producing a son for Duke Leto, rather than the daughters she had been ordered to produce.

She accuses Jessica of thinking that her son might be the Kwisatz Haderach, the fulfillment of a Bene Gesserit messianic prophecy. Jessica confirms this belief and Mohiam warns her that Paul’s abilities are not fully developed and that he might die in the coming trials. When Mohiam leaves, Paul confronts his mother about what Mohiam meant. Jessica explains that the Bene Gesserit have spent hundreds of years engaged in a selective breeding program to produce an unparalleled mind who can see both the past and the future.

The Atreides arrive on Arrakis. When they disembark their ship, locals begin chanting a phrase Paul cannot recognize. Paul asks his mother and she explains that it’s a local prophecy of the Lisan-al-Gaib, the “voice from outer world”, a prophesied messiah on Arrakis. Jessica says that they think Paul might be this figure, but Paul dismisses it as mere superstition spread by the Bene Gesserit. Jessica hires a Fremen servant, Shadout Mapes. Mapes sees Jessica and Paul as a fulfillment of the Lisan-al-Gaib and gives Jessica a dagger made from the tooth of Shai-halud, the immense sandworms which make the desert of Arrakis so dangerous. That night, while he studies a holographic image of the muad’Dib desert mouse, Paul survives an assassination attempt by a hunter seeker drone when Mapes enters the room, distracting it.

Leto surveys his new domain and discovers that the Harkonnens have sabotaged much of the needed infrastructure. They decide to take the issue to the imperial arbiter of the transition, an ecologist named Liet Kynes, who has resided on Arrakis for years. Duncan Idaho returns from several weeks living with the Fremen. He reports to the Duke that the Fremen are unparalleled fighters who live in communities known as “sietchs” in caverns beneath the desert. Duncan confirms Thufir Hawat’s belief that there are many more Fremen than previously believed. The leader of one of these sietchs, Stilgar, has come to meet with Leto. Stilgar demands that the outworlders not travel beyond the city except to mine spice. Leto refuses but insists that the sietchs will remain inviolate and that Fremen will not be hunted while the Atreides rule. Paul invites Stilgar to stay, but he leaves. Duncan introduces the Atreides to some Fremen technology, including the moisture saving stillsuits and thumpers which are used to attract sandworms.

Leto’s party meets with Liet Kynes to investigate the spice mining operations. She inspects their stillsuits and finds that Paul has intuitively fitted his stillsuit in the Fremen manner. In the native language she says “He shall know your ways as if born to them”. The party flies out to observe a spice mining operation. The mining vehicle – a “sandcrawler” – has attracted a worm, which is drawn by the rhythmic vibrations of the crawler as it collects the spice. When a flying carry-all fails to remove the mining vehicle, Duke Leto lands his small squad of ornithopters nearby to rescue the miners. When Paul gets out to guide the miners inside, he is hit with a massive dose of spice and has a series of visions including one of himself with Chani. He is nearly sucked down into the sand with the crawler when Gurney grabs him and hauls him aboard his father’s ornithopter. The two watch as the worm’s enormous, toothed maw opens and swallows the sandcrawler whole. Later, Paul is examined by Dr Yueh who informs Paul and his mother that the spice is psychoactive but shouldn’t harm Paul.

Duke Leto awakes at night with the sense that something is wrong. He calls security but gets no answer. He finds Mapes stabbed to death and is shot with a paralytic dart that burrows its way through his body shield and into his back, rendering him helpless. Yueh reveals himself as a traitor. He has lowered the shields and sabotaged Atreides communications. Yueh reveals to Leto that the Harkonnens secured his compliance because they have his wife held captive. He replaces one of Duke Leto’s teeth with a poison capsule which he hopes the Duke can use to kill the Baron.

Gurney is awakened and leads the counter attack as the Harkonnen forces, aided by the imperial Sardukar troops, begin their assault. The Atreides troops, caught unprepared and outnumbered by Harkonnen troops and the Sardukar, find themselves quickly overwhelmed. Duncan kills several Sardukar, takes an ornithopter and tries to rescue Paul and Jessica but finds them already gone.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has promised Mohiam and the Bene Gesserit that he will not harm Paul or Jessica so he sends some of his men to take them to the desert to die of exposure. Paul, not fully secure in his Bene Gesserit abilities, is still able to use the Voice to order one of the men to remove his mother’s gag. Jessica immediately orders one of the men to kill his comrade. When she’s fully freed, she kills two of them personally. Their ornithopter is remotely disabled and lands. Paul and Jessica see the devastation of Arrakeen from a distance.

Yueh meets with Baron Harkonnen and demands that the Baron honor his end of the deal. The Baron promises that Yueh will be reunited with his wife and then slits his throat. The Baron then gloats over a paralyzed Leto, who bites down on his fake tooth and expels the poison, killing everyone in the room except for the Baron who is gravely injured, having activated his body shield and used his anti-gravity suspensors to float to the ceiling. Medical technicians nurse the Baron back to health.

Riding out a storm in a survival tent, Paul continues to have visions from his spice exposure. They are first of Chani. However, they quickly change to visions of bloody conflict and religious zealots, operating under the Atreides flag and in Duke Leto’s name, spreading across the galaxy “like and unquenchable fire”. Paul is horrified by what he sees and blames his mother and the Bene Gesserit but is eventually comforted by his mother.

Paul and Jessica are rescued by Duncan Idaho, who managed to escape the slaughter. Duncan brings them to Kynes, who has set up in an abandoned terraforming station occupied by Fremen. The Sardukar track them there and attack, with the Fremen killing many of them. Duncan sacrifices himself in a last stand to allow Paul, Jessica, and Kynes to escape. Paul and Jessica flee in an ornithopter. Kynes sets up a thumper, intending to call a sandworm and ride it away, but she is mortally wounded by the Sardukar. Before they can deliver the killing blow, a sandworm arrives and Kynes attracts it to her by pounding a patch of drumsand. They are all swallowed by the worm.

While piloting the ornithopter through a powerful sand storm, Paul has a vision of a Fremen man giving him advice, telling him that survival in the desert is a process and that he must move with the flow of the environment. Paul retracts the ’thopter’s wings and allows them to be carried deeper into the desert by the vortex of the storm. They survive but with the ornithopter damaged they must set out on foot through the desert. As they do, they are observed by Fremen.

Jessica and Paul make their way toward where they believe the Fremen sietch is. Their movements attract a sandworm and they make a run for some nearby rocks. The sandworm pauses, seemingly looking at Paul for few seconds before a thumper draws it away. A group of Fremen capture them. Stilgar is with them and recognizes Paul, saying that they can’t touch him. Another Fremen, Jamis, dismisses Stilgar’s belief and wants to kill Paul and Jessica and loot their bodies. Paul recognizes Jamis as the man from his visions.

Jessica asks for help returning to Caladan, saying that they will be well rewarded, but Stilgar dismisses any reward they’d give as pointless. Stilgar offers to allow Paul, who is still young, to join their sietch, but says that Jessica, who he deems too old to learn to fight, must be left behind. Jessica and Paul use their Bene Gesserit training to disarm most of the Fremen and hold Stilgar at knife point. Stilgar, realizing that Jessica is a Bene Gesserit, relents and decides to take both of them to the sietch. Jamis objects, and challenges Jessica to a duel.

Paul agrees to stand as his mother’s champion. Chani, who is among the party, takes pity on Paul, who she believes will die at Jamis’ hand, and gives him her crysknife, a dagger made from the tooth of the sandworm, a moment from one of Paul’s visions. In the duel, Paul outclasses Jamis, repeatedly holding a knife to his throat and demanding that he yield. Stilgar informs him that Fremen duels are to the death, and Jessica says that Paul has never killed anyone before. Reluctantly, Paul kills Jamis. Satisfied, the Fremen take Paul and Jessica back to their sietch.

In the opening scene, a helmeted racer leads a gang of stunt drivers driving three black Honda Civic coupes who hijack a shipment of electronics from a moving truck.

Brian O’Conner (Brian Walker) is an undercover police officer, driving supercharged cars and trying to infiltrate Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) gang, who are suspects in the robberies. He first visits Dominic’s cafe, where he makes conversation with Dominic’s younger sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) and tries to make inroads with the gang by selling performance equipment. Vince (Matt Schulze) is jealous, and a fight breaks out. His girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) begs Dom to break it up, who does so, threatening to get Brian fired.

That night, racers gather for street racing. Brian meets Hector (Noel Gugliemi), and they wait for Dom. Brian offers his car in a bet, and Dom’s tech Jesse (Chad Lindberg) checks his car out. The spectators line the streets, lighting the way. Brian and Dom race with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) and Edwin (Ja Rule). Dom wins, showing Brian superior driving and timing. The racers pick up a police alert on the scanner, and everyone flees. Dom parks his car and flees on foot, and Brian helps him escape. Dom has researched Brian (getting his cover story), but as they chat, they are surrounded by uzi-wielding Chinese bikers, who escort them to an empty lot. The leader of this gang, Johnny Tran, admires Brian’s car and refers to a race in the desert next month. He and his goons shoot up Brian’s car, which explodes from the NOS (Nitrous Oxide) on board.

Back at Dom’s house, a party is in progress. Dom yells at his gang, saying Brian was the only one to help him. Vince is upset that Brian is back, and Mia breaks up with him.

The next day Brian arrives at a police safehouse where his boss, Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine), briefs Brian. Truckers are getting nervous about the robberies, and the FBI are now involved. They keep hearing about modified Honda Civics in the robberies. Later that day, Brian brings Dom a wrecked Toyota Supra with a powerful engine, and starts working in Dom’s garage. Vince continues to be angry with Dom’s friendship with Brian, and Mia teases him.

The next day, Hector buys parts for Honda Civics from Brian, and Brian gets suspicious. He breaks into Hector’s garage, but Vince and Dom have followed him. Brian convinces them he’s spying on the competition for Race Wars next month. Vince is suspicious, but Dom thinks it’s a good idea, and they break into Tran’s garage. Brian spots possible stolen goods. Tran and his goons arrive, and Dom, Brian and Vince watch as they torture local fence Ted (Beau Holden) about stolen engines.

Brian tells the FBI, but wants to resist moving in on Tran until they have more evidence. His boss thinks he’s too soft on Torretto; that Brian is going “native”.

The next day, Dom takes Brian into confidence and shows off his supercharged 1970 Dodge Charger, one he never drives. Dom says it has too much power.

Over dinner, Brian and Mia talk about Dom, then Mia shows off her driving skills. At the same time, another robbery is in progress, and Brian gets a call from his boss that they are moving in on Tran in the morning. The raid goes off with Brian wearing a hood (to avoid recognition), but Tran’s gang gets out for lack of evidence - the suspicious goods were purchased. Sgt. Tanner cautions Brian about falling for Mia, and tells him Dominic is the next suspect.

The next day, Brian and Dom take the rebuilt Supra for a spin, and smoke a Ferrari. Over lunch, Brian asks to get in on Dom’s next job, but Dom wants to see how Brian does at Race Wars first.

In the middle of the desert, Race Wars begins. Letty wins, but Jesse loses his car to Tran and refuses to pay. Tran accuses Dom of being an informer as a result of the police raid on his place the day before, and a fight breaks out.

That night, Mia is upset with Dom, who is obviously going on another robbery (revealing that Dom and his gang really are the hijackers that Brian is trying to nail all along). Brian confesses that he’s a cop, and asks Mia to help him warn Dom about the truckers arming themselves and the FBI operations. Brian calls for a trace of Dom’s cell phone. Letty is nervous about the upcoming job, but they go ahead with it.

At the climax, Dom and his gang don their masks and cars and set out for another hijacking job. The robbery begins to go wrong when Vince jumps on the truck, but is shot at by the trucker. Letty crashes her car, and Leon (Johnny Strong) rescues her. Brian arrives on the scene and risks his life to save Vince as the trucker reloads his shotgun. Dom arrives and hears Brian calling for a medical helicopter, identifying himself as a cop. Dom is stunned, but Vince is the first priority. After Vince is stabilized, Dom storms off with Mia following.

In 1947, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker in Maine, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, a golf pro. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is given two consecutive life sentences and sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. Andy keeps claiming his innocence, but his cold and calculating demeanor leads everyone to believe he did it.

Meanwhile, Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), known as Red is being interviewed for parole after having spent 20 years at Shawshank for murder. Despite his best efforts and behavior, Red’s parole is rejected which doesn’t phase him all that much. Red is then introduced as the local smuggler who can get inmates anything they want within reason. An alarm goes off alerting all prisoners of new arrivals. Red and his friends bet on whichever new fish will have a nervous break down during his first night in prison. Red places a huge bet on Andy.

During the first night, an overweight newly arrived inmate, nicknamed ‘’fat ass’, breaks down and cries hysterically allowing Heywood (William Sadler) to win the bet. However, the celebration is short lived when the chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), savagely beats up the fat man for not keeping quiet when he is asked to. Meanwhile, Andy remains steadfast and composed. The next morning, the inmates learn that ‘’fat ass’’ died in the infirmary because the prison doctor had been out for the night. Andy inquires about the man’s name only to get put down by Heywood.

About a month later, Andy approaches Red having heard of his talents for finding things. He asks Red to find him a rock hammer, an instrument he claims is necessary for his hobby of rock collecting and sculpting. Red asks a few questions about his intentions which Andy laughs off. Red agrees to place the order and also warns Andy about ‘’the sisters’’, a group of prisoners who sexually assaults other prisoners, most importantly their leader, Boggs (Mark Rolston) who has a crush on Andy. Though other prisoners consider Andy “a really cold fish,” Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red thinks Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer an escape in the future but when he finally sees the tool’s actual size, he understands why Andy laughed and laughs too, putting aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of prison.

During the first two years of his incarceration, Andy spends most of his time working in the prison laundry or fighting off Boggs and the Sisters. Though he persistently resists and fights them every time, Andy is beaten and raped on a regular basis but keeps quiet about it.

When a work detail for tarring the roof of one of the prison’s buildings is announced, Red pulls some strings to get Andy and a few of their mutual friends assigned to the job, giving everyone a break from the usual. During the job Andy overhears Hadley complaining about having to pay taxes for an upcoming inheritance. Drawing from his expertise as a banker, Andy lets Hadley know how he can shelter his money from the IRS by turning it into a one-time gift for his wife. He then offers to assist Hadley in filling out the paperwork in exchange for some cold beers for his fellow inmates while on the tarring job. Hadley first threatens to throw Andy off the roof, but eventually agrees and do provide the working inmates with cold beers before the job is finished. Red remarks that Andy may have engineered the privilege to build favor with the prison guards as much as with his fellow inmates, but he also thinks Andy did it simply to “feel normal again.”

While watching a movie, Andy approaches Red with another unusual demand and asks for the actress Rita Hayworth. Red is surprised by the demand but agrees to place the order. As he exits the theater, Andy once more encounters the Sisters. Although he is able to talk his way out of being raped, he is brutally beaten within an inch of his life, putting him in the infirmary for a month. Boggs spends a week in solitary for the beating. When he comes out, he finds Hadley and his men waiting in his cell. They beat him so badly that he’s left unable to walk or eat solid food for the rest of his life and is transferred to a prison hospital upstate. The Sisters move on and never bother Andy again. When Andy gets out of the infirmary, he finds a bunch of rocks for him to sculpt and a giant poster of Rita Hayworth in his cell; presents from Red and his friends.

Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) hears about how Andy helped Hadley and uses a surprise cell inspection to size Andy up. He finds Andy reading his copy of the Holy Bible and they talk about their favorite verses while the guards are turning the cell upside down looking for illegal possessions. Satisfied with their encounter, the warden leaves and almost forget to give Andy his Bible back. He then encourages Andy to keep reading the Bible saying that ‘’Salvation lays within’’.

Andy is later advised that he will now work in the prison library with aging inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore). The reason for his transfer is made obvious when a prison guard shows up asking Andy for financial advising. Andy sets-up a makeshift desk and starts working, providing financial advising to most prison guards and helping them with their income tax returns. Andy also sees an opportunity to expand the prison library; he starts by asking the Maine state senate for funds. He writes letters every week. His financial support practice is so appreciated that even guards from other prisons, when they visit for inter-prison baseball matches, seek Andy’s financial expertise. Even the warden himself has Andy preparing his tax returns.

Not long afterwards, Brooks snaps and threatens to kill Heywood in order to avoid being paroled. Andy is able to talk him down. When his friends discuss Brooks ’behavior, Red sympathizes with Brooks having obviously become “institutionalized,” after spending 50 years at Shawshank. He has become essentially conditioned to be a prisoner for the rest of his life and is unable to adapt to the outside world. Red remarks: “These walls are funny. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them.” Brooks is paroled and goes to live in a halfway house. He is also given a job at a supermarket which he hates. Finding it impossible to adjust to life outside the prison, he eventually commits suicide, leaving the message “Brooks was here” carved on a wooden beam .

After six years of writing letters, Andy receives $200 from the state for the library, along with a collection of old books and phonograph records. Though the state Senate thinks this will be enough to get Andy to halt his letter-writing campaign, he is undaunted and redoubles his efforts.

When the donations of old books and records arrive at the warden’s office, Andy finds a copy of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro among the records. He locks the guard assigned to the warden’s office in the bathroom and plays the record over the prison’s PA system. The entire prison is soon captivated by the music. Red remarks that the voices of these women made everyone feel free, if only for a brief moment. Outside the office, Norton appears furious at the act of defiance, and orders Andy to turn off the record player. Andy responds by turning up the volume. The warden orders Hadley to break into the office and Andy is sent immediately to solitary confinement for two weeks. When he gets out, he tells his friends that the stretch was the “easiest time” he ever did in the hole because he spent it with Mozart’s Figaro stuck in his head for comfort. When the other prisoners tell him how unlikely that is, he talks about the power that hope can have in prison and that hope can sustain them. Red strongly disagrees with Andy, claiming that hope is a dangerous thing in a place like Shawshank and tells Andy he should get used to living without it. Andy implies that this is exactly what Brooks did and Red leaves the table angry.

Not long after, Red has a new parole hearing and realizes he’s been in prison for 30 years now. He uses the exact same words he used ten years earlier only with no enthusiasm at all. His parole is rejected again. Andy gives him an harmonica to commemorate his 30 years which Red replies by offering Andy a giant poster of Marilyn Monroe to commemorate his 10 years.

About four years after the Mozart incident, the state senate finally comes to the conclusion that they won’t get rid of Andy with just another check. So they allow him a budget of $500 a year to build his library. Andy uses it wisely and makes deals with book clubs and charities to create the best prison library in the state and names it after Brooks. With the enlarged library and more materials, Andy begins to mentor inmates who want to receive their high school diplomas so they can get a decent job once they’re out.

Meanwhile, Warden Norton profits from Andy’s knowledge and devises a scheme whereby he puts prison inmates to work on public projects which he wins by outbidding other contractors (prisoners are cheap labor). Occasionally, he allows other contractors to score projects as long as the bribe is good enough. Andy launders the money by setting up several accounts in several banks, along with several investments, using the fake identity of Randall Stephens, a man who only exist on papers, created by Andy himself through his knowledge of the system and mail ordered forms. Randall Stephens officially has a birth certificate, social security number and driving license. Should anyone ever investigate about the scheme; they will chase a man who only exists on paper. Andy shares the details with Red, noting that he had to “go to prison to learn how to be a crook.”

In 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy (Gil Bellows) comes to Shawshank to serve time for breaking and entering. Tommy is easy going, charismatic, and popular among the other inmates and is befriended by both Andy and Red. When Tommy explains that he’s been going in and out of prison ever since he was 13 years old, Andy suggests that Tommy should consider another line of work besides theft because he seems to be not so good at it. The suggestion really gets to Tommy and he asks Andy to help him work on earning his high school equivalency diploma. Though Tommy is a good student, he is still frustrated when he takes the exam itself, crumpling it up and tossing it in the trash. Andy retrieves it and sends it in anyway. Tommy asks Red about Andy’s case which Red explains. Upon hearing the story, Tommy is visibly upset. He then tells Andy and Red the story of a former cellmate of his from another prison who boasted about killing a man who was a pro golfer at the country club he worked at, along with his lover. The woman’s husband, a banker, had gone to prison for those murders.

With this new information, Andy, full of hope, meets with the warden, expecting Norton to help him get a new trial with Tommy as a witness. The reaction from Norton is completely contrary to what Andy hoped for. When Andy says emphatically that he would never reveal the money laundering schemes he set up for Norton over the years, the warden becomes furious and orders him to solitary for a month. The inmates discuss the sentence mentioning it is the longest time in solitary that they’ve ever heard of. They also realize that Andy may truly be innocent after all and has spent almost 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Tommy receives a letter from the board of education announcing that he has passed the exam and now owns a high school diploma. A guard pass the news to Andy in his solitary cell which makes him smile a little.

Later on, Tommy is escorted outside at night to have a private meeting with the warden. Warden Norton asks him if the story he told Andy is true and if he would be willing to testify on Andy’s behalf. Tommy enthusiastically agrees. The warden smiles at him before nodding to Hadley to shoot him dead.

When the warden visits Andy in solitary, he tells him that Tommy tried to escape and that Hadley had no choice but to shoot him. Andy doesn’t buy that story and tells Norton that ‘’everything’’ stops and that he’s not going to work for him anymore. The warden threatens Andy to shut down the library, burn all the books, and move Andy to a much different cell in a much different part of the prison with the most hardened criminals should he stop working for him. He then leaves and orders Andy to another month in solitary to think about things.

When Andy finally comes out of solitary, he and Red have a conversation where Andy talks about his wife and how much he loved her and feels responsible for her death even though he didn’t pulled the trigger. He then talks about his projects should he ever get out of prison. He talks about Zihuatanejo, a beach town on the Pacific coast of Mexico where he’d like to live for the rest of his life and manage a hotel there. He then asks Red if he’d join him to which Red says no and that he believes he is too far gone like Brooks. He then criticizes Andy for allowing hope to mess with his mind like that and that it will only destroy him. Andy agrees and is about to leave when he asks Red if he knows the Buxton, Maine area. He then tells Red about a very specific hay field where there is a large oak tree at the end of a stone wall. He then asks Red to promise him that, should he ever get paroled, he will seek that oak tree and retrieve something that was hidden among the stones but refuses to say what it is. Red promises but is worried about his friend’s state of mind. His worries are heightened further when he learns that Andy has asked Haywood for a six-foot rope. Red believes Andy may have finally reached his breaking point and is about to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Norton asks Andy to shine his shoes for him and put his suit in for dry-cleaning before retiring for the night. Andy returns to his cell and the guards turn the lights off for the night. Red remarks that it was the longest night of his life.

The following morning, Andy has not answered the morning call and is not standing in front of his cell like every morning. The guard yells at Andy for putting him late and walks to his cell expecting to find a seriously sick or dead Andy. At the same time, Norton becomes alarmed when he finds Andy’s shoes in his shoe box instead of his own. The alarm then goes off announcing a missing inmate. Norton rushes to Andy’s empty cell and demands an explanation. Hadley brings in Red, but Red insists he knows nothing of Andy’s plans. Becoming increasingly hostile and paranoid, Norton starts throwing Andy’s sculpted rocks around the cell. When he throws one at Andy’s poster of Raquel Welch (in the spot previously occupied by Marilyn Monroe, and before that by Rita Hayworth), the rock punches through and into the wall. Norton tears the poster from the wall revealing a tunnel just wide enough for a man to crawl into.

It is revealed in a series of flashback sequences narrated by Red that many years ago, not long after receiving his rock hammer, Andy innocently tried to carve his name on his cell wall when a chunk of it came off. Andy, being a fan of geology, realized that the material the wall was made off of could make it possible for him to dig a hole in case he ever needed to escape. Andy first ordered the giant poster of Rita Hayworth to hide the hole. He then spent years digging at night with his rock hammer and hiding the dirt from his job into his pockets which he would then empty in the courtyard during his morning walks. When Tommy was killed, Andy decided it was time to go.

During the previous night’s thunderstorm, Andy wore Norton’s clothes underneath his own to his cell, catching a lucky break when no one notices Norton’s shiny black shoes on his feet, including Red. He packed many of his belongings, some papers and Norton’s clothes into a plastic bag which he tied to himself with the rope he’d asked for, and escaped through his hole. The tunnel he’d excavated led him to a space between two walls of the prison where he found a sewer main line. Using a rock, he hit the sewer line in time several times with the lightning strikes and eventually broke it open. After crawling through 500 yards of the raw sewage contained in the pipe, Andy emerged in a brook outside the walls. A search team later found his prison clothes, a bar of soap and a very worn out rock hammer.

While the warden and Red are discovering Andy’s genius escape, Andy walks into the Maine National Bank in Portland, where he had put Norton’s money. Using his assumed identity as Randall Stephens, and with all the necessary documentation, he closes the account and walks out with a cashier’s check. Before he leaves, he asks them to drop a package in the mail. He continues his visitations to nearly a dozen other local banks, ending up with some $370,000. The package contains Warden Norton’s accounting books, which are delivered straight to the Portland Daily Bugle newspaper along with Andy’s written confessions and testimony.

Not long after, the Maine state police storm Shawshank Prison along with several reporters to cover the developing story. Hadley is arrested for the murder of Tommy and is taken away by the state police. According to Red, he heard unfounded rumors through the grapevine that Hadley allegedly started “crying like a little girl” in the back seat of the police squad car while he was being taken away. Seeing Hadley being taken away in a police squad car and the local district attorney entering the prison with several policemen holding a warrant for Norton’s arrest, Warden Norton finally opens his safe in his office, which he hadn’t touched since Andy escaped, and instead of his books, he finds the Bible he had given Andy with a note to the warden saying that he was right, “salvation did lay within”. Norton then opens it to the book of Exodus and finds that the pages had all been cut out in the shape of Andy’s rock hammer. Norton walks back to his desk as the police pound on his door, takes out a small revolver and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. Red remarks that he wondered if the warden thought, right before pulling the trigger, how “Andy could ever have gotten the best of him.”

Shortly after, Red receives a postcard from Fort Hancock, Texas, with nothing written on it. Red takes it as a sign that Andy made it into Mexico to freedom. Red and his buddies kill time talking about Andy’s exploits (with a few embellishments), but Red falls into a sort of depression from missing his friend.

At Red’s next parole hearing in 1967, he talks to the parole board about how “rehabilitated” is just a made-up word invented to justify their job. He then explains how much he regrets his actions of the past, not because he’s in jail but because he knows how wrong it was. He then closes by saying that he has to live with that for the rest of his life and ask the board to stop wasting his time and leave him alone. His parole is finally granted. He goes to live and work at the same places that Brooks did, even seeing Brooks ’message carved into the wooden beam. He frequently walks by a pawn shop which has several guns in the window. At times he contemplates trying to get back into prison feeling that he has no life outside of prison where he has spent most of his adult life, but he remembers the promise he made to Andy. He then reveals that he was not looking at the guns but at the compasses behind the guns and he bought one.

Red follows Andy’s instructions, hitchhiking to Buxton and finding the stone wall Andy described. Just as Andy said, there is a large black stone. Underneath is a small box containing a large sum of cash and instructions to come find him in Zihuatanejo although he doesn’t name the city just in case. He also says he needs somebody “who can get things” for a “project” of his. Red suddenly understands all the power of hope and feels exhilarated by the feelings inside of him.

Margot Mills and her date Tyler travel by boat to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant owned and operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik, located on a private island. The other guests attending the dinner are Lillian, a food critic; her editor Ted; wealthy couple Richard and Anne; George, a post-prime movie star, and his personal assistant Felicity; and business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce, along with Julian’s alcoholic mother. The group is given a tour of the island by the restaurant Maître d’hôtel, Elsa, who notes that Margot was not Tyler’s designated guest for the evening.

Dinner begins, and Julian introduces a series of courses, delivering increasingly unsettling monologues about each meal. As the night goes on, secrets about each guest, ranging from affairs to money laundering, are slowly revealed amidst dialogue satirizing class divides, climate change, patriarchy hindering women’s success (and creating unreasonable expectations for men), and capitalistic exploitation, usually spurred by Julian and the staff’s introductions and meals. During the fourth course, a sous chef kills himself in front of the guests, and another staff member cuts off Richard’s ring finger when he tries to escape. After the fourth course, the restaurant’s prime investor, and Soren, Dave and Bryce’s boss, is drowned in full view of the diners. At various points in the night, Julian allows guests to attempt escape, only to have the staff catch and return them.

Julian declares all the guests were selected because they either contributed to him losing his passion for his craft or because they make a living off exploiting the work of artisans and workers like him and his team. He announces that everyone present will be dead by the end of the night. Since Margot’s presence was unplanned, Julian privately gives her the choice of dying either with the staff or with the guests. When Margot hesitates, Julian decides for her, saying he knows his upper-crust customers from fellow service-industry workers.

It is revealed that Margot is an escort named Erin, who has been hired before by Richard (explaining them staring at each other all night), and who Tyler has hired for the evening. Julian reveals that Tyler was invited personally and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone’s death, so he invited Margot knowing full well she would die. Julian humiliates Tyler further by forcing him to cook and insulting his food, causing Tyler to kill himself in a storeroom. Julian asks Margot to collect a barrel needed for dessert.

Margot sneaks into Julian’s house, only to be attacked by Elsa. Margot kills Elsa in self-defense by stabbing her in the neck. After seeing newspaper clippings of Julian’s past life in his office, Margot finds a radio, calls for help and returns to the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer arrives from his boat, then reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise and returns to the kitchen.

Margot mocks Julian’s dishes and complains that she is still hungry. When Julian asks what she would like to eat, Margot requests a cheeseburger and fries, having previously seen a photo of a younger, happier Julian working at a fast-food restaurant. Moved by her simple request, he prepares the meal to her specifications. Margot takes a bite and praises his food, then asks if she can get it “to go”. Julian packs the food for her, and he and the staff allow her to leave. Margot takes the Coast Guard boat docked nearby and escapes the island.

Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) are four lifelong friends who, many years earlier, began a book club. They meet once a month and each member takes a turn picking the book they are going to read that month.

Years earlier, Vivian had a relationship with Arthur (Don Johnson), but when he proposed, she dumped him. Since then, she never got married, but instead has brief flings with random men. Carol is currently married to Bruce (Craig T. Nelson), but is saddened that they have not been sexually intimate in months. Diane is recently widowed. Sharon is recently divorced.

At the start of the current month’s book club, Vivian is tasked with picking the next book. She chooses ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. The others, particularly Sharon, are not happy about having to read it, but they reluctantly choose to.

Vivian ends up running into Arthur again, after many years. He’s recently divorced and he asks Vivian out. Still attracted to him, she accepts and they have a date.

On a plane to go see her daughters, Diane meets Mitchell (Andy Garcia) and they hit it off. Sharon begins online dating after seeing that her ex-husband, Tom (Ed Begley, Jr.) met his current fiancé, Cheryl, online. Carol begins to get into the book and begins to try different things to get Bruce’s attention, but he is preoccupied with fixing an old motorcycle of his that he found in the garage.

As the four finish through the first book, the start on the sequel, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’. Diane ends up meeting Mitchell again on a flight and finds out that he’s a pilot. He gets her phone number for a future date. Sharon goes on her first online date and meets George (Richard Dreyfuss), a tax accountant. They have a nice date and at the end of the night, he asks if he can kiss her, since he’s not sure if she’ll want to see him again for another date. They kiss and it is then revealed that they slept together in the back of her car.

Carol begins trying other things, such as dressing in her old waitress outfit and using innuendos about handcuffs to try to get Bruce’s mind on being intimate with her, but he still does not get the hint. They eventually have a brief argument in the driveway about how all she wants to do is to have sex with him, startling some neighbors walking by. He says that his mind isn’t on that and Carol says that they haven’t been intimate since Bruce’s retirement party, where they tried, but were unable to.

Vivian continues to see Arthur and on one date, she falls asleep in his arms. This breaks one of her rules, where she says that she does not sleep with men after they are intimate with her. So, she decides to stop taking Arthur’s calls.

Sharon goes on another date, this time with Dr. Derek (Wallace Shawn). She sees Tom and Cheryl there and gets embarrassed when Derek introduces himself and then mentions that Sharon looks better than her profile picture. After the date, Sharon goes online and deactivates her account.

Meanwhile, Carol is out on a date with Bruce. At the bar, she slips a Viagra pill (that she received from Vivian) into Bruce’s beer and he ingests it. Later on, they are driving home and Bruce is furious with her. They are arguing when they are pulled over by a police officer. The female officer tells Bruce to get out of the vehicle, but he advises that that is probably not the best idea. She again tells him to get out of the car and Carol explains what she did to the officer. Bruce gets out of the vehicle and the officer notices that he has an erection, affirming Carol’s story. She tells them to have a good night and winks at Carol.

Back at their house, Bruce and Carol continue to argue about the situation. Carol doesn’t tell Bruce that this was all as a result of her reading the Fifty Shades books. Bruce yells at Carol, telling her that all these events that she signs them up for, she never mentions it to him. She just signs them up, mentioning a couple’s dance class that they are currently involved in. He tells her that he never wanted to be a part of that. Carol says that she signs them up for these things, so that they could remain close as a couple.

Diane continues to see Mitchell, but keeps the relationship a secret from her daughters, Adrianne (Katie Aselton) and Jill (Alicia Silverstone). Both daughters, especially Adrianne, are concerned that because of Diane’s age, she could fall or hurt herself and both want her to move to Arizona, where they live. Diane does not want to move, because she would have to leave her friends behind. One weekend, Diane is staying at Mitchell’s and does not notice her phone ringing. Adrianne is trying to reach her and begins to worry when her mother does not pick up the phone. After a few hours, Adrianne calls the police, who is able to track the phone to Mitchell’s. Adrianne, Jill, Adrianne’s husband and the police arrive at Mitchell’s to see her mother and Mitchell, snuggling in the pool. Diane goes back to Arizona with her daughters, where they convince her to move there permanently.

Arthur confronts Vivian about avoiding his phone calls and he professes his love for her, telling her that she’s the only one that he wants to be with. He tells her that he’s going to New York and wants her to go with him, but Vivian rejects him. The next day, Diane, Sharon and Carol find Vivian in her bed, having cried herself to sleep. They convince her to go after Arthur, since they can tell that she really does love him. She tries to get to the airport, but traffic prevents her from getting there in time.

Diane and Sharon go to a dance recital that Carol is supposed to be in with Bruce. Since they had their argument, Carol begins dancing alone, but there’s a miscommunication and the wrong song plays. Carol begins dancing anyway and Bruce arrives midway, but joins her onstage and they reconcile after the show. That night, Vivian goes back to her place and finds Arthur there. She tells him that she does love him and they kiss.

Diane packs up her stuff in a U-Haul and goes to Adrianne’s house. While there, she realizes that she’s making a mistake and tells her daughters that she’s not a child, that she can make her own decisions. Both Adrianne and Jill realize that their mother is not happy, so they wish her well. Diane drives to Mitchell’s. He asks her about the U-Haul and she says that’s her overnight bag.

In late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone’s daughter Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo). Vito (Marlon Brando), the head of the Corleone Mafia family, is known to friends and associates as “Godfather.” He and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone family lawyer, are hearing requests for favors because, according to Italian tradition, “no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter’s wedding day.” One of the men who asks the Don for a favor is Amerigo Bonasera, a successful mortician and acquaintance of the Don, whose daughter was brutally beaten by two young men because she refused their advances; the men received minimal punishment from the presiding judge. The Don is disappointed in Bonasera, who’d avoided most contact with the Don due to Corleone’s nefarious business dealings. The Don’s wife is godmother to Bonasera’s shamed daughter, a relationship the Don uses to extract new loyalty from the undertaker. The Don agrees to have his men punish the young men responsible (in a non-lethal manner) in return for future service if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Don’s youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), a decorated US Marine hero returning from World War II service, arrives at the wedding and tells his girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) anecdotes about his family, informing her about his father’s criminal life; he reassures her that he is different from his family and doesn’t plan to join them in their criminal dealings. The wedding scene serves as critical exposition for the remainder of the film, as Michael introduces the main characters to Kay. Fredo (John Cazale), Michael’s next older brother, is a bit dim-witted and quite drunk by the time he finds Michael at the party. Santino, who is nicknamed Sonny (James Caan), the Don’s eldest child and next in line to become Don upon his father’s retirement, is married but he is a hot-tempered philanderer who sneaks into a bedroom to have sex with one of Connie’s bridesmaids, Lucy Mancini (Jeannie Linero). Tom Hagen is not related to the family by blood but is considered one of the Don’s sons because he was homeless when he befriended Sonny in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan and the Don took him in and saw to Tom’s upbringing and education. Now a talented attorney, Tom is being groomed for the important position of consigliere (counselor) to the Don, despite his non-Sicilian heritage.

Also among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Corleone’s godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition Vito’s help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz (John Marley), the head of the studio, denies Fontane the part (a character much like Johnny himself), which will make him an even bigger star, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Don also receives congratulatory salutations from Luca Brasi, a terrifying enforcer in the criminal underworld, and fills a request from the baker, Nazorine, who made Connie’s wedding cake who wishes for his nephew Enzo to become an American citizen.

After the wedding, Hagen is dispatched to Los Angeles to meet with Woltz, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role. Woltz holds a grudge because Fontane seduced and “ruined” a starlet who Woltz had been grooming for stardom and with whom he had a sexual relationship. Woltz is persuaded to give Johnny the role, however, when he wakes up early the next morning and feels something wet in his bed. He pulls back the sheets and finds himself in a pool of blood; he screams in horror when he discovers the severed head of his prized $600,000 stud horse, Khartoum, in the bed with him. (A deleted scene from the film implies that Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), Vito’s top “button man” or hitman, is responsible.)

Upon Hagen’s return, the family meets with Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for financing as well as political and legal protection for importing and distributing heroin. Despite the huge profit to be made, Vito Corleone refuses, explaining that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the narcotics trade – the judges and politicians he’s allied himself with over the course of several decades would renounce their friendships with him if he were to enter the drug trade. The Don’s eldest son, Sonny, who had earlier urged the family to enter the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and begins to question Sollozzo’s assurances as to the Corleone Family’s investment being guaranteed by the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny’s dissension in a non-family member’s presence, silences Sonny with a single look and privately rebukes him later. Don Corleone then dispatches Luca Brasi to infiltrate Sollozzo’s organization and report back with information. During the meeting, while Brasi is bent over to allow Bruno Tattaglia to light his cigarette, he is stabbed in the hand by Sollozzo, and is subsequently garroted by an assassin.

Soon after his meeting with Sollozzo, Don Corleone is gunned down in an assassination attempt just outside his office, and it is not immediately known whether he has survived. Fredo Corleone had been assigned driving and protection duty for his father when Paulie Gatto, the Don’s usual bodyguard, had called in sick. Fredo proves to be ineffectual, fumbling with his gun and unable to shoot back. When Sonny hears about the Don being shot and Paulie’s absence, he orders Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano), one of his father’s two “caporegimes,” to find Paulie and bring him to the Don’s house.

Sollozzo abducts Tom Hagen and holds him for several hours, persuading him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. When Tom is released, Sollozzo gets word that the Don has survived the attempt on his life. He angrily tells Tom to convince Sonny to accept his offer.

Enraged, Sonny refuses to consider it and issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face a lengthy, bloody and costly (for both sides) gang war. They refuse, and instead send Sonny “a Sicilian message,” in the form of two fresh fish wrapped in Luca Brasi’s bullet-proof vest, telling the Corleones that Luca Brasi “sleeps with the fishes.”

Clemenza later takes Paulie and one of the family’s hitmen, Rocco Lampone, for a drive into Manhattan. Sonny wants to “go to the mattresses” – set up beds in apartments for Corleone button men to operate out of in the event that the crime war breaks out. On their way back from Manhattan, Clemenza has Paulie stop the car in a remote area so he can urinate. Rocco shoots Paulie dead; he and Clemenza leave Paulie and the car behind.

Michael, whom the other Mafia families consider a “civilian” and not involved in mob business, visits his father at a small private hospital after having dinner with Kay at her hotel. He is shocked to find that no one is guarding him – a nurse tells him that the men were interfering with hospital policy and were told to leave by the police about 10 minutes before Mike’s arrival. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny for help, moves his father to another room, and goes outside to watch the entrance. Michael enlists help from Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei), who has come to the hospital to pay his respects. Together, they bluff away Sollozzo’s men as they drive by. Police cars soon appear bringing the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who viciously punches Michael in the cheek and breaks his jaw when Michael insinuates that Sollozzo paid McCluskey to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with “private detectives” licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and he takes the injured Michael home. Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio), the eldest son and underboss of Don Phillip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), killed (off-camera).

Following the attempt on the Don’s life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo’s bodyguard. When Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting, Sonny and the other senior Family members are amused; however, Michael convinces them that he is serious and that killing Sollozzo and McCluskey is in the family’s interest: “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” Because Michael is considered a civilian, he won’t be regarded as a suspicious ambassador for the Corleones. Although police officers are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues that since McCluskey is corrupt and has illegal dealings with Sollozzo, he is fair game. Michael also implies that newspaper reporters that the Corleones have on their payroll would delight in publishing stories about a corrupt police captain.

Michael meets with Clemenza, who prepares a small pistol for him, covering the trigger and grip with tape to prevent any fingerprint evidence. He instructs Michael about the proper way to perform the assassination and tells him to leave the gun behind. He also tells Michael that the family were all very proud of Michael for becoming a war hero during his service in the Marines and that a war like the impending one that Sollozzo’s and McClusky’s killings will spark is necessary about every five to tens years to clean out the ambition and resentment that builds between the Five Families. Clemenza shows great confidence that Michael can perform the job and tells him it will all go smoothly. The plan is to have the Corleone’s informers find out the location of the meeting and plant the revolver before Michael, Sollozzo and McCluskey arrive. Before he leaves for the meeting, Sonny tells Michael he’ll get word to Kay about not saying goodbye.

Before the meeting in a small Italian restaurant in the Bronx, McCluskey frisks Michael for weapons and finds him clean. After a few minutes where Michael and Sollozzo converse in Italian, Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom, where he retrieves the planted revolver. Returning to the table, he fatally shoots Sollozzo, then McCluskey. Michael is sent to hide in Sicily while the Corleone family prepares for all-out warfare with the Five Families (who are united against the Corleones) as well as a general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities. Three months later, when the don returns home from the hospital, he is distraught to learn that it was Michael who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey.

Meanwhile, Connie and Carlo’s marriage is disintegrating. They argue frequently over Carlo’s suspected infidelity and his possessive behavior toward Connie. By Italian tradition, nobody, not even a high-ranking Mafia don, can intervene in a married couple’s personal disputes, even if they involve infidelity, money, or domestic abuse. One day, Sonny sees a bruise on Connie’s face and she tells him that Carlo hit her after she asked him if he was having an affair. Sonny tracks down and severely beats Carlo in the middle of a crowded street for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and threatens to kill Carlo if he ever harms Connie again. An angry Carlo responds by plotting with Tattaglia and Don Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), the Corleones’ chief rivals, to have Sonny killed.

Later, Carlo has one of his mistresses phone his house, knowing that Connie will answer. The woman asks Connie to tell Carlo not to meet her tonight. The very pregnant and distraught Connie throws a tantrum, throwing the plates with their dinner around the dining room and kitchen. Carlo takes advantage of the altercation to beat Connie in order to lure Sonny out in the open and away from the Corleone compound. When Connie phones the compound to tell Sonny that Carlo has beaten her again, the enraged Sonny drives off (alone and unprotected) to fulfill his threat against Carlo. On the way to Connie and Carlo’s house, Sonny is ambushed at a toll booth on the Long Island Causeway and violently shot to death by several carloads of hitmen wielding Thompson sub-machine guns.

Tom Hagen relays the news of Sonny’s massacre to the Don, who calls in the favor from Bonasera to personally handle the embalming of Sonny’s body. Rather than seek revenge for Sonny’s killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to negotiate a cease-fire. Not only is the conflict draining all their assets and threatening their survival, but ending it is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Tattaglia’s traffic in heroin, as long as it is controlled and not sold to children. At the meeting, Don Corleone deduces that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was ultimately behind the start of the mob war and Sonny’s death, despite showing early signs of senility.

In Sicily, Michael patiently waits out his exile, protected by Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), an old family friend. Michael aimlessly wanders the countryside, accompanied by his ever-present bodyguards, Calo (Franco Citti) and Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti). In a small village, Michael meets and falls in love with Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli), the beautiful young daughter of a bar owner. They court and marry in the traditional Sicilian fashion, but soon Michael’s presence becomes known to Corleone enemies. One day, while Michael is teaching his new bride to drive, Tommasino brings the bad news about Sonny’s assassination. He wants to movie Michael to a safer location. As the couple is about to leave, Apollonia is killed as a result of a rigged car (originally intended for Michael) exploding on ignition; Michael, who saw the car explode, spots Fabrizio hurriedly leaving the grounds seconds before the explosion, implicating him in the assassination plot. (In a deleted scene, Fabrizio is found years later and killed.)

With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home. More than a year later, in 1950, he reunites with his former girlfriend Kay after a total of four years of separation – three in Italy and one in America. He tells her he wants them to be married. Although Kay is hurt that he waited so long to contact her, she accepts his proposal. With Don Vito semi-retired, Sonny dead, and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge; he promises Kay he will make the family business completely legitimate within five years.

Two years later, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda), complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael denies the request. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to form their own families in the New York area. Michael further promises Connie’s husband, Carlo, that he will be his right hand man in Nevada (Carlo had grown up there), unaware of his part in Sonny’s assassination. Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliere and is now merely the family’s lawyer, with Vito serving as consigliere. Privately, Hagen inquires about his change in status, and also questions Michael about a new regime of “soldiers” secretly being built under Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui). Don Vito explains to Hagen that Michael is acting on his advice.

Another year or so later, Michael travels to Las Vegas and meets with Moe Greene (Alex Rocco), a rich and shrewd casino boss looking to expand his business dealings. After the Don’s attempted assassination, Fredo had been sent to Las Vegas to learn about the casino business from Greene. Michael arrogantly offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini. As Moe and Michael heatedly negotiate, Fredo sides with Moe. After Moe storms out of the meeting, Michael warns Fredo to never again “take sides with anyone against the family.”

Michael returns home. In a private moment, Vito explains his expectation that the Family’s enemies will attempt to murder Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Vito also reveals that he had never really intended a life of crime for Michael, hoping that his youngest son would hold legitimate power as a senator or governor. Some months later, Vito collapses and dies while playing with his young grandson Anthony (Anthony Gounaris) in his tomato garden. At the burial, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies Tessio as the traitor that Vito was expecting.

Kay asks Michael if he’ll agree to be godfather to Connie and Carlo’s newborn son. Michael agrees and seizes the opportunity to eliminate competition from the other five families while also using the baptism as an alibi. The murders occur simultaneously during the ceremony:

Don Stracci (Don Costello) is gunned down along with his bodyguard in a hotel elevator by a shotgun-wielding Clemenza.

Moe Greene is killed while having a massage, shot through the eye by an unidentified assassin.

Don Cuneo (Rudy Bond) is trapped in a revolving door at the St. Regis Hotel and shot dead by soldier Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell).

Don Tattaglia is assassinated in bed, along with a prostitute, by Rocco Lampone and an unknown associate.

Don Barzini is killed on the steps of his office building along with his bodyguard and driver, shot by Al Neri (Richard Bright), disguised in his old police uniform.

After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini that he has arranged. Instead, he is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men as Hagen steps away. Realizing that Michael has uncovered his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen that he always respected Michael, and that his disloyalty “was only business.” He asks if Tom can get him off for “old times’ sake,” but Tom says he cannot. Tessio is driven away and never seen again (it is implied that Cicci shoots and kills Tessio with his own gun after he disarms him prior to entering the car).

Meanwhile, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny’s murder and forces him to admit his role in setting up the ambush, having been approached by Barzini himself. (The hitmen who killed Sonny were the core members of Barzini’s personal bodyguard.) Michael assures Carlo he will not be killed, but his punishment is exclusion from all family business. He hands Carlo a plane ticket to exile in Las Vegas. However, when Carlo gets into a car headed for the airport, he is immediately garroted to death by Clemenza, on Michael’s orders.

A group of elderly people are giving interviews about having lived in a climate of crop blight and constant dust reminiscent of The Great Depression of the 1930’s. The first one seen is an elderly woman stating her father was a farmer, but did not start out that way.

The scene changes. We are introduced to a farmer and widower named Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey). He is a college-educated former NASA test pilot and engineer who was forced to give up his occupation to farm, living in a run down farmhouse, presumably owned by his father in law. They farm corn, with wheat no longer available and okra just now having become extinct due to blight. We see no animal life.

It is the 2060’s in eastern Colorado. More than half of the world’s population has been decimated from famine and America has been reduced to a struggling agrarian society for the past 30 years. Technology has come to a standstill for the past 40 or so years, with automobiles no longer produced and a computer laptop is a luxury item. However on a good note, there are no more wars or militaries in the world anymore. At a certain age, kids are tested to determine what occupations they will have to take to help humanity survive. In school, it is taught that the US going to the moon in 1969 was a hoax to drive the Soviet Union into bankruptcy and win the Cold War.

Cooper’s family consists of his 65-year-old father-in-law, Donald (John Lithgow),15-year-old son Tom (Timothée Chalamet), and 10-year-old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Donald was born at the end of the 20th or beginning of the 21st century and fondly recalls times when technology was constantly changing and new gadgets being invented. He is a down-to-Earth man who takes care of the household duties and gets along well with Cooper. The two of them sit on the porch drinking beer in the evening and philosophize about the condition of the world and how things should be. Joe’s son Tom is a boy of average intelligence already being ruled out to be a farmer by the school administration, since a college education is now something only a very small percentage those will enjoy the privilege of. His daughter Murph is a feisty and highly intelligent girl whom Cooper is very close to and who shares his affinity with space and science. She believes her room is haunted by a ghost because books keep falling off her shelves and a lunar ship model was just knocked over.

The Cooper family lives a pretty simple life and have a rare treat of attending a game of a supposedly major league baseball team at a local ball field similar to what the little league play on today. His father in law is unimpressed at the amateurishness of the players and having only popcorn for refreshments and no hot dogs. An approaching dust cloud interrupts the game reminding them of the grim world they live in, and ends it prematurely. The Cooper family makes back to the farmhouse during the dust storm and Murph’s bedroom did not have the window closed and the dust settled into perfect lines on the floor. Cooper spends the entire night studying the lines and Cooper thinks the lines are binary code and coordinates for a place he feels the need to find and uses a map. He spends the next day driving to the Rockies and his daughter sneaks into the truck to come with him.

Soon after arriving at his final destination (a fenced off gated area), Cooper is apprehended and tasered into unconsciousness. When Cooper wakes up, he is in a room being interrogated by a strange looking robot called TARS. It turns out Cooper is in the best-kept secret in the world, a bunker, and meets his old boss from NASA, an Englishman named Dr. John Brand (Michael Caine), plus his beautiful young daughter, Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway). Nobody is convinced that Cooper just stumbled into the place by accident and Dr. Brand believes a force brought Cooper there. The compound Cooper found is actually the remnants of NASA, inhabiting the facility in secret and no longer funded by the government because of the scarcity of resources. There is a space mission leaving soon to go through a wormhole of unknown origin near Saturn that will take them to three potentially habitable planets, two of them orbiting a super-massive black hole named Gargantua; a large black sphere about the size in diameter of Earth’s sun but which has a solar mass of about 50 million Earth suns. Ten years earlier, 12 individual astronauts were sent out through the wormhole in 12 different ships, but only three (Miller, Mann, and Edmond’s) activated the thumbs up beacon, all of whom are at three planets. At the moment, NASA has nobody to pilot the spacecraft and at the last minute they want Cooper to go, despite his family responsibilities.

The bunker itself is actually a centrifuge, which is projected to become something else later on. The mission has two plans: Plan A is to get the centrifuge into orbit as a space station and rescue a large number of people; this requires Dr. Brand to solve the equation that will allow the scientists to overcome gravity and get the centrifuge into orbit. Plan B is to colonize the most habitable of the three planets along with a bunch of frozen embryos to repopulate the species. Dr. Brand assures Cooper the Earth is dying and humanity doesn’t have much longer and that he needs to pilot the craft and explore, lest his family and the rest of the world all die soon. Cooper is very reluctant, because he’s barely left Earth’s atmosphere, but Brand reassures Cooper the twelve astronauts sent on the mission never even left the simulators beforehand.

The next day, Cooper and Murph return to the farmhouse, his daughter is extremely upset with him for choosing the mission. That night Cooper and Donald are sitting on the porch drinking beer and Cooper reminding Donald once again of the futility of staying and the conditions they live in. Donald assures Cooper he’s doing the right thing, but needs to set things right with Murph. The next morning, Cooper does his best to comfort a sobbing Murph and promises to come back to her and that they might even be the same age when he returns, giving her a wristwatch to compare time. Murph refuses his assurance and that her bookshelf is communicating with her in Morse Code to “stay”. Despite her pleas, Cooper won’t back down and one more book falls down before he leaves, but Cooper disregards it. Cooper leaves and says goodbye to Tom and Donald and while he’s driving away, Murph storms out the front door wanting to see him one last time, but it’s too late.

The space shuttle-craft rockets away from Earth at high speed with Cooper, Amelia Brand, Dr. Doyle (Wes Bentley), Dr. Nikolai “Rom” Romilly (David Gyasi), and the TARS and CASE robots on board. Doyle and Romilly are two scientists that were in the conference room at NASA during the meeting with Cooper. When the spacecraft leaves the atmosphere, everything goes quiet all of a sudden, except the inside. The ring shaped Endurance is up ahead and they dock with it, which has all their needs for space travel. The Endurance is leaving Earth and they bid farewell to a spinning Earth and have to look forward to the lonely, claustrophobic, and potentially dangerous reality of space and put themselves in a plastic-covered water cryosleep bed for the two-year journey to Saturn.

Dr. Brand makes a trip in Cooper’s old 2010 Dodge ram truck to deliver the vehicle back to the homestead and give a tape recorded message from Cooper to his family. Murph appears hoping her father is home, but angrily storms back into the house. Donald tells Dr. Brand about how Murph is making fools out of her teachers, but Brand tells Donald maybe she’ll eventually make a fool out of him.

Two years later.

The Endurance is orbiting Saturn and Cooper is out of cryosleep, reviewing video messages. His son Tom tells him he’s doing okay and Donald says hi, telling Cooper that Murph still refuses to talk to him. The Endurance crew come upon the wormhole, which resembles a plasma globe and will provide a quick channel for the crew to reach the three planets in the next galaxy. The crew take off for the rough ride, (a la 2001 infinity) and come to their first mission, Miller’s Planet. During the time through the wormhole, Amelia reaches out and feels she touched someone’s hand.

They find themselves in a region of space around 10 billion light years from planet Earth. They decide to head first to Miller’s planet, intending to stop there only briefly as its close proximity to Gargantua causes severe gravitational time dilation with each hour spent on the surface costing seven Earth years. Cooper, Amelia, Doyle, and the robot CASE decide to risk themselves and intend to be in and out of there in just minutes to survey while Romilly remains on the Endurance to study the black hole and get quantum data from it. When they land, all they find is shallow water and wreckage of Miller’s ship, who apparently died and had arrived just an hour or two earlier, even though she sent the thumbs up beacon on Earth 10 years before. The crew think there are mountains in the distance that turn out to be giant tsunami waves. Brand becomes trapped under the Miller wreckage and has to be rescued and carried back by CASE, Doyle is drowned, and the ship is flooded and won’t be able to make it out for another hour, costing them years. Cooper is frustrated at Brand, but forgives her mistake. After the engines are mostly emptied of water, Cooper fires them up and just manages to escape the next tidal wave and fly off the surface.

Cooper and Brand make it back to the Endurance to find an aged and gray Romilly in a robe – 23 Earth years have passed and Romilly has spent most of the time waiting with a couple of stretches in cryosleep. It is now about the year 2090 on Earth. They are all beyond crushed, but Brand is relieved to know her father is still alive and well. They are receiving messages from Earth, but unable to transmit out. Cooper reviews all the videos and breaks down looking at 23 years of recorded videos and sees before his very eyes his 17-year-old son Tom showing a picture of what he believes is the right girl for him. In the next video, Tom (now played by Casey Affleck) introduces to Cooper to his grandson Jesse. In the next video, a now weather-beaten and 40-year-old Tom reveals that Donald died a week ago and is buried next to Jesse and that he believes Cooper to be missing or dead and needs to let him go. Then afterwards an apparent live recording comes from Murph (now played by Jessica Chastain). After 25 years of silence, a still stubborn and saddened Murph tells off her father for not fulfilling the possibility of being back because she is now 35 years of age, which is the same age he was when he left Earth. It’s like a knife has been plunged into his heart and he feels he has betrayed her badly and has no way to communicate back with her.

On Earth, Murph stops recording the video. She is now working for Dr. Brand and living in the NASA bunker, who is now about 90-years-old and confined to a wheelchair. Brand is still trying to solve the incomplete gravity equation to get Plan A rolling and is reassuring Murph that the crew of the Endurance are receiving their recorded messages, but the crew can’t transmit out.

Now that the Endurance crew have recovered emotionally from Murph’s video, they debate whether to visit Mann’s planet or Edmond’s planet, because they only have enough fuel to visit one of them before they head back to Earth. Brand wants to visit Edmond’s Planet because his planet appears to be the better prospect, but Cooper wants to visit Mann’s because he’s still transmitting his beacon.

On Earth, Murph returns to the old Cooper homestead with her brother Tom, a farmer. He has just torched a third of his crop because of blight, which is spreading. He now has his old neighbor’s crop to cultivate since the neighbor moved or died. They believe the farm will soon produce nothing. She has dinner of corn soufflé and corn-on-the-cob with Tom, his wife Lois (Leah Cairns), and son Coop. She discovers Coop has a bad cough. They want her to stay the night, but she refuses because of bad memories from her childhood. Murph is aware that the nitrogen levels in the air are taking their toll more and more each day on their son.

A day or two later, Murph is back at the NASA bunker and learns Dr. Brand is dying. He confesses to her that Plan A is not possible and that he had lied to her. He could never solve the gravity equation to get people off Earth. She believes her father knew all about Brand’s scheme and that he escaped and purposefully left her and everyone else to die. Dr Brand dies. Murph sends a video message to Amelia informing her of her father’s death and begs him to tell the truth that the whole thing had been a sham.

The Endurance crew make it to Mann’s Planet a few months later; the planet is perpetually cold, covered with glaciers, and has a poisonous atmosphere of methane filled with ice clouds. Dr. Mann (Matt Damon), who has been in cryosleep for over 35 years, is awakened by Cooper and has a mental breakdown and relieved he is rescued. He tells the story of the frigid, but beautiful world he lives in, indicating it has 80% of Earth’s gravity and a lower part is livable, possibly even a source of fresh water.

Brand sees the video Murph sent about her father dying and Plan A being a sham. She is absolutely shocked and had no idea, but Mann reassures her the equation was actually solved long ago and determined to be impossible before he ever went on the mission. The only way to ever get data would be to get inside a black hole, which is impossible without being killed.

Back on Earth, Murph and her boyfriend, Dr. Getty (Topher Grace), another NASA physicist, are driving in her Jeep through the bleak plains surveying the endless clouds of black smoke and families with their decrepit 80-90 year old vehicles on the road with their belongings in tow, much like Midwestern farmers in the 1930’s escaping to go west to find a better life. She knows the equation is solvable as long as it comes from a black hole and that Dr. Brand only gave part of it. Somewhere in her subconscious, she has a gut feeling that the coordinates of dust on the floor of her bedroom long ago gave her a hint, along the books being pushed off the shelf, and with the Morse code message for Cooper to “stay”. She has a feeling this “ghost” is a being that has tried to comfort her and help save humanity. She knows it’s not the end and that humanity is running out of time.

Simultaneously, Mann is showing Cooper the icy and forbidding world. Murph is back at the Cooper homestead with Dr. Getty examining Tom’s son for his lungs. Dr. Mann pulls off Cooper’s voice beacon and pushes Cooper off the cliff and Murph’s brother Tom is outraged by Dr. Getty’s comment that they can’t stay and will die, hitting him in the face. Mann reveals to Cooper that the planet is uninhabitable and that he sent the signal so he could take Cooper’s spaceship to return to Earth. Murph confronts Tom that her father never meant to save them, but escape and leave it up to her and Tom outright refuses and tells her to leave, believing it’s his duty to take care of the farm to fulfill his promise for his father. Mann is trying to kill Cooper by breaking his helmet’s visor, allowing the ammonia-rich air to suffocate Cooper.

Cooper manages to reach his voice beacon that was taken off of his helmet by Mann to call out for Brand to rescue him. Murph and Dr. Getty are driving back to NASA, but in a fit of rage, she pulls over and pours gasoline over corn crops and sets them on fire, in order to distract Tom and get back to the farmhouse. Cooper has been rescued by Brand. Mann’s living quarters on the planet has exploded and Romilly killed. Romilly was killed because he was trying to retrieve data from Mann’s robot KIPP, which was booby trapped and supposed to reveal the truth about the planet. TARS comes out of the rubble to be rescued by Cooper and Brand and they leave the planet.

On Earth, Tom’s family is now out of the house and Murph is now in her old bedroom trying to make sense of the past. Cooper and Brand are leaving the planet, but Mann is also in another shuttle trying to do so and refuses to listen to their pleas to not attempt to dock with the Endurance. Murph is in her bedroom examining her old belongings to find out what the “ghost” might be telling her.

Dr. Mann has steadfastly refused to listen to the warnings from Cooper and Brand not to dock with the Endurance, but he continues his efforts. He’s manually maneuvered the ship into docking position, but ignores the computer’s warnings of “imperfect lock” and we see the docking pincers attempting to grab but failing to lock in. In mid-sentence the coupling release and the violent expulsion of air into space carries him with it, and resulting collision causes an explosion. The Endurance is now out of control and Cooper tells Brand that he is going to dock with it, even though it is now in a rapid rotation. Though the centrifugal g-forces from the spin are enormous, Cooper is able to dock. However, they are unable to get back to Earth and have to go to Edmond’s Planet to even hope to survive, because of the life support being destroyed. They have to slingshot around the black hole Gargantua in order to make it to Edmond’s Planet and on manual controls.

During the harrowing orbit around Gargantua, Cooper and TARS detach their respective shuttles and get sucked into the black hole, sacrificing themselves to collect data on the singularity, and propel Amelia and CASE faster by reducing the ship’s mass. Cooper separates from Brand in his Ranger, without her prior knowledge, and Brand is on a path that will take her to Edmond’s Planet. He realizes the cost of orbiting the black hole due to the gravitational time dilation will be 51 Earth years, but takes the chance. Brand is outraged with Cooper and now left alone with CASE.

As Cooper’s shuttle falls into the black hole, gravitational forces begin to rip it apart. Cooper is descending towards the center of the black hole with pellets that look like sleet hitting his Ranger spaceship. The computer of his ship tells him to eject himself and without reluctance, he does it.

Cooper descends in the black hole towards a grid full of cubbyholes thinking he’s dead and finds himself in some sort of afterlife and unaware of what sort of surroundings he’s in which resembles a tesseract. He hits an object along with a bunch of others that look like books stacked and knocks one down, revealing ten-year-old Murph reacting at an object falling from her bookshelf back at the farmhouse. He knocked down the lunar lander model shown at the beginning of the movie. He’s screaming out for Murph, but she walks away with it and doesn’t hear him. Then he sees Murph in another part of the grid pleading for her father not to leave. Cooper watches this begging himself not to go and to stay using Morse Code by knocking the books off the shelf. Cooper breaks down realizing that he should have listened and not gone on the mission. Then there is adult Murph at the bedroom while the fire is still burning and she realizes all along that her father himself was the ghost communicating with her feeling comforted and reassured. Now it’s all making sense to her and she’s no longer angry with him and has hope. But she’s still trying to find out what her father is trying to signal to her, recalling the events of the dust storm coordinates and the books falling off.

TARS gets Cooper out of his grief-stricken state that he survived and tells Cooper that some fifth dimensional beings sent him there to communicate with Murph and that his love for his daughter sent him there to help her. Cooper is delighted to see TARS is there with him. Cooper realizes that the mission was not a mistake and that he will get done what he needs to. Murph has been the chosen one to save humanity, but Cooper is the one chosen to help engineer it. He sends the coordinates to himself at the farmhouse to NASA, then the data from the black hole through TARS via Morse Code to a wristwatch he gave Murph before he left, which is the gravity equation. Preteen Murph put the watch back on the shelf making it possible for Cooper to add the black hole equation to it. Adult Murph picks up the old wristwatch out of a box of her old keepsakes seeing the second hand with the Morse Code realizing it’s the key. Dr. Getty is pleading with Murph to get out and for them to leave because the fire is out. Murph leaves the farmhouse with the watch in her hand, and angry Tom returns, but she tells him about the watch, embraces him assuring her father was the ghost all along and will save them. Tom is befuddled by it all, but accepts her hug.

Murph returns to the NASA bunker and completes the equation using the data from the wristwatch. She writes it all down, and throws the papers off the deck of the centrifuge under construction that the equation is solved. She kisses Dr. Getty in a fit of happiness. So what’s going to happen soon might save most of remaining humanity.

Back in the black hole, the tesseract is now closing up, with Cooper convinced it all worked and Cooper is comforted that future human beings constructed it to make all this happen and tells TARS everything is okay. He comes across the Endurance when it passed through the wormhole and touches Brand’s hand, then knocked unconscious into the orbit of Saturn with a couple of beaming lights approaching him.

Cooper wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed. A very clean room with background noise of a baseball bat cracking a ball and birds chirping. A doctor tells him to take it easy jokingly telling him he is now 124 years old, but he still looks the same in his mid to late 30s. The doctor tells Cooper he’s very lucky to be alive because space rangers found him with only minutes left in his oxygen. Cooper looks outside the window of his room with kids playing baseball with a batter hitting a ball into the sky, which turns out to be the skylight of an upside down house with kids cheering at the window being broken. Cooper is told he’s on Cooper Station orbiting Saturn and thinks the station is named after him, but it was named after his daughter Murph. She’s still living and on another space station and will be there to visit him in a couple of weeks despite her age and health. Cooper is delighted that Plan A did indeed work out and that the gravity equation was solved. The very centrifuge that was the NASA bunker is now a space station to sustain human life.

Cooper is now released from his hospital room by a tour guide and shown the station, an O’Neill cylinder with a old world rural American environment and has artificial sunlight beaming from one side, which was the same place the rocket took off from 89 years ago. They pass by a group of sleek ranger ships that are more efficient than what he used and he takes a great interest in them. He is led to a museum exhibit, which is his old farmhouse, only much cleaner and restored. There are videos all over the place of elderly people telling of the dust bowl they lived in, whom you saw at the beginning of the movie, one of which is his daughter. He finds a shorted out TARS in the farmhouse the rangers recovered and immediately repairs him.

Cooper is sitting on the front porch that “night” with TARS drinking beer like he and Donald used to do, but very dissatisfied at the artificial surroundings and pretending to be home. He’s more interested in the spaceships than anything else and still yearning to explore the unknown. Plus almost everybody he knew is now dead and he wasn’t welcomed back as a hero.

Cooper is about to go to the hospital room where the elderly Murph (now played by Ellen Burstyn) is living out the final days of her life – she’d insisted on being brought to the station to say goodbye to her father. A nurse tells Cooper that her family is in there and that she’s spent the last two years in cryosleep. He wasn’t aware she had a family and carefully opens the door with over a dozen people, from small children to middle aged adults surrounding her bed. His grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and their spouses are there, yet he pays no mind to them while they are puzzled by his appearance. His main interest is seeing his daughter. Murph breaks down in delight at the sight of him, and he takes her hand without any reluctance or awkwardness, even though he’s the same age he was when he left and she’s 99-years-old and near death. He assures her he was the ghost that communicated to her in her room and she already knew for years even though nobody believed her. He tells her he’s now here for her, but in her still feisty and stubborn ways, she doesn’t want him to see her die, saying her kids are here for her and that she forgave him and made peace with his disappearance decades ago.

The film starts with a young woman walking through the woods. She’s dripping with blood. A figure stalks her and eventually jumps her, throwing a bag over her head and having his redneck buddy whack her with the butt of his axe. The woman wakes up in a cellar in the presence of a woman who speaks only Welsh, and she’s surrounded by what appear to be burn victims. The young woman’s father appears before her. She asks for her mother, and the father tells her that she killed her mother. The old woman hurries the father to kill his daughter, and so he douses her with gas as she pleads with him. Before he can strike a match, the young woman tells him she will eat his soul. Her eyes turn yellow, and as the father drops the match, she appears demonic and starts thrashing. The father raises a shotgun, tells her he loves her, and then blasts her head clean off her shoulders.

Some time later, a car is driving to a quiet part of the woods where a cabin is. We meet David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), and their friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas), who is a nurse, and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci). Olivia tells David his sister Mia (Jane Levy) is waiting for him in the back.

David finds Mia, sitting on an old broken down 1973 Olds Delta 88, smoking a cigarette while drawing. He tells her she looks beautiful, but she thinks he’s being a liar.

The group enters the cabin, where Mia complains about a smell. We learn here that Mia fondly remembers her mother, but David doesn’t want her to. It also appears that their mother was emotionally abusive toward Mia.

Everyone gathers around a well. Mia, being a recovering drug addict, pulls out a bag of powdered drugs and pours it down the well, vowing to be done with it for good and going cold turkey.

Olivia tells David that this isn’t the first time they’ve tried to get Mia off drugs. Eric tells him that she lasted eight hours before relapsing and overdosing, in which she legally died but was revived.

That evening, Mia starts screaming as she is apparently suffering from withdrawals. Olivia gives her a sedative but Mia continues complaining about a rotten smell that nobody else seems to notice. Their dog, Grandpa, sniffs around the floor where they find a door leading to a cellar under a rug. The floor is smeared with blood. David and Eric go into the cellar and discover the stench is coming from the rotting corpses of animals. They also find the “evil book” from before, wrapped in wires and plastic.

The next day, Mia is wandering outside in the rain. Eric opens the cover of the book, which is scribbled all over with warnings like “Leave this book alone” and “Do not fucking read this.” Naturally, Eric looks through it and finds a page with some words scribbled out and the warning to not speak, write, or hear what is in it. He puts a piece of paper over the book and shades over it with a pencil, revealing several words that he begins to read. Outside, Mia starts being sick andd hears a faint voice calling her, and then sees a figure staring at her. She comes into the cabin and starts grabbing her things, saying she can’t be there anymore. She jumps out the window and steals Eric’s car, but as she drives through the woods, she sees the figure again and drives the car into a swamp.

When she comes to, Mia tries to get out, but the figure rises from the swamp, and she runs away, tumbling into a thorn bush. The branches and sticks wrap themselves around her arms and legs, and the figure, which is a bloodied and horrifying version of herself, regurgitates a black wormy thing with thorns that makes its way up Mia’s leg and goes right inside her. David and Olivia hear her screaming and find her.

The group suspects she was trying to harm herself. David goes into her room, and she tells him that there is something in the room with them.

He goes outside and sees blood on the ground. He calls for Grandpa and finds him in a hole beneath the tool shed. Grandpa is whimpering. David runs into the tool shed and pulls him out of the hole, but he’s dead. David suspects Mia bludgeoned him to death with a hammer that was lying nearby.

He runs back into the cabin and tries to get to Mia, but she’s taking a shower. She turns the water up to the point where it becomes scalding hot and her flesh starts burning. The group pulls her out in time. Eric looks at an open page in the book and notices a picture of a being with burning flesh.

David takes Mia in his Jeep and drives her to a hospital as she’s foaming at the mouth. Unfortunately, the roads are flooded, and he has to turn back.

Olivia gives Mia another sedative. While the group argues about her, she comes into the living room dragging a rifle. She holds it up, and fires near David, and the door swings open as Mia lets out a frightening scream. She says in a possessed voice “You are all going to die tonight.” Olivia tries to get the rifle away from her, but Mia tackles her as her eyes turn yellow and she spits blood all over her. Olivia kicks her into the cellar, and Eric closes it. He suspects this has to do with the stuff they found down in the cellar.

Olivia tries to clean the blood and throw up off herself, but she sees an image of herself mutilated in the mirror, which shatters. She walks away but then freezes, and her eyes twitch as she wets herself. Next to her is the book, open to a page with a person holding a knife and their severed face flesh.

Eric goes into the bathroom to find Olivia, who is cutting the flesh from her cheek with the broken glass. Horrified, he stumbles backward and slips on the cheek flesh. Olivia stabs him with the broken glass and then in the face with the needle. Eric throws her off and breaks off a piece of the toilet, which he uses to bludgeon her to death, just as David and Natalie come in.

David tries to patch up Eric’s wounds. He tells Natalie to bring a jug of water and sugar. Eric tells her to stay away from Mia. He tells David that it’s his fault this is happening because he read from the book.

Natalie goes to the living room and finds that the cellar door is open. Mia is still down there, crying and asking for help. As Natalie tries to go down and get her, Mia’s voice becomes low and demonic and threatening, saying “He won’t stop until he has all of you!” Natalie tries to run but Mia grabs her and bites into her hand. She tries to defend herself with a box cutter but Mia takes it from her and slices her tongue down the middle. She grabs Natalie and kisses her, forcing blood into her mouth. David finds them and pulls Natalie out. They nail the cellar door shut, locking Mia down there.

David finds Eric trying to burn the book, but it doesn’t work. He tells David about what he knows from the book - an evil entity has been unleashed, and it’s attached to Mia’s soul. It seeks a collection of souls to unleash something called the Abomination.

Meanwhile, Natalie tends to the bite wound on her hand. It starts to burn into her arm and she notices an electric knife and reaches for it. Mia peeks from the cellar and tells her not to cut it off, but Natalie slices into her arm. David and Eric find her as her arm falls off.

Eric tells David there are three ways to put an end to this - bury Mia alive, dismember her, or burn her alive. David refuses to do any of that, and Eric calls him a coward. Suddenly, a noise is heard, and Natalie comes in, now possessed, with nails in her head. She’s holding a nail gun and shoots at Eric, who gets a few nails in him. David tries to get the rifle, but Natalie starts hitting him with a crowbar. Eric shoots her with the nail gun, and she goes to start bludgeoning him with the crowbar. Before she can deliver the fatal blow, David blows her hand off with the rifle. Natalie appears to revert back to normal, complaining about the pain before she dies.

David finally decides to burn the cabin with Mia still inside. He pours gasoline on the floor, but before he can drop the lighter, Mia, in her normal voice, starts singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing, and David cannot do it. Outside, a bolt of lightning strikes a tree, setting it on fire. He hatches another plan. He grabs two syringes, among other things, and starts to dig up a hole outside.

He heads into the cellar. He finds Mia, who slashes at him with the box cutter and throws him around. She tries to drown him, but Eric steps in and hits Mia. He’s also been stuck with the box cutter in his stomach. David goes to him, and Eric finally dies.

David takes Mia outside with a bag over her head and starts to bury her. She talks to him in her normal voice and pleads with him, but he won’t buy it. She starts telling him about their mother and more of her abusiveness. Their mother kept asking for David, who was never there, and how Mia would have to keep telling her he’s coming back. He completely buries her, and then waits a while as the rain stops and the fire on the tree goes out. David digs Mia back up and pulls her out. He grabs a car battery with the syringes attached to it and sticks them in Mia’s chest, trying to revive her. She doesn’t come back. He covers her body and walks away tearfully. However, Mia rises and talks to David. She is completely back to normal, and they hug.

The two go back into the cabin to get the keys to David’s Jeep, but a possessed Eric is behind him and he stabs David in the neck. David goes into the hallway and gets Mia outside and locks her out. He grabs the rifle and shoots at the gasoline container, letting it consume the cabin in flames and killing himself and Eric for good.

Outside, it starts raining blood. A hand bursts from the ground and grabs at Mia. It’s the Abomination. It chases after Mia, who grabs a chainsaw from the tool shed and tries to run. She hides under the Jeep and manages to slice off the Abomination’s legs, crippling it. As she tries to run, though, the Abomination tips the Jeep over and it falls on Mia’s arm. She pulls herself free, severing her arm. The Abomination inches toward Mia, but she sticks her arm into the handle of the chainsaw and kills the Abomination. Its corpse sinks back into the ground.

The bloody rain stops, and the sun comes out. Mia walks away, now free from the curse, but alone. Meanwhile, the book lies outside the burning cabin, closing itself and waiting for its next victims.

The film opens at Belle Reve Penitentiary where Brian Durland/Savant (Michael Rooker) is in his break room throwing a ball around at targets that he has precisely set up. He even uses his skills to bounce the ball off the walls and kill a canary. He is then pulled away by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) as she assigns him to a task.

Savant is thrown into Task Force X/The “Suicide Squad” (also known as Team 2) alongside Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Javelin (Flula Borg), The Detachable Kid/TDK (Nathan Filion), and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). Led by Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the team travels to the island of Corto Maltese for their mission. Upon arriving, Weasel falls into the water and apparently drowns since nobody knew he couldn’t swim. When the Squad makes it to land, Blackguard steps out and reveals he brought the team to the mercenaries waiting for them on the beach. For his troubles, he gets his face blown off. Harley goes in blasting while Boomerang throws his signature weapon to slice some heads off. TDK’s arms pop off so he can use them as (ineffective) weapons. The mercenaries retaliate and shoot TDK and Javelin dead. Mongal attempts to bring a chopper down but it crashes and she burns to death. Boomerang is impaled with wood and then shredded by the chopper’s blades. Harley and Flag go missing while Savant attempts to flee the chaos. Although Waller warns him, she detonates the explosive in the back of his head, causing it to blow up. She then sends in her second team to finish the job.

Three days earlier…….

Amanda Waller goes to recruit Robert DuBois/Bloodsport (Idris Elba), a deadly mercenary who is there for putting Superman in the ICU with a kryptonite bullet. Her leverage against him is Bloodsport’s teenage daughter Tyla (Storm Reid), who is in danger of serving time for stealing. The two argue loudly, as Tyla makes it clear that Bloodsport was a bad father. He goes to threaten Waller into releasing Tyla, but she knows he is going to comply regardless. After he relents, she introduces him to her other recruits - Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena), a patriotic mercenary; Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), who has the ability to control rats and keeps one named Sebastian close by; Nanaue/King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), an underwater prince with a taste for human meat; and Abner Krill/Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), a man with an unusual genetic disorder whose specialty is throwing weaponized polka dots.

Waller informs the team about the situation in Corto Maltese - the nation was overthrown by a dictator named Silvio Luna (Juan Diego Botto) and his right-hand man General Mateo Suarez (Joaquin Cosio) after they executed the presidential family. They are operating in a Nazi-era research facility called Jotunheim where they are conducting dangerous experiments, code-named “Project Starfish”. The Squad is assigned to find Dr. Gaius Grieves/The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) since he can lead them to Jotunheim and they can destroy whatever is going on in there. We jump to the facility where Luna and Suarez are observing their work, a gigantic starfish alien creature.

Presently, while Team 2 is making their way through the jungle, they come across a group that they believe to be mercenaries in league with the military, so the Squad kills them before they make it to the camp where Flag is hanging out with his contact Sol Soria (Alice Braga), a dissident whose team, the Freedom Fighters, is trying to take Corto Maltese back from Luna and Suarez…and unfortunately her team was the group that the Squad just killed. The team walks out of the jungle when they notice Polka Dot Man glowing different colors. He explains that his condition happened because his mother worked at STAR Labs and experimented on him and his siblings to give them superpowers. His condition forces him to drain the dots out of him or he will die, and he views all of his enemies as his mother before killing them. Before heading to Jotunheim, Flag insists that they recover Harley.

Harley has been taken captive by Luna’s men, but he brings her to his room to woo her since she is seen in the country as a symbol of anti-American anarchy. Harley is initially charmed by him, and he even asks her to marry him. However, when he reveals his plan of using whatever is in Jotunheim to eliminate anyone who threatens his regime, even if it means killing children. This crosses Harley and she shoots Luna dead, leading to his men to capture and imprison her.

The Squad is being taken by Sol’s contact Milton (Julio Cesar Ruiz) to go to a bar called La Gatita Amable where they will find Thinker. On the road there, Ratcatcher asks Bloodsport why he is afraid of rats, as he is always recoiling around Sebastian even though, according to Cleo, he sees good in Bloodsport. DuBois states that his father once punished him with rats, and it lead to his phobia. When he asks her why she is so drawn to rats, she explains that her father, Ratcatcher 1 (Taika Waititi), taught her how to control them but also treat them as family, but he was a drug addict and ultimately overdosed when she was a child. Bloodsport and Ratcatcher promise to one another that they will get each other out alive. The team makes it to the bar, but Nanaue has to stay behind since he will stick out.

The Squad drinks and dances before they spot Thinker. They apprehend him, but the military comes in to search everyone since they know that there are Americans in there. Bloodsport sends Ratcatcher outside with Thinker while he, Peacemaker, and Polka Dot Man are all taken in. On the road, the three subdue the gunmen and kill the driver before their van is run off the road. Ratcatcher and King Shark arrive with Thinker in tow.

Meanwhile, Harley is being tortured by Suarez’s men for information, but she never budges. When she is left alone with his guard, she snaps his neck with her legs and sets herself free. Harley proceeds to shoot down Suarez’s guards before getting her hands on some blades and Javelin’s… javelin to slaughter her way through the guards. Outside, Flag tries to lead the Squad to rescue Harley until she shows up and joins them. They then get Thinker and order him to get them inside Jotunheim.

Once inside (and after Milton is killed), Thinker leads the Squad to the creature that he calls Starro The Conqueror. Peacemaker and Nanaue set up bombs all over the place. Thinker reveals to the Squad that the American government was behind the experiments involving Starro since they have been secretly funding Corto Maltese for decades. Starro also emits smaller starfish that attach themselves to human faces and take over their bodies like zombies, and there are slews of corpses of Starro’s other victims all over the facility. Starro breaks free and grabs Thinker, tearing him in two and splattering him across the wall. Flag attempts to secure the hard drive with evidence against the American government to deliver to the press, but Peacemaker turns on him per Waller’s orders. The two fight each other, with Flag nearly choking Peacemaker to death, but he stabs Flag through the heart with a piece of a broken sink. Ratcatcher witnesses this and grabs the flash drive while Peacemaker attempts to kill her. Meanwhile, Nanaue comes across small fish that mimic him, until their aquarium is broken and they begin to leech onto him, all while Bloodsport, Harley, and Polka Dot Man try to survive the crumbling facility. Bloodsport manages to survive going through several stories before he lands and witnesses Peacemaker getting ready to execute Ratcatcher. The two mercs draw their guns and fire their bullets at each other, with Bloodsport’s bullet breaking through Peacemaker’s and striking him in the throat, bringing him down.

King Shark falls outside and is shot by Suarez’s men, but he rises and bites the head off one gunmen before the rest of the Squad runs out of the facility as Starro bursts out. It releases more starfish that kill Suarez and his men and then proceeds to make its way into the city. Waller declares the mission over since the evidence is destroyed, but the surviving members want to save the city. Waller threatens to detonate their devices and kill them on the spot until her subordinate, Flo Crawley (Tinashe Kajese) brains her with a golf club and has the rest of the team guide the Squad to save the city. At the same time, Sol and her team execute the remaining members of the regime to stage their coup and take their country back.

Bloodsport begins blasting away at Starro while King Shark goes “nom nom” on the alien and starts to bite into it. Polka Dot Man envisions Starro as his mother and unleashes his polka dots to burn Starro’s leg, but the alien crushes him. Ratcatcher tries to use her beacon to summon the rats, but Bloodsport pushes her out of the way before she is killed. She then uses the beacon and gets practically every rat in the city to take down the infected citizens and start to take Starro down. Harley then charges into Starro’s eye with the javelin and breaks through before the rats make their way inside and take Starro down from the inside, finally killing it and saving the city. The Squad’s heroics are broadcast on the news, and Tyla acknowledges her father as a hero.

Bloodsport contacts Waller, ordering her to let the team and Tyla go free, or they will leak the evidence from the laboratory to the press. She reluctantly agrees and calls for the chopper to bring them home. As the team rests, Sebastian crawls onto Bloodsport’s leg, and he begins to pet the rat.

Mid-Credits Scene: Weasel is shown to still be alive and starts wandering into the jungle of Corto Maltese.

Lord Voldemort, an evil and powerful dark wizard, has just been defeated. When he tried to kill a one-year-old boy, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), the killing curse rebounded upon him, destroying his body. Harry is left an orphan with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, Voldemort having killed his parents, Lily (Geraldine Somerville) and James (Adrian Rawlins) Potter. Professors Dumbledore (Richard Harris) and McGonagall (Dame Maggie Smith) and Gamekeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) leave him on the doorstep of his ultra-conventional, insensitive, negligent Muggle (non-magical) relatives, the Dursley family, who take him in. Harry’s relatives decide to conceal his magical heritage from him and make him live in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years.

Shortly before Harry’s eleventh birthday, he receives a letter addressed specifically to him. His outraged uncle, however, reads and burns it before Harry has a chance to look at the contents. The sender does not give up, and the Dursleys receive successively larger numbers of the same correspondence. Soon, his Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) becomes so paranoid that the Dursleys, with Harry in tow, hide in a hut on a small island to escape. That night (which happens to be before Harry’s birthday), he is visited by an enormous man named Hagrid who bursts through the locked door of the hut. With Hagrid holding the Dursleys at bay, Harry finally reads his letter, in which he learns he has been invited to study magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The next day Harry and Hagrid head to Diagon Alley in London (the secret magical location hidden behind the famous wizarding pub The Leaky Cauldron). Harry enters the wizarding world for the first time, learns to his surprise that he is famous, and meets the new Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart). Hagrid takes Harry to Gringott’s Bank, where Harry learns that he is quite wealthy. Following this, Hagrid stops at a different vault to retrieve a small, wrapped parcel for Dumbledore. Using his newfound money, Harry buys everything he requires for his first school year, including and owl, and a wand. Interestingly, the wand that chooses him is the brother wand of the one that was used to kill Harry’s parents and give him the scar. He then takes the train to Hogwarts from Platform Nine and three-quarters, befriending Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and meeting Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), a Muggle-born witch.

Upon arrival, the Sorting Hat places Harry, Ron and Hermione in Gryffindor House. Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), an arrogant and elitist student, gets placed in Slytherin. At the end of their first week at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron discover that Gringotts, the wizarding bank, was broken into and a vault that Harry and Hagrid visited had been the subject of the robbery. Later, Harry discovers he has a talent for riding broomsticks, and after an incident with Malfoy, is recruited to join Gryffindor’s Quidditch team as a Seeker, much to Malfoy’s displeasure.

Harry, Ron, Hermione explore Hogwarts late at night and accidentally stumble across the door to a corridor. A three-headed dog, christened Fluffy by Hagrid, guards a trapdoor. On Halloween, Quirrell informs everyone that a troll has entered the castle; Harry and Ron fight the troll to save Hermione, who is trapped in the girls’ bathroom, and the three become best friends.

At Harry’s first Quidditch match, Harry’s broom becomes possessed, nearly knocking him off. Hermione sees Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), the sinister Potions master and head of Slytherin House, staring at Harry and mouthing words, making her believe that Snape has caused the broom to misbehave with a dark curse. Hoping to save Harry, Hermione sets Snape’s robes on fire, distracting him and others and allowing Harry to survive.

At Christmas, Harry receives an Invisibility Cloak, once belonging to his father, which renders its wearer invisible. Harry uses it to explore the Restricted Section in the library to research information on Nicolas Flamel, a name Hagrid lets slip when confronted about his knowledge of Fluffy. Eventually, Harry learns that “Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer’s Stone, which produces the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal.”

Harry sees Snape trying to get information from Quirrell about getting past Fluffy; Quirrell says he does not know what he’s talking about. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are sure that Snape is trying to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone in order to restore Lord Voldemort to power, but Hagrid denies it. While at Hagrid’s hut, the trio discover a dragon egg Hagrid was nursing in a fire. Later the egg hatches a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, and Hagrid decides to call him “Norbert”. The friends are nervous for Hagrid, since dragon breeding had long been outlawed in the wizarding world, and Hagrid had something of a reckless nature, who has long since nursed a strong desire for a dragon. Finally, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are able to convince Hagrid to let Norbert go live with other dragons of his kind in Romania.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco are caught out late at night, and are forced to serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. Harry sees a hooded figure drink the blood of an injured unicorn, which makes Harry’s forehead scar start burning. Firenze, a centaur, tells Harry that it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn, let alone drink its blood. He also tells Harry that unicorn blood will keep one alive, and that the hooded figure is in fact Voldemort.

Harry, Hermione and Ron find out that Hagrid has told a hooded stranger how to get past Fluffy, and they believe the theft of the Stone is imminent. Rushing to finally confide in Professor Dumbledore their news, they meet Professor McGonagall, who is shocked to find out how much they knew about the Stone, but reassures them all the same that it is safe in the castle. She also tells them that Dumbledore has been sent away on an important mission by the Ministry of Magic. Positive that Dumbledore’s summons was a red herring to take Professor Dumbledore away from Hogwarts, the trio make plans to thwart Snape’s theft of the stone. They set out to reach the stone first, navigating the security system set up by the school’s staff, which is a series of complex magical challenges. The three make it through together until finally, Harry must enter the inner chamber alone. There he finds that Professor Quirrell, not Snape, is attempting to steal the Stone. Realizing that Snape was trying to protect him from harm all along, Harry confronts Quirrell and survives a second encounter with Lord Voldemort, who has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell’s head. Quirrell crumbles when he touches Harry’s skin, and Harry passes out because of his close proximity to Lord Voldemort. Voldemort then pitilessly abandons Quirrell, who dies in the aftermath of his possession.

Harry wakes up in the hospital wing. Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Harry’s mother died to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides Harry with an ancient magical protection from Voldemort’s lethal spells and also prevents Voldemort from touching Harry without suffering terribly. Dumbledore also says that the Sorcerer’s Stone has been destroyed to prevent future attempts by Voldemort to steal it.

On Halloween, Gotham City mayor Don Mitchell Jr. is murdered by a serial killer calling himself the Riddler. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has operated for two years as the vigilante Batman, investigates alongside the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Lieutenant James Gordon discovers that the Riddler left a message for Batman, but commissioner Pete Savage berates him for allowing a vigilante to enter the crime scene and forces Batman to leave. The Riddler kills Savage and leaves another message for Batman.

Batman and Gordon discover that the Riddler left a thumb drive in Mitchell’s car containing images of Mitchell with a woman, Annika, at the Iceberg Lounge, a nightclub operated by mobster Carmine Falcone’s lieutenant Penguin. Batman questions the Penguin, who pleads ignorance, but notices that Selina Kyle, Annika’s roommate and girlfriend, works there as a waitress. After Annika disappears, Batman sends Selina back to the Iceberg Lounge to search for answers. Through Selina, Batman discovers that Savage was on Falcone’s payroll, as is district attorney Gil Colson. Selina shuts off communication when Batman presses her about her relationship with Falcone.

The Riddler abducts Colson, straps a timed collar bomb to his neck, and sends him to interrupt Mitchell’s funeral. When Batman arrives, the Riddler calls him via Colson’s phone and threatens to detonate the bomb if Colson cannot answer three riddles. Batman helps Colson answer the first two, but Colson refuses to answer the third: name of the informant who gave the GCPD information that led to a historic drug bust ending mobster Sal Maroni’s operation. The bomb explodes, killing Colson and knocking Batman unconscious.

Batman and Gordon deduce that the informant may be the Penguin and track him to a drug deal. They discover that Maroni’s operation never actually ended and many GCPD officers are involved. Selina inadvertently exposes them when she arrives to steal money. As the Penguin flees, Selina discovers Annika’s corpse in a car trunk. Batman captures the Penguin but learns that he was not the informant.

Batman and Gordon follow the Riddler’s trail to the ruins of an orphanage operated by Bruce’s parents Thomas and Martha. They learn that the Riddler was a resident at the orphanage and holds a grudge against the Wayne family. Bruce’s butler and caretaker, Alfred Pennyworth, is hospitalized after opening a letter bomb addressed to Bruce. The Riddler then leaks evidence that Thomas, who was running for mayor when he was murdered, hired Falcone to kill a journalist for threatening to reveal embarrassing details about Martha’s history of mental illness. Bruce, who grew up believing his father was morally upstanding, confronts Alfred, who confirms the allegations but states that Thomas decided to turn Falcone over to the police after learning of the murder; Alfred surmises that Falcone had Thomas and Martha killed to prevent this.

Selina tells Batman that Falcone is her neglectful father. She learns that Annika was strangled because Mitchell told her that Falcone was the informant, and resolves to kill him. Batman and Gordon arrive at the Iceberg Lounge in time to stop her. Batman physically prevents Selina from killing Falcone, explaining that she shouldn’t allow Falcone to destroy her future through murdering him and facing prison. Batman escorts a cocky Falcone to the police, while Falcone tells Batman that he knows of all Gotham’s hidden secrets and underworld dealings and that everything he knows dies with him. No sooner does Batman bring Falcone outside to the patrol waiting than Riddler snipes Falcone from his apartment window. Unmasked as forensics accountant Edward Nashton, the Riddler is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital. Nashton says that, as a neglected orphan, he was envious of the sympathy Bruce received after his parents’ murder. He idolizes Batman-who inspired him to target the corrupt-and proposes a partnership, but Batman angrily rejects him.

Angered at being rejected by his idol, Nashton begins ranting to which Batman realizes that Nashton still has something planned. Upon realizing Batman hasn’t figured out his next course of action, a delighted Nashton gives him one last clue by singing “Ave Maria,” the song sung at the Mitchell’s funeral to imply that the final part of the plan is mayor-elect Bella Real’s assassination. However, Batman fails to realize this and exclaims, “What have you done!?”

Searching his apartment, Batman is inadvertently aided by a cop who shows him a carpet cutting tool which Riddler had murdered the mayor with at the beginning. Realizing this tool is another clue to uncovering the Riddler’s master plan, Batman cuts open the rug of the apartment and discovers via a map drawn on the floor underneath that Nashton has stationed car bombs around Gotham. No sooner has he done this than an online video of Nashton’s final transmission before his capture and incarceration plays, explaining gleefully that he had cultivated an online following that plans to assassinate mayor-elect Bella Reál.

The bombs destroy the breakwaters around Gotham and flood the city. A shelter is set up in an indoor arena, where Nashton’s followers non-fatally shoot Reál but are stopped by Batman and Selina. While battling the cult atop the rafters, Batman defeats them but is almost killed by a last member who is about to execute Batman. Selina arrives and rescues Batman before kissing him, thanking him for preventing her from murdering Falcone. However, the member comes to and almost kills Selina with a knife. Batman is incapacitated from his injuries and unable to get up to protect Selina. He injects himself with adrenaline, gets up, and tackles the member to the ground. He has the member pinned down and beats his face savagely until he is stopped by Gordon and Selina. Gordon approaches the member and tears off his mask to reveal his swollen, bruised face. Gordon asks, “Who the hell are you?”. The man responds, “Me? I’m vengeance.”

Batman sees a power line swinging just past the crowds in the flooded water below, throwing sparks everywhere as it flails wildly. Batman uses his grappling hook to swing toward the cord and grab onto it. Once he is hanging onto the cord, he uses his detachable bat emblem to sever it, causing him to be shocked by the electricity and fall down into the water. Batman rises from the water, lights a flare, and leads the survivors to safety. Batman aids recovery efforts and vows to inspire hope in Gotham, having seen that his weapon of fear has fueled the drive of vigilantes.

Meanwhile in Arkham, Nashton is upset that his plan failed and wailing in his cell. A neighboring cell mate, who is largely obscured behind the steel door of his cell, proposes Nashton a riddle, asking, “Riddle me this. The less you have of me, the more I am worth.” Nashton answers, “A friend.” They laugh together.

The movie opens with the Barden Bellas about to perform at the ICCA championships. One of them, Chloe (Brittany Snow) is running late to the start of the performance. When she arrives she is reprimanded by the older Bellas. As they are about to perform, Aubrey (Anna Camp) tries to assure them she’ll do a good job, but is shot down. The group sings ‘The Sign’.. and all is going well, until the very end when Aubrey has a solo, and projectile vomits all over the stage and front rows of the audience.

Cut to the start of a new year at Barden University, and freshman Beca (Anna Kendrick) is arriving by taxi. While she is receiving directions and her Rape Whistle, a car passes her by, and another student, Jesse (Skylar Austin) is singing along to the radio, and catches her attention.

Beca finds her new dorm room, and meets her roommate Kimmy-Jin, who is hostile and unfriendly. Beca’s dad, a professor at Barden then arrives, and asks her how she got there. It is revealed that Beca’s parents have split up as she refers to her dad’s new wife as her ‘step monster’, and seems very reluctant to be attending College. Beca’s dad tries to encourage her to enjoy it, but Beca escapes to the Activities fair.

In another dorm room, Jesse is meeting his roommate Benji (Ben Platt), who is into Star Wars and magic.

At the Activities fair, we are introduced to the Trebles - one of the Campus singing groups, all male, who are talented and have a high opinion of themselves, especially Bumper (Adam Devine) the lead singer. Jesse and Benji approach the Trebles, as Benji is desperate to join, but Bumper is not impressed with his enthusiasm.

Across the campus, the Bellas are now down to just 2 members - Aubrey and Chloe, who are trying to recruit new ones. Due to their disastrous performance at the last Championships, they are not having much luck, and are even ridiculed by ‘Baloney Barb’ who has tried out for them previously. They are then approached by Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), an outgoing and quirky student from Tasmania who doesn’t hesitate to demonstrate her singing and dancing abilities. They then meet Beca, who quickly rebuffs their offer to audition, saying it is lame, which immediately puts Aubrey offside.

Instead of being interested in joining any of the singing groups, Beca has much more of an interest in remixing music on her laptop. She gets a job at the campus radio station, and much to her dismay, so does Jesse.

Her dad pays her a visit in her dorm, and gives her an ultimatum - if she makes an effort and joins a group at College , but still doesn’t like it by the end of the year, she can quit and follow her true dream of becoming a DJ, and he will help her… but he wants her to really make an effort.

As Beca goes into the communal showers singing to herself, Chloe happens to be in the showers as well, and confronts Beca in her shower stall , insisting that she try out for the Bellas. Although Beca is mortified, she sings along with Chloe to ‘Titanium’.

Finally the auditions are on, and Jesse, Benji and Fat Amy are among the hopefuls trying out, auditioning to ‘Since you’ve been gone’. Beca comes late, and hasn’t prepared the audition song, but auditions with ‘Cups (miss me when I’m gone)’, and Chloe and Jesse are impressed, while Aubrey is unsure. We then see the initiation of the new Bellas including Beca, Fat Amy, Stacie (Alexis Knapp), Cynthia-Rose (Esther Dean) and the very softly spoken Lilly (Hana Mae Lee). They all swear an oath and drink the ‘blood of the Bellas who came before them’ (wine). Cut to the initiation of the new Trebles.. Jesse has made it, but Benji has not. That night, there is Aca-initiation where all the groups come together for drinks and singing. Jesse is pleased to see Beca is in the Bellas, although she seems less than thrilled to be there. Fat Amy and Bumper seem to share some chemistry, despite insulting one another, and Aubrey looks unhappy that Beca is showing an interest in Jesse.

The next day, Bella rehearsals begin. Aubrey has a very rigorous training schedule planned. She announces that one of the new Bellas has been kicked out for breaking the oath that you must not hook up with a Treble. She asks the rest of the girls to confess the same if necessary, and another Bella is kicked out. Rehearsals begin, and the girls are less than impressive. Aubrey and Chloe have their work cut out for them. As the girls leave, Aubrey calls Beca over and warns her not to get involved with Jesse. Beca is flippant and retorts that Aubrey is not the boss of her.

At the Bellas’ first gig with their new line up they wear the same uniforms and sing the same songs they always have. They are not at all prepared, and are cut short and told they won’t be paid for the gig. Aubrey is furious, especially at Chloe, who then reveals she has Nodes - ‘the rubbing together of your vocal chords at above average rates and without proper lubrication’, and will have to pull back on her singing.

As time goes on, Jesse tries flirting with Beca at work, who seems like she is interested in him but trying not to be. He then approaches her on campus and wants to show her his favourite movies, but she reveals she does not like watching movies, especially the endings… Jesse argues that endings are the best part. Beca says she doesn’t have time to watch the movies, as Bellas are rehearsing all the time. Jesse asks if they are getting ready for the Riff Off. Beca has no idea what that is, but soon finds out. The Riff Off is a singing competition that pits the groups against each other, with various song categories. Despite Beca impressing most of the Bellas, the other groups, and Jesse with her version of ‘No Diggity’, the Trebles win the Riff Off. Beca is encouraged by the other Bellas’ ability to listen to one another and sing together impromptu, but Aubrey brushes her off, upset that they still lost.

Jesse and Beca become closer when she plays him some of her music remixes, and he shows her the ending of his favourite movie, the Breakfast Club. As the Bellas rehearse for the next round of competition, Chloe and Beca try to convince Aubrey to try something different and not keep singing the same songs, but Aubrey is adamant that they will win if they keep it all the same. She gives Fat Amy a solo in the performance, who gets a bit carried away, but the audience love the energy and variation from the usual Bella prim and proper style. However, Aubrey is not impressed. The Trebles win the trophy, but as they are all leaving, a fight breaks out with an acapella group of older men outside, and Beca accidentally breaks a window, and ends up being arrested. When her father arrives to bail her out, she is furious with Jesse for calling him. Beca arrives back at the dorm, and all the Bellas are waiting for her in support, although when she tries suggesting they mix things up for their next performance, once again, Aubrey shoots her down and says they will be doing things the same as always.

The Bellas travel to the semi finals on a bus driven by Fat Amy. She stops at a gas station to ‘pump and dump’, and the Trebles drive past. Bumper cruelly throws a huge burrito at Fat Amy and sauce spills all over her, making her furious. As the Bellas keep driving, they are in good spirits and sing together ‘Party in the USA’, until suddenly the bus splutters, and Fat Amy realises she never actually got around to putting gas in the tank. Out of desperation, they call the Trebles for a lift on their bus. At the semi finals, there is a group called the ‘Footnotes’ who are impressive, but the commentators note the male lead singer’s voice sounds unusually high. The Bellas begin to perform their usual set, but Beca becomes sick of the mocking looks from the other bands, and also the bored looks in the audience, so she starts singing another song ‘Bulletproof’ over the top of ‘The Sign’ much to the other Bellas’ surprise and Audrey’s displeasure, but it does make the judges take more notice. After the performance, Aubrey tells Beca off, and she ends up leaving the Bellas, but not before lashing out at Jesse again as he tries to come to her defence.

The Bellas do not advance to the Finals, and Aubrey is devastated. Over Spring Break, Beca finally watches the Breakfast Club, and is moved to tears. Also, it is discovered that the group the Footnotes who advanced to the Finals had a member in High School, so were disqualified, and the Bellas are back in the running. They are all thrilled and excitedly come together to rehearse. Chloe reveals that she has let Beca know, much to Aubrey’s annoyance. Beca tries to make amends with Jesse, but he brushes her off. She speaks to her Dad, admitting that she shuts people out, and asks him what to do. Meanwhile, Bumper has been offered a back up singer job with John Mayer,and ditches the Trebles without any regard for the Finals. Jesse immediately rushes to Benji and offers him the spot, but warns him not to act weird.

Finally sick of Aubrey and her bossy, controlling attitude, Chloe tells Aubrey that Beca was right, and they should have listened to her. They get in a fight and the other Bellas start to intervene. Aubrey loses it, and makes herself projectile vomit all over the place. All hell breaks loose, as Beca comes in and calms everyone down. Finally Aubrey agrees to let Beca have a go at remixing the songs and changing the style of the Bellas’ performance for the better. It is discovered that as Chloe has had surgery to remove her Nodes, she can now hit the bass notes, and also that Lilly can beatbox.

The film opens with a mural of a bizarre, eerie ritual taking place. We then see images of dark, snowy forests with the sound of old folk singing playing in the background.

College student Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) calls her parents but is sent to voicemail. She expresses concern over her bipolar sister Terri (Klauda Csanyi), who left her a cryptic message recently. Dani then calls her boyfriend Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor), who is hanging out with his buddies Josh (William Jackson Harper), Mark (Will Poulter), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). Christian assures Dani that this is just another one of Terri’s episodes, but he adds that Dani only feeds into Terri’s antics. After he hangs up, she gets a call from an unknown number. Josh and Mark think Christian should just end it with Dani since it’s clear he’s wanted out of the relationship for a while, and as they are planning an upcoming trip to Sweden (Eastern Europe), Pelle suggests they will meet lots of other women. Dani calls Christian again and is wailing hysterically. We then see authorities going into Dani’s parents’ home, where Terri has flooded the house with carbon monoxide, killing her parents before stuffing the tube into her mouth and taping it there. Christian goes to Dani’s apartment to console her.

Several months later, Dani tries to contain her grief. She hangs out with Christian and his friends and learns about their trip to Sweden to a midsommar celebration in the Harga, a village where Pelle grew up. The celebration occurs every 90 years and lasts about nine days. Josh, in particular, is interested since he wants to write about the experience for his anthropology dissertation. Christian invites Dani to be nice, and although she accepts, Christian thinks she doesn’t want to go since she’s still reeling from the murder-suicide. However, Dani is more upset that Christian is only now telling her about the trip, which they are set to leave for within two weeks.

Dani and Christian go to hang out with his friends. While he steps out of the room, Pelle talks to Dani about the midsommar celebration, and their tradition of choosing a May Queen at the end of the celebration. Pelle also tries to console Dani over her loss, stating that his parents had also passed away, but the mere mention of it triggers her, and she goes to the bathroom to cry.

Dani joins Christian and his friends for the trip. They drive out to the Harga and meet Pelle’s brother Ingemar (Hampus Hallberg), plus an English couple named Simon (Archie Madekewe) and Connie (Ellora Torchia). The group takes magic mushrooms, but Ingemar offers Dani a special tea since it has a better taste. She agrees to it and initially enjoys the trip until Pelle says that the group is like his family. The word gets to Dani, and she goes to take a walk. She starts to experience a bad trip, and gets paranoid when another high group of people she comes across starts laughing in her direction. Dani goes to hide in a shed but is mortified by what appears to be Terri behind her. She then runs into the woods, where the trees appear to morph around her before she passes out. She briefly dreams about Terri and their parents.

Dani wakes up next to Christian six hours later. They join their friends in going back toward the village to meet the rest of the Harga community. Josh inquires about the many cultural aspects of the festival and the community, but when he asks about a mysterious golden teepee in the distance, he doesn’t get a direct answer. A girl named Maja (Isabelle Grill) shows interest in Christian by playfully kicking him as he sits in a circle.

Pelle later gifts Dani with a drawing of herself for her birthday. She mentions that Christian forgot their birthday, but he later gives her a slice of cake to make up for it. When asked how long they have been together, Christian thinks it has just been over three years, but Dani corrects him and says they have been together for four years. Pelle then brings his friends to the place where they will be sleeping.

The following day, the group joins the community for a feast. Two of the eldest villagers, Ylva (Katarina Weidhagen) and The Laborer (Lars Varinger), are the guests of honor, as they practice a breathing exercise before the whole community follows them to the edge of a cliff. The elders cut their hands as they walk by the edge. The newcomers watch in horror as Ylva drops herself off the cliff and lands facefirst onto a rock, leaving them to witness her gruesome faceless skull. The Laborer leaps off as well, but he only shatters his leg. He moans in agony, and the villagers mimic the sounds of his moaning. Three of the villagers proceed to smash his head with a sledgehammer. Simon and Connie express their absolute horror, while Dani goes back to her room. An elder villager woman, Siv (Gunnel Fred), explains to the group that this is a natural part of their ritual, as the two elders reached what they felt was the end of their life cycle, and prolonging it further would have been bad. Pelle goes to comfort Dani, thinking that her distress is linked more to her recent tragedy than it is to what she just witnessed. He attempts to console Dani, but she thinks him getting close to her is inappropriate since Christian could come in. Pelle then questions how much Christian really means to Dani, based on how he is around her.

Dani later has a nightmare that Christian and his friends are leaving without her. They drive away in the middle of the night as she watches them go, and she is plagued by haunting imagery of her dead family and the corpses of the two elders.

After what they saw, Simon and Connie plan to leave, but when Connie is ready to go, she is told that Simon went off with another villager to the train that would take them home. Connie is angered that Simon would leave without her, and she proceeds to walk off on her own. Meanwhile, Christian tells Josh he also wants to do his thesis on the Harga, but Josh is not happy about that. He argues that Christian can never just do his own thing instead of picking off what Josh is doing. Christian offers to ask the elders if they are allowed to collaborate on the project. Josh later learns that the village’s ritualistic practices are based on paintings made by a member named Ruben (Levente Puczko-Smith), a deformed boy who was the product of incest but is viewed as some kind of seer. Josh asks to take pictures of Ruben’s drawings, but he is forbidden.

The elders’ bodies are buried in the middle of the village. Their ashes are spread across an ancestral tree, which Mark pisses on. He is scolded by Ulf (Henrik Norlen), who actually breaks down sobbing at the act. Mark is then told the significance of the tree, but he has a callous reaction over it. Elsewhere, Christian and Josh are told that they are allowed to collaborate on their thesis, on the condition that they omit the actual names and location of the Harga. The two agree. Christian also asks about the village’s mating rituals, inquiring as to whether incest was typical there, and he is told that incest isn’t necessarily frowned upon, but outsiders are usually brought in to procreate with the villagers. A feast is then held, where Mark notices Ulf is staring daggers in his direction. Dani also overhears that Connie was taken to the station by one of the villagers. Mark is then taken away by a female villager, and the others never see him again.

Later that night, Josh sneaks into the room where Ruben’s book of paintings is kept. He is interrupted by who he thinks is Mark before he gets bludgeoned over the head. We then see that the figure is actually a villager wearing Mark’s face. Josh is then dragged away.

The next morning, Dani, Christian, and Pelle are told that Ruben’s book has gone missing, and Josh and Mark disappearing looks suspicious. Afterwards, Dani joins the women in the village in a competition where they dance around a maypole before each woman is eliminated. After taking a drug, Dani finds herself being able to speak in Swedish with the other women. Dani is the last one standing, and she is crowned the May Queen. At the same time, Christian is given a drink that induces a trip. He is lured and taken to take Maja’s virginity. He has sex with her while the other elder females stand nude around them and mimic Maja’s moaning. After Dani is crowned May Queen, she watches Christian having sex with Maja through a hole in the door, which causes Dani to have a breakdown. She goes to cry, and the other women join her, sympathetically crying loudly with her. After climaxing, a mortified Christian runs out to try and find Dani, but he ends up discovering Josh’s leg buried in the dirt, as well as Simon’s mutilated corpse being used as a blood eagle. Moments later, he is found and knocked out when a villager blows powder in his face.

The end of the ritual draws near, and the elders bring the drugged Christian, along with a villager named Torbjörn, before Dani, as she is supposed to choose someone for a sacrifice. As per tradition, nine people are to be sacrificed. This includes the two elders, four outsiders, two living volunteers, and one chosen by Dani. After all that she has gone through, she picks Christian.

In the opening scene set in London, England, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) stands by his brother Owen’s (Luke Evans) bedside as he lays in a coma, badly scarred and crippled after being ejected from the plane (in the last Fast and Furious film). Shaw promises his brother that he will settle the score. He leaves the room and goes out into the rest of the hospital, with bodies everywhere. The building continues to burn and crumble around him.

Meanwhile, Dom (Vin DIesel) drives Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) to a racetrack in the California desert where hundreds of people from their neighborhood gather for Race Wars, something that Dom and Letty invented when they were younger. Letty goes up for the race and flies past her opponent as his car breaks down on the track. All the patrons cheer her on after she crosses the finish line, followed by Iggy Azalea showing up out of nowhere to congratulate Letty. The excitement of the others is too overwhelming for Letty, and she takes the car and drives away. Dom later finds her that night at the cemetery, staring at her own tombstone. Dom takes a sledgehammer to smash it, but Letty stops him because she thinks the person she used to be is no longer who she is to Dom, and she doesn’t want to hurt him for that. She bids Dom goodbye.

Brian (Paul Walker) is adjusting to life as a minivan-driving dad, as his son Jack is now old enough for school. Even his wife Mia (Jordana Brewster), Dom’s sister, acknowledges that he has had trouble settling down this way.

That evening, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) continues to do some overnight work while Elena (Elsa Pataky) is getting ready to go out. Hobbs hands her a letter of recommendation that she asked him for. He wishes her luck in her pursuits. Hobbs then sees Shaw in his office hacking into his computer. Hobbs attempts to arrest him as he is gathering the information on the crew that took down his brother. Shaw battles Hobbs through the whole floor, they smash each other through glass walls and coffee tables, while Hobbs manages to get a good chokeslam down on Shaw. Elena returns for back-up as Shaw gets a grenade out. He tosses it towards the detectives, forcing Hobbs to run to Elena as the grenade explodes, sending them both out the window where they land, Hobbs first, on a van. Elena is unharmed. In the office, it is shown that Shaw was looking for Han (Sung Kang).

Dom visits Mia at her home as Brian is getting Jack ready for school. Outside their house is a large package. Mia tells Dom that she is having another child, but she hasn’t told Brian for fear of how he’d react to more changes. Dom gets a call from Shaw, listening to his message after killing Han (from the end of the previous film). Dom realizes there’s trouble, and he grabs Mia as the package explodes massively, destroying the whole house. Jack is safe in the minivan, though his parents rush to him in a panic.

Dom follows Elena to Hobbs’s hospital room. He tells Dom who Shaw is, including his history in the Special Forces, where he was turned into a human killing machine. Hobbs asks Dom to promise him he will take Shaw down for good. Dom agrees. Meanwhile, Brian sends Mia and their son to hide out in the Dominican Republic until this thing with Shaw is taken care of. He promises Mia that he will return as long as they are safe.

Dom flies to Tokyo to bring Han back for a proper burial. He meets with Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), Han’s friend (from the third film Fast and Furious 3: Toyko Drift). After the two have their race, Sean gives him the only things they could find from Han’s car: a picture of Gisele and a cross necklace.

Back in California, the gang gathers for Han’s funeral, joined by Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson). Dom spots a car suspiciously driving near the funeral. He follows it, learning it is Shaw. They crash into each other in a tunnel, and they briefly fight until a team of agents comes in, giving Shaw a chance to escape. Their leader, a shadowy agent known only as “Mr. Nobody” (Kurt Russell), brings Dom with him and gathers Brian, Tej, Roman, and finally Letty to work together on a mission. A hacker known only as Ramsey has been captured by a terrorist leader named Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), because he is pursuing something Ramsey helped develop called God’s Eye, which is a surveillance system that can spot anybody from anywhere in the world. Using this, Dom can locate Shaw. The guys come up with a plan to infiltrate the bus that is carrying Ramsey, while Dom asks Tej to help him put armor on one car.

The plan involves the five dropping from a jet in their cars and carefully land close to their target. Roman gets cold feet, prompting Tej to pull the chute out on him and sucking him out of the plane. The other four land close to the bus and break in. Jakande’s men shoot at the team. Brian hops on the bus and fights off the guards. He finds Ramsey… a young woman (Nathalie Emmanuel) in her cell and has her jump off the bus and onto the hood of Dom’s car for safety. He then dukes it out with a minion named Kiet (Tony Jaa), who is a tough fighter. In the madness, the driver of the bus is accidentally shot. Kiet locks Brian on the bus as he gets out. The bus slides toward the edge of a cliff. Brian climbs out and manages to run off the bus and onto Letty’s car as she arrives in time to grab him. Meanwhile, Dom and Ramsey encounter Shaw, leading them both through the woods. Roman appears and knocks Shaw off the road. However, Jakande and his team find Dom. Before they can get him, he drives his car off a cliff, yet he and Ramsey miraculously survive.

The team revives Ramsey, who tells them that she gave God’s Eye to a friend of hers in Abu Dhabi. They all travel there and meet this person, Safar (Ali Fazal), who says he sold God’s Eye to a prince. The team goes undercover to a party that the prince is throwing. Dom and Brian find that God’s Eye is in a car. Letty ends up fighting three guards and the prince’s chief bodyguard Kara (Ronda Rousey). Kara alerts the guards that there are intruders, keeping Tej and Ramsey out of their systems. Dom and Brian drive the car out of there before the gates shut the place down. Shaw comes out and tries to shoot at Dom, until he drives out of the building and through the next one. Dom discovers that the brakes are out, forcing him and Brian to jump to the next building. The two jump out of the car and pull God’s Eye out before the car slides out and crashes to the ground below.

With God’s Eye, the team learns that Shaw is hiding out in an abandoned factory outside the city. After tracking him there, they see that he has a lot of back-up from Jakande. The team evades gunfire, when Mr. Nobody gets shot in the chaos. Dom carries him out, and Jakande gets his hands on God’s Eye. Mr. Nobody calls for medical assistance, and tells Dom that he will be leaving him.

The team knows that it’s time to end it with Shaw once and for all. They decide to take the fight back to the streets of their hometown in Los Angeles. Brian calls Mia to tell her he loves her in case he doesn’t make it back. Mia tells him that they’re having a little girl. Brian then promises to come back to her.

Tej and Roman take Ramsey with them while they try and hack God’s Eye to prevent Jakande from finding Ramsey. Dom finds Shaw and lures him to a parking lot where they have their final showdown. They have a street fight, dueling with wrenches and pipes. Meanwhile, Jakande, in an armored Stealth Black Hawk helicopter, sends a flying armored drone to find Ramsey. They end up shooting down an electrical tower, which catches Hobbs’s attention after watching it on the news. He announces “Daddy’s gotta go to work” and breaks off the cast on his arm, and then gears up.

Ramsey gets switched under the bridge and goes with Lettty while Brian tries to find a new spot to hack God’s Eye. He encounters Kiet again and kills him when he hooks him up to a weight and pushes him down an elevator shaft. The drone chases after Letty and Ramsey, nearly getting them until Hobbs rides in on an ambulance and destroys it by crashing into it with the ambulance off the freeway ramp. Hobbs exits the totaled ambulance, shaken but still alive.

They succeed in the hack, and Jakande is furious. He and his men locate Dom and Shaw still fighting on the roof of the parking garage. They shoot a missile at the lot, causing the ground to break beneath Shaw’s feet. Dom stomps on the concrete and drops Shaw through the lot. Jakande continues shooting at Dom as he drives away, but Hobbs shoots back. Dom grabs a bag of grenades and drives close enough to stick them onto Jakande’s chopper. Hobbs shoots at the bag, destroying the chopper and Jakande. Dom crashes his car and is pulled out by Brian and Letty. Letty begs him to stay alive and says she remembers that they got married in the Dominican Republic. That’s where he gave her the cross necklace that Han had. Dom awakens and kisses Letty.

Shaw is locked up for good in a maximum security black site prison. He threatens to break out, though Hobbs doubts that it will ever happen.

The team watches Brian and Mia play with Jack on the beach. They realize this is where he belongs, and they look at them lovingly. Dom gets up to leave. Ramsey asks if he’s gonna say goodbye. Dom says, “It’s never goodbye.” He drives away, only to get caught up with Brian on the road. They look at each other with a smile.

We hear Dom’s voice say that they both lived life at a quarter mile, and that’s why they’re brothers. This is cut between scenes of Brian through the whole series and everything he and Dom have been through. Dom says Brian will always be his brother. The two continue driving until they finally part ways at a fork in the road, with Brian driving into the sunset.

In the opening, Clint Barton is teaching his daughter archery on his secluded farm while his wife prepares a picnic lunch for them. Suddenly, Clint’s daughter vanishes and the rest of Clint’s family disintegrates, along with half of all life across the universe, the result of Thanos’ snapping his fingers after acquiring all six Infinity Stones. Nebula and Tony Stark are stranded in space following their defeat by Thanos on Titan, but are returned to Earth by Carol Danvers and reunited with Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Rocket, Thor, and James Rhodes. The team formulates a plan to steal the Infinity Stones back from Thanos and use them to reverse his actions, but learn upon finding him that he had used the stones a second time to destroy them, preventing their further use. He tells the remaining Avengers that he did so to avoid using the Stones for further nefarious purposes. Enraged, Thor beheads Thanos, saying it’s what he should have done in Wakanda.

Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the quantum realm to discover that his daughter Cassie is now a teenager and that Hope van Dyne, along with half of the population, has disappeared in the snap. Rogers has been leading grief counseling sessions for survivors still struggling with the effects of the snap, while Romanoff is tirelessly keeping watch over both Earth and the rest of the universe with the help of Rhodes, Danvers, Okoye, Rocket, and Nebula. Lang goes to Romanoff and Rogers, and explains that while five years had passed for them, only five hours had passed for him in the quantum realm and that time stretches much differently there.

The three go to Stark, who is now raising a child with Pepper Potts, and explain their theory that the quantum realm can be used to go back in time and steal the Infinity Stones before Thanos is able to collect them. Stark initially rejects their proposal with concern about risking his family and the peace he has found, but after reflecting upon the loss of Peter Parker decides to test theoretical models that would work with Lang’s quantum tunnel, eventually finding one that works.

With Stark now on board the remaining Avengers set out to reassemble their team. Bruce Banner has now embraced the Hulk as a part of him, and has melded his own consciousness and the Hulk’s together into one. Romanoff, after hearing reports from Rhodes of an assassin that operates with similar methods to Barton, leaves to find him. Barton, consumed with grief after the loss of his family, has been operating under the mantle “Ronin” while brutally massacring criminal cartels and gangs around the world in order to try and improve the world that’s still left. Natasha finds him in Japan and after some convincing, he agrees to rejoin the team in order to try and bring his family back.

Banner and Rocket go to the small town of New Asgard, where Valkyrie and the last survivors of Asgard have settled. They there find Thor, who has become overwhelmed by guilt over failing to kill Thanos in Wakanda. Thor has become overweight, his hair and beard are overgrown, and he spends his free time eating junk food, getting drunk, and playing Fortnite with his friends Korg and Miek. Thor begrudgingly agrees to return to the Avengers after some convincing from Rocket and Banner.

After testing the quantum time machine on Barton, who confirms that it works, The Avengers are reunited with a plan - Banner, Rogers, Lang, and Stark embark to retrieve the Time, Mind, and Space stones during the battle of New York in 2012. Banner goes to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where he is informed by the Ancient One that taking the Time Stone from her time line would prevent Stephen Strange’s future efforts to stop Kaecilius from destroying the laws of nature. However, when Banner tells her that Strange gave up the Time Stone willingly to Thanos, she allows Banner to have it, implying Strange had intended for a specific sequence of events to occur for Thanos to be defeated. Banner also promises the stones’ return to their proper time lines in order to prevent any ill effects. Lang and Stark attempt to steal the Space Stone after the Avengers confiscate it from Loki.

Lang gives Stark’s past self a mild cardiac arrest by pulling a circuit in his artificial heart, while Stark steals the briefcase housing the Tesseract when nobody is looking. Their plan is thwarted when Stark drops the briefcase after he is accidentally hit by the Hulk. Loki then steals the Space Stone and uses it to escape custody. Rogers succeeds in stealing the Mind Stone from undercover Hydra agents, but stumbles across his past self, who mistakes him for a disguised Loki.

After defeating past-Steve, Rogers meets back up with Stark and Lang, who now must figure out another way to get the Space Stone without running out of the limited supply of Pym Particles that allow them to travel through the quantum realm. Lang returns to the present with the Mind Stone while Rogers and Stark devise a plan to steal the Space Stone from a U.S. Army installation in the 1970s, while also stealing further vials of Pym Particles in order to make the journey back home. While there, Rogers sights Peggy Carter and Stark has an meaningful conversation with his father Howard.

Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard to retrieve the Reality Stone before Malekith uses it against the Nine Realms. While in Asgard, Thor is reminded that his mother, Frigga, would die soon and has a chance encounter with her while Rocket steals the Aether, the vaporized version of the Reality Stone, from Jane Foster. The two return to Earth after Frigga counsels Thor and he retrieves his hammer Mjolnor, elated to discover that he is still worthy of it.

Nebula and Rhodes travel to Morag to steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill does. As Rhodes returns to the present with the Power Stone, Nebula malfunctions and remains on Morag. With two consciousnesses operating on Nebula’s systems, Thanos and Ebony Maw discover the presence of future Nebula and go to kidnap her. Nebula realizes what has happened and tries to warn the others, but is too late. Thanos scans her memories and discovers the Avengers’ plan, and sends the more loyal past Nebula back to the present as a spy.

Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone, though are conflicted when Red Skull, keeper of the stone, informs them that it can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone they love. The two fight over which will make the sacrifice, with Romanoff ultimately taking the fall, while a distraught Barton returns to Earth with the Soul Stone.

After everyone has returned to the present on Earth, Stark, Rocket, and Banner set out to craft a gauntlet to wield the stones, one constructed from the same nanotech of Stark’s latest Iron Man suit. Banner volunteers himself to wield the gauntlet and bring back everyone that disappeared in Thanos’ snap, reasoning that he can withstand both the gamma radiation and the immense pain and injury brought on by using the stones. He succeeds, though they are almost immediately attacked by Thanos, who has been brought to Earth by the impostor Nebula, destroying the quantum portal in the process.

Thanos reduces the Avengers headquarters to rubble, splitting the team up and causing the gauntlet to fall into Barton’s protection. The past Nebula is killed by her future self as she attempts to take the Infinity Stones from Barton, while Rogers, Thor, and Stark confront Thanos, who decides he will instead use the Infinity Stones to destroy the universe and create one in his vision. The three fight Thanos one on one, with Rogers confirming Thor’s theory that he is worthy of wielding Mjolnor, but are each bested by Thanos.

Soon after Thanos’ army lands on Earth, T’Challa appears before Rogers, along with all of the Avengers and other allies revived by Banner, before launching an assault on Thanos and his army. After a lengthy battle during which Stark is reunited with Parker and Quill is reunited with past Gamora, Thanos wrestles with numerous Avengers for the Infinity Stones.

When he’s bound by Wanda Maximoff’s energy, Thanos orders Glaive to have his ship fire multiple energy blasts, nearly devastating the Avengers’ efforts. Captain Marvel reappears, taking out Thanos’ ship while fighting for control of the gauntlet. Using the nanotech from the new gauntlet, Stark maneuvers the Infinity Stones from Thanos’ hand to his own and uses them to turn Thanos and his entire army into ash, triumphantly stating “I am Iron Man.” Parker and Potts console Stark as he dies from exposure to the Stones’ radiation.

Following the battle, The Avengers hold a funeral for Stark, whose Mark I arc reactor is floated out on the lake next to his house. Barton and Wanda Maximoff take solace in the fact that Romanoff and Vision, who did not return in the snap, would be proud of their victory over Thanos. Thor makes Valkyrie the Queen of Asgard and joins the Guardians of the Galaxy in order to find his true purpose, free of the burden of royalty and leadership for the first time in his life. Barton returns home to his family and Parker returns to school, where he is reunited with his best friend Ned.

Meanwhile, Rogers is tasked to go into the past to return the stones and Thor’s hammer to their original time-lines, but decides not to return to the present and to instead live the rest of his life in the past with Carter. He reappears before Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes as an old man, and passes his shield and the mantle of Captain America on to Wilson.

Late one morning in the Hawthorne Grill, a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a young couple, Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) and Pumpkin (Tim Roth), discuss the pros and cons of robbing banks versus liquor stores. Then they add restaurants to the equation, realizing they can make more by taking customers’ wallets than they get out of the till. The two kiss, declare they love each other and stand up in their booth, announcing that they’re robbing the diner.

Earlier in the day, Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) arrive at a San Fernando Valley apartment building. They are hit men in the employ of Marsellus Wallace and have come to retrieve a valuable belonging of Wallace’s from a group of would-be crooks led by a young and naive guy named Brett (Frank Whaley). They take back the valuable item – kept in a briefcase, it glows warmly and transfixes whoever looks at it. Jules recites what he claims is a Bible verse, Ezekiel 25:17, before he and Vincent execute Brett.

Story #1: Vincent Vega And Marsellus Wallace’s Wife

At his strip club, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) pays boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw his next fight. Jules and Vincent arrive; though it’s only a few hours after their visit to the Valley, the two hit men are sporting gym clothes in place of the suits they wore earlier in the day. While Jules heads to the men’s room, Vincent goes to the bar and encounters Butch. The men take an instant disliking to each other. Vincent insults Butch but before Butch can retaliate, Marsellus calls Vincent over and embraces him. Marsellus is leaving town that evening and Vincent is to take Marsellus’ wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), out for dinner to keep her entertained. Rumors abound that Marsellus gravely wounded another associate, Antoine, who he believed had been improperly friendly with Mia, so Vincent is nervous. Before picking Mia up, he visits his drug dealer, Lance (Eric Stoltz), and buys some high-quality heroin. Properly sedated, he escorts the cocaine-addicted, chain-smoking Mia to Jack Rabbit Slim’s, a West Hollywood 1950s-themed restaurant. After some small talk about European travel, Mia’s failed acting career, foot massage, and the rumors about Antoine (which Mia dispels), Mia enters herself and Vincent in a dance contest. They dance The Twist and win a trophy. After dinner, they return to the Wallace’s home. Vincent goes to the bathroom to talk himself out of making a pass at Mia. Meanwhile, she discovers the baggie of heroin in his coat pocket and, assuming it’s cocaine, snorts some. She immediately passes out and begins to foam at the mouth. Panicked, Vincent takes the dying Mia to Lance’s where they argue about what to do with her. Following Lance’s advice, Vincent is able to revive her with a shot of adrenaline administered straight to the heart. Vincent takes Mia home. They agree not to tell Marsellus what happened since both of them would get in trouble for it.

Story #2: The Gold Watch

The following night, before his fight, Butch dreams of an incident from his childhood: Back at his Tennessee home in 1973, Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) visited Butch to bring him a gold watch. The watch had belonged to Butch’s great-grandfather, who took it to World War I with him. Butch’s grandfather had taken it to World War II, and Butch’s father to Vietnam. Butch’s father died as a POW, but gave the watch to Koons to return to Butch. Koons says that he and Butch’s father had to hide the watch in their rectums to keep it away from their captors. Butch reaches up with his hand and takes the watch from Koons.

Butch wakes from the dream. Instead of throwing the match (offscreen), he fights so viciously that he kills his opponent. He took Marsellus’ money and bet it on himself; his winnings will amount to a small fortune. Butch makes small talk with Esmarelda (Angela Jones), the driver of the cab he is in, who reveals that she knows he’s the boxer who killed his opponent; she seems fascinated with the topic of death. Esmarelda drives Butch to the seedy motel where he and his French girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), are staying, having abandoned their apartment. In the morning they will travel to Butch’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, claim their winnings, and leave the country. While packing the next morning, however, Fabienne reveals that she forgot the gold watch, the belonging Butch cherishes above all others. After a savage outburst in which he wrecks the motel room’s television, Butch takes Fabienne’s car to get the watch, parking a few blocks away and walking through a vacant lot to his apartment building as a precaution. He enters without incident and finds his wristwatch in the bedroom. He realizes he’s not alone in the apartment when he notices a sub-machine gun in the kitchen. Catching Vincent off guard as he emerges from the bathroom, Butch kills him with the gun he found. He leaves his apartment after wiping the gun down with a tissue to remove his fingerprints.

Leaving the apartment with his watch, Butch encounters Marsellus crossing the street. He tries to run Marsellus over with his car but only wounds him and is hit by another car himself. Both are injured and Marsellus chases Butch into a pawn shop. There, the owner, Maynard (Duane Whitaker), overpowers them. Marsellus and Butch wake up in the basement of the pawn shop, bound and gagged. Maynard has called his cousin Zed (Peter Greene), who works as a security guard. Maynard and Zed are apparently a pair of redneck serial killers who kill passersby who happen into their store. While the Gimp (Stephen Hibbert), a huge man-child dressed head to toe in black leather fetish gear, watches Butch, Maynard and Zed take Marsellus into the next room and begin to rape him. Butch manages to break the ropes and chair holding him and knocks out the Gimp. Ready to leave the pawn shop and Marsellus to his fate, Butch has an attack of conscience and procures a samurai sword and rescues Marsellus; in the process, Maynard is killed and Zed emasculated by a shotgun blast fired by Marsellus. Marsellus stays behind to oversee the torture-execution of Zed (“I’ma get medieval on your ass,” he tells him), but promises that as long as Butch never mentions what happened and never returns to Los Angeles, Marsellus will forget that Butch betrayed him in the boxing ring. Butch agrees. In the final scene, Butch and Fabienne leave town on Grace, Zed’s chopper-style motorcycle.

Story #3: The Bonnie Situation

Three days earlier, flashing back in time to just after Vincent and Jules finish killing Brett for stealing Marsellus’ prized possession, a gang member (Alexis Arquette) they had not known about bursts out of the bathroom where he had apparently been when Jules and Vincent entered and empties a large pistol point blank at them. However, all of the bullets miss Vincent and Jules, hitting the wall behind them, so they return fire and kill the gang member. Jules is certain what occurred was divine intervention, but Vincent dismisses the idea. They leave with Marvin (Phil LaMarr), Marsellus’ inside man in the gang. In the car, Jules continues his insistence that what happened in the apartment was a miracle and that he’s retiring from Marsellus’ gang. Vincent leans over the front seat, asking Marvin if he believes in miracles, but accidentally shoots him in the head and kills him. The inside of the car is now covered in blood and brain matter. Jules, furious at Vincent’s klutziness, drives to the house of his only friend in the Valley, a former colleague named Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino). Jimmie lets them hide the car in his garage but angrily tells them that they have to get rid of the body within an hour – before his wife Bonnie comes home from her night shift at a hospital. Jules calls Marsellus at his home to explain their predicament. Marsellus then calls Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), a suave and professional “cleaner” who solves problems. Wolf arrives at Jimmie’s house and tells Vincent and Jules how to clean up the car and themselves – they have to strip out of their business suits, be sprayed down with a garden hose and wear Jimmie’s spare T-shirts and shorts (which explains their attire at the strip club) – then helps them dispose of the car and body at a junkyard belonging to a discreet friend named Monster Joe, whose daughter is Mr. Wolf’s girlfriend.

With the whole situation resolved, Jules and Vincent decide to have breakfast at the Hawthorne Grill, where they continue their discussion about miracles. Jules reveals his plan to leave his criminal life and travel the globe as a mendicant, helping those suffering under tyranny. Vincent, upset that his friend and partner is leaving the life, mocks him, then goes to the bathroom. Just then Honey Bunny and Pumpkin (from the prologue) begin their robbery of the diner. They furiously collect the cash from the register and the patrons’ wallets. Jules gives Pumpkin his wallet, but when Pumpkin tries to take Marsellus’ briefcase, Jules pulls his gun and disarms Pumpkin. While Vincent holds Honey Bunny at bay, Jules explains to Pumpkin how, even earlier that morning, he would have killed Pumpkin and Honey Bunny without a second thought. He recites his ersatz version of Ezekiel 25:17 again: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

A dead body is found and Catherine “Kya” Clark is accused of murder.

Kya’s story begins when she lives in a shack with her poor family in a North Carolina marsh in 1953. As their abusive alcoholic father gambles their money away, Kya’s mother and older siblings flee one by one, leaving Kya alone with him until he too abandons her at the age of seven. She survives by selling mussels at Barkley Cove’s general store. The townspeople know her as the “Marsh Girl”.

Over the years, her slightly older friend Tate Walker lends her books and teaches her to read, write, and count. They share an interest in nature and begin a romantic relationship until Tate leaves for college and breaks his promise to return to her on the 4th of July.

In 1968, Kya begins a relationship with popular local quarterback Chase Andrews, who promises her marriage. Chase gives Kya a small shell which she makes into a necklace and gives to him. A year later, Tate returns to Barkley Cove wanting to rekindle their romance, but Kya is unsure. Kya ends her relationship with Chase when she discovers he is already engaged to another girl.

Kya has her nature drawings and writings published and the income helps her keep her home. Her older brother Jodie reappears and tells her their mother died before she was able to reunite her children. Jodie promises to visit when he can.

Kya rebuffs Chase’s persistent attentions and successfully fights off his rape attempt, vowing to kill him if he does not leave her alone. The threat is overheard by a fisherman. Chase returns and vandalizes Kya’s home while she hides in the bushes. Days later, Chase is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower from which he had apparently fallen. The muddy bog floods at high tide, destroying any tracks from the killer, and no fingerprints are found in the tower. The shell necklace, which he had been wearing on the evening of his death, is missing from his body. Kya is charged with first-degree murder and prejudged by the suspicious townspeople.

Despite knowing Kya had been meeting with a book publisher in Greenville at the time, the police and the prosecutor speculate she could have disguised herself and made an overnight round-trip bus ride to Barkley Cove, lured Chase to the fire tower during the brief layover and killed him. With only the unfounded theory, the missing necklace, and the fisherman’s testimony, Kya is found not guilty at her 1969 trial.

In a sleepy little town in New England, we meet Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam (Alec Baldwin) Maitland, a couple who have chosen to take a vacation by staying at home. However, the realtor who sold them the house, Jane (Annie McEnroe), tries to entice them to sell the house, since it seems too big for just a couple. The Maitlands reject her pleas and head to town. On the way home they swerve to avoid a dog, which sends them into a river where they drown.

Unaware that they are dead, the Maitlands return to the house, unsure how they got back so quickly. Adam decides to go back outside to ‘retrace their steps,’ but finds himself on a strange desert planet inhabited by striped sandworms. When he returns to the house, Barbara says he was gone for two hours and shows him a book that she found on a table, Handbook for the Recently Deceased.

Time passes relatively quickly, and soon, the Maitlands’ house is sold again (under Jane’s watchful eye) to the Deetzes, a New York family composed of Charles (Jeffrey Jones), Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). While Charles wishes for a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of New York, Delia can’t stand the simple life, and hires a decorator named Otho (Glenn Shadix) to make the house more ‘livable’ and more to her tastes.

Adam and Barbara try to scare the Deetzes, but all their efforts are for naught, as it seems that the living can’t see the dead. They take refuge in the attic, where Adam locks the door. However, Lydia finds a skeleton key and tries to open the door. As Adam and Barbara foil her attempts, a TV in the attic comes to life, advertising the services of someone named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), who claims to be able to scare the living.

Consulting the handbook, Adam creates a door that takes him and Barbara to a waiting room in the afterlife, filled with others who have met rather gruesome fates. They are shown to a special room, which reveals their home after it has been redecorated by Delia and Otho. It is here that they are introduced to their case worker Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who chastises them for their haunting methods and cautions them not to take the advice of the person they saw on the television.

Returning to the house, Adam and Barbara dress up in sheets to try and scare Charles and Delia, but their attempt fails again. Annoyed with the spooky noises, Lydia finds them, and the two are amazed when they remove the bedsheets and realize she can see them! Lydia reveals that she found their handbook, and found a passage that explains how ‘live people ignore the strange and unusual,’ something she considered herself to be.

The Maitlands enlist Lydia to help get the Deetzes out of their house, but no one believes her. Not sure what to do, Barbara notices something in the model of the town in the attic: a glowing light around a small grave that appears to belong to Beetlejuice. She says his name three times, and she and Adam are whisked into the model, where they unearth Beetlejuice’s body. Once they’ve done so they regret it, as Beetlejuice is a rather crazy, uncouth and insane ghoul. Turned off by his personality, they resolve to scare the Deetzes themselves.

At a dinner party Delia throws to show her sculptures and other art pieces, the entire group ends up singing ‘The Banana Boat Song,’ and the shrimp dish in front of them turns into grasping hands. The Maitlands think they’ve finally succeeded, only to find that their antics have actually amused the Deetzes. The Deetzes send Lydia to bring them down, and when they refuse, everyone clambers to the attic, demanding that the Maitlands show themselves. They find no one there, but Charles is entranced by the miniature of the town, and Otho finds and takes the handbook.

Leaving the attic, Charles feels that there is a lucrative business venture just waiting to happen. However, his cheerfulness turns to horror as Beetlejuice transforms into a large snake, freaking out the family by knocking Otho down the stairs and dropping Charles to the floor below. Barbara manages to call the snake off by uttering Beetlejuice’s name three times. Lydia is distraught, thinking that the snake was the Maitlands intending to do more than just scare them.

The Maitlands are brought before Juno again, who takes them to task for breaking a number of rules: having photos taken of themselves, letting Beetlejuice out, and letting Otho get hold of the handbook. Juno encourages the Maitlands to work harder to scare the Deetzes, and Barbara and Adam contort their features into grotesque forms. However, Barbara has some apprehensions, as she likes Lydia.

Meanwhile, Lydia grows so upset that she writes a suicide letter. Going to the attic to say goodbye to the Maitlands, she encounters Beetlejuice in the model. Beetlejuice tries to convince her that he can help her find the Maitlands if she says his name three times. Lydia is almost tricked into saying this, until she realizes that Beetlejuice was the snake, and doubts if he really can help her find the Maitlands. Just then, Adam and Barbara appear, and Lydia explains what was about to happen. Lydia, feeling distraught to be living, tells them of her wish to be dead. Barbara talks her out of these thoughts, and tells her that they’ve decided to not scare the family, and allow them to stay.

Just then, Otho and Charles appear in the attic; Lydia and the Maitlands hide. Otho and Charles carry Adam’s model of the town downstairs, where they give Charles’ business associate Maxie Deen (Robert Goulet) an overview of Charles’ plan to turn the town into a paranormal-themed attraction. Charles also requests that Lydia produce the Maitlands for their guests, but when she refuses, Otho explains that he has a way.

Using the handbook and the Maitlands’ wedding clothes, Otho performs a seance that forces the couple to appear before them. However, this causes the Maitlands to deteriorate, their forms reverting to their decaying corpses.

Frantic, Lydia rushes to the model and sees Beetlejuice in the graveyard. She begs him to help her. Beetlejuice agrees on the condition that Lydia marries him. She agrees to this, and the Maitlands are saved. However, Beetlejuice then holds Lydia to her word, and holds Charles and Delia hostage as ‘witnesses,’ as Otho escapes.

Both Adam and Barbara struggle to stop Beetlejuice, who sends Adam into the model and Barbara to the sandworm planet. Through a joint effort, they do away with Beetlejuice and save Lydia.

The movie begins with a gang of men with clown masks breaking into the bank where the mob has a large portion of their money stashed. It begins with five clowns, each getting a cut of the spoils. They suggest that a sixth member of the gang - nicknamed ‘The Joker’ - who did the planning, but sat out the robbery, doesn’t deserve a cut. As the robbery goes on, the clowns begin to kill each other in order to get a larger cut, until a school bus crashes through the wall of the bank, killing another clown. A mob bank manager, who was himself shot with an automatic weapon after he tried to take out the clowns with a shotgun, tells the remaining clown that he doesn’t know who he is dealing with. The clown kneels down and tells the banker, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you…stranger…” then removes his mask to reveal that he himself is The Joker. Joker puts a grenade into the banker’s mouth and boards the bus, leaving a cord attached to the pin. The bus pulls out with all of the bank’s cash and the pin pops out. It is just a gas grenade. The Joker joins a long line of school buses leaving the scene as the police arrive.

Gotham is then seen at night with criminals afraid to commit crimes under the watchful sign of the batsignal projected onto the clouds. We see Lt. James Gordon manning the batsignal, waiting for Batman with Det. Anna Ramirez, who asks if he’s coming. Gordon explains that it is okay if he is not, hoping that he is busy elsewhere. He asks about Ramirez’ mother, who’s in the hospital.

Meanwhile, in a parking garage, the Scarecrow, still at-large after escaping Arkham Asylum, is negotiating with the Russian mob members, led by The Chechen, over the sale of some of his fear-inducing drugs. The sale is interrupted when some of Gotham’s citizens dressed as Batmen wanna-be’s begin shooting at the men. As he gases one of the fake Batmen with his mind-altering drugs from his cuff, the Scarecrow notes that they are not the real Batman, because Batman would never use a gun. Suddenly the Batmobile/Tumbler crashes through a barricade and Scarecrow notes, “That’s more like it!” The Batmobile, pre-programmed to “LOITER” and then “INTIMIDATE”, fires rockets into a nearby office, sending the remaining mobsters running. The real Batman arrives on the scene and bends the rifle barrel of one of the wanna-be Batmen before knocking him out.

The Chechen sends his rottweilers to attack the Batmen, and as Batman saves them he takes the dogs out after being badly bitten in the arm. The Scarecrow attempts to flee in a white van but Batman jumps onto the van and begins cutting into the side with his device called the mangler. Scarecrow swerves into a support which sends Batman to the ground. As Scarecrow gets away down a spiraling passageway, Batman leaps onto the roof of his van, smashing it to a halt. He leaves the fake Batmen and the Scarecrow along with some of the mobsters tied up together for the police to eventually round up. When one of the impostors says he’s trying to help, Batman harshly tells him he doesn’t need any help.

Gordon arrives at the bank the Joker held up earlier with Ramirez who shows him the Joker’s picture from a security camera. Batman arrives to inspect the scene, noting that they have irradiated the drug money to make it easier to trace. When Gordon asks him if the Joker is a threat, Batman informs him that he cannot worry about one man when there is an entire mob to bring down.

The next day, as Bruce Wayne stitches himself up from the dog bite, Alfred offers his concerns, warning Bruce to ‘know his limits’. He notices Bruce keeping a close watch on newly appointed district attorney Harvey Dent via some computer screens, as Bruce is trying to decide whether or not Dent can be trusted. Alfred wonders if he is really spying on the relationship that Rachel Dawes has developed with Harvey Dent.

Harvey Dent arrives in court to join Rachel Dawes in prosecuting mobster Salvatore Maroni, the alleged new leader of the Falcone crime family. One of Maroni’s men takes the fall in court, and attempts to shoot Dent from the witness stand. The gun doesn’t go off and Dent punches the man before he is hauled off to jail. Maroni is eventually set free, to the dismay of Dent.

Dent meets Lt. Gordon, and after a short exchange of words, they both express their distrust for those that are working in each other’s offices. Harvey interrogates Gordon over his involvement with the Batman and Harvey tells him he wants to meet him. Gordon requests search warrants for five banks that are believed to be holding the remainder of the mobs money. Dent agrees to back Gordon’s search warrants, forming a tenuous trust with the honest Gordon, who in turn hails Dent as Gotham’s “White Knight” while Dent questions Gordon about another nickname they had for him when he was at I.A.D., a nickname Gordon claims to have no knowledge of.

Lucius Fox holds a board meeting at Wayne Enterprises, negotiating an joint venture with Lau, the head of Lau Security Investments, based in Hong Kong. After the meeting with Lau, Wayne expresses his reservations with Lucius Fox about Lau’s business operation, apparently illegal based on their profits. After agreeing to cancel the deal, Wayne asks Fox for a new suit. He explains that he needs to be lighter, and faster, in case he runs into any more guard dogs and that he wants to be able to turn his head.

That night, Harvey dines out with Rachel. Harvey tells Rachel he had to make a reservation weeks earlier, and even then needed to exercised his influence to get a table at the very fashionable restaurant. Bruce and his date, the prima ballerina for the Russian ballet, encounter Rachel and Harvey. Bruce has them pull a table together so they can dine together, informing Harvey that he owns the restaurant. At first, Bruce seems jealous and threatened by Harvey, based on the fact that he is dating his own love interest, but Harvey explains how he supports the work of Batman and appreciates his help. Bruce changes his tune and informs Harvey that he intends to throw a massive fund-raiser for him.

Meanwhile, all of the top mob members are having a private meeting in a restaurant kitchen. Because of their inside sources in the police, they were aware that the banks that their money was stashed in were going to be searched. Lau appears to them on a television monitor from his plane on his way back to Hong Kong. He informs the mob that all of their money has already been moved to a single secure location, just as Lt. Gordon and company are searching the banks, finding nothing but the irradiated trace money. When the Chechen expresses concern over the man with the clown makeup stealing $68 million from one of their banks, Maroni dismisses him as nothing but a nobody.

The Joker suddenly enters in the room, and after killing a hostile mob member’s crony by way of a ‘magic trick’, sits down and talks with the mob about how pathetic they’ve become since Batman came around. He tells them their one solution is to ‘Kill the Batman’, and offers to do so for half the mob’s money. He warns them about Lau, saying he knows a “squealer when he sees one”, prompting Lau to turn off his monitor. The mob laughs, and as one of the mobsters, Gambol, rises from his seat and threatens the Joker, the Joker opens his coat, exposing grenades. Gambol tells the Joker that he’s putting a price out on his head. The Joker tells the mob that when they plan to take things a little more seriously, give him a call, and presents them with ‘his card’, a joker playing card. And with that, he exits. But not before warning that Batman will come for Lau.

Harvey Dent, with Gordon, lights the batsignal to meet with Batman, who appears. As Dent and Gordon blame one another for the money’s disappearance due to leaks from corrupt officers in the other’s departments, they explain to Batman that they need Lau back, realizing that Batman is under no one’s jurisdiction. They want to make him talk, and give up all the mob members’ names. Batman agrees and disappears.

Fox shows Wayne his new suit, and Wayne begins planning an impromptu trip to Hong Kong. Fox will accompany him, making it look like the only reason for his visit was to cancel the negotiations with Lau’s company.

Gambol is playing pool with some of his associates until one of them informs him that a group of hoodlums have killed the Joker, and has the body. The body is brought in covered in a bag, and as Gambol is about to pay, the Joker rises up and holds a knife to his face while his men hold guns to his associates’ heads. The Joker tells a story about how he got his scars from his father, and then kills Gambol. He offers the three surviving associates an opportunity to join his team, but he has only one opening. He leave the three with the halves of a broken, sharp pool stick and no choice but to fight each other for their lives.

Meanwhile, Fox arrives in Hong Kong to meet with Lau. He checks in his mobile phone at the front desk at Lau’s building, as there are no cell phones allowed on the premises. Fox meets with Lau, and informs him of Wayne Enterprises’ plans to cancel negotiations with his company. However, he secretly keeps one cell phone in his pocket, which has been adapted to produce a sonar map of the surrounding area. Upon leaving the building, he does not pick up the phone he dropped off, and he produces the map of the building to Bruce Wayne. That night, the phone that Fox left at the front desk emits a high frequency that shuts down all power in the building. Batman crashes in through a window in Lau’s office, and after a vicious fight with some of his guards, grabs Lau and escapes by sending a balloon attached to a cable to a plane he has chartered flying over Lau’s building.

Back in Gotham, Lau is interrogated by Rachel with Dent and Gordon looking on. Rachel presses him to give them the money Lau has taken, but Lau will not give in. After she threatens to have him moved to the County lock-up, Lau tells her that he can give them the names of the mobsters and their pooled investments. Dent then realizes that they will have the leverage they need in a RICO case of conspiracy to link all of the mob members together. Gordon decides to keep Lau in his holding cell at the Major Case Unit building and Lau agrees to cooperate with the police, and give the names of the mob members.

Gordon appears at Maroni’s restaurant as the police rush in to arrest all of the mob members in attendance. As all of the mob members that Lau informed the police are rounded up for arraignment, Judge Janet Surrillo finds a Joker card in the middle of the stack of conviction papers. Dent gives a televised impromptu interview denying Batman’s involvement while expressing gratitude for the police work in bringing the mob members to justice.

Dent, Gordon, and Commissioner Loeb meet with the mayor to tell him that Dent’s rash indictment of the mob members will give the mayor clean streets for 18 months. The mayor informs Dent that his brash actions will bring down the full might of Gotham’s underworld and corrupt citizens solely upon him. When the mayor asks if Dent is ready to be the city’s target the dead body of a Batman wanna-be hanging by a noose slams against the mayor’s window dressed up in a Batman suit, with makeup on his face like the Joker’s - complete with the sides of the mouth sliced into a grin - and with a Joker card pinned to him reading ‘Will the real Batman please stand up?’. Bruce and Alfred watch on as a video tape is played on the news of the Joker tormenting the wanna-be before killing him. He then promises that until Batman takes off his mask and shows everyone who he really is, people will die every day.

As Harvey Dent’s fund-raiser at Wayne’s penthouse gets underway, Rachel and a nervous Dent arrive and mingle. Wayne arrives with three models via helicopter and seeks out Harvey, whom he applauds and throws his full support behind claiming, “I believe in Harvey Dent.” Minutes later, Rachel meets with Bruce on the balcony upset that Bruce is making fun at Dent but Bruce tells her that he truly believes in Harvey and that he could be the White Knight that will allow him to hang up his mantle as Batman so they can be together. Dent joins them to thank Bruce and retrieve Rachel.

Meanwhile Gordon discovers that there are 3 traces of DNA on the Joker card, from Commissioner Loeb, Harvey Dent, and Judge Surrillo, the Judge that is trying all of the mob members and found the card among the paperwork. Gordon takes this as a threat on their lives, and begins preparations to protect them. In the case of the Judge and Commissioner Loeb, however, this fails. The Judge’s car blows up when the police arrive to take her into protective custody and Commissioner Loeb dies of severe poisoning from his liquor bottle before Gordon can stop him from drinking.

Dent takes Rachel aside to ask her to marry him, but she is torn and cannot give him an answer. Bruce subdues Dent and locks him in a closet while Rachel watches in shock. Bruce tells Rachel that they (the Joker and his goons) have come for Harvey and to stay hidden from sight.

The Joker and his goons burst in telling the guests that they are tonight’s ’entertainment.” The Joker scans the room seeking out Harvey Dent when Rachel steps forward. He grabs her and pulls a knife on her telling her a different version of the story about how he got his scars, claiming that his wife was scarred by loan sharks and that he took a razor to himself to “make her smile,” but that she left him over it. Rachel kicks him away and he comes after her saying that he likes that “little fight” in her, when Batman shows up and sends him reeling. A fight breaks out between Batman, the Joker, and his goons with the Joker and the goons beating on Batman pretty well. When Batman gains the upper hand he sees the Joker holding a gun at Rachel’s head as he dangles her out of a shot out window. Batman demands he let her go, to which the Joker replies “Very poor choice of words” and lets her fall. Batman dives out the window and saves her using his cape to slow their fall as they crash into the roof of a car on the street. The Joker apparently vanishes from the scene.

The next day, Wayne tries to figure out what the Joker is after. Alfred relates a story of when he was in Burma with friends attempting to nullify the local criminals by bribing them with jewels. One thief however, tossed these bribes away and continued to raid the local convoys. When Bruce seems confused over this behavior Alfred informs him that some men can’t be reasoned with, they don’t want anything in particular, that they kill for sport. Alfred observes that they just want to watch the world burn, as Bruce fixates on the Joker’s face on a monitor.

Batman is seen on the edge of a rooftop listening in to cell phone frequencies when he overhears a plot against Harvey Dent. Gordon rushes to the apartment with Ramirez and Batman to find two policemen murdered, with the last names “Harvey” and “Dent.” Ramirez begins to blame Batman, but Gordon cuts her off. As Batman removes a piece of concrete wall that contains a bullet used in the murders in hopes of finding evidence, Gordon notes that the Joker has left an advance copy of tomorrow’s newspaper indicating the death of the mayor.

At Wayne Enterprises, Fox meets with Wayne’s accountant Coleman Reese, who claims to know about certain problems with Wayne’s funding in research and development, claiming that Wayne has some sort of government project with cell phones for the army underway. He also uncovers Fox’s designs for the Batmobile/Tumbler. He tells Fox that he wants $10 million per year for the rest of his life to keep this a secret. Fox smiles and says, “Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world is a secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.”

Fox helps Wayne reconstruct the bullet taken from the murder scene and produces a fingerprint. Fox asks him if he has reassigned the R&D department. Bruce acknowledges that he has, claiming he is playing this one “close to the chest.”

Wayne traces the bullet fingerprint’s owner to an apartment overlooking the funeral speeches for Commissioner Loeb and takes off on motorcycle.

As the ceremony continues on the street below, Wayne inspects a room where he believes the Joker might be, and he finds several men tied up. They tell Wayne that their guns and uniforms were stolen. Wayne inspects binoculars pointed out of a blinded window. The window blind is connected to a timer. As the timer reaches zero, the blinds quickly raise, and the police snipers positioned around the area all shoot in that direction. At the same time, the Joker, who had removed his makeup and played himself off as a member of the honor guard for the ceremony, turns and takes a shot at the mayor, but Lt. Gordon dives in the way, getting shot in the back and falling. Everyone panics and runs, but the police shoot one member of the honor guard in the leg and haul him into a truck. Dent himself climbs in the truck, and upon inspecting the criminal, sees that the name-tag on his uniform reads ‘Officer Rachel Dawes’. He calls Rachel and informs her that she’s been targeted, and to get to the safest place she can, which in her case is Bruce’s penthouse. He tells her he loves her, but there is no answer from Rachel.

Gordon’s family is visited at home, to inform them of the death of Gordon at the funeral ceremony. Gordon’s wife, Barbara, shouts out at the empty sky to Batman that he has brought this craziness upon Gotham. Gordon’s young son catches a brief glimpse of Batman mournfully watching the scene.

Meanwhile, Batman enters a club and grabs Maroni after beating on his men. He interrogates Maroni on the Joker’s whereabouts, who claims that he should have held him from a higher location. Batman drops him off the ledge, injuring his legs and learns that Maroni has no idea where the Joker is. Maroni explains that the Joker has no friends and no one will give him up because unlike Batman, he plays by no rules.

As Dent is interrogating the captured so-called honor guard member about what he knows about the Joker, he is enraged and holds a gun to his head. He flips his father’s lucky silver dollar for his life, coming up on heads. As he flips the coin again, Batman shows up and snatches the coin in midair, asking if Dent would really leave a thug’s life up to chance, to which Dent answers, “Not exactly.” He informs Harvey that this criminal - Thomas Schiff - is a paranoid schizophrenic patient from Arkham Asylum and that he won’t learn anything from him. He also tells Harvey that if anyone saw this unjust way of interrogating someone, all that good work that Dent’s done for Gotham would be lost. He tells Harvey to hold a press conference the following day, because he wants to use that opportunity to turn himself in. As Batman leaves, Harvey yells at him that he can’t give in.

Bruce arrives back in his penthouse to find Rachel waiting. She tells him that turning himself in will not stop the Joker’s murderous rampage, but Bruce says he has enough blood on his hands already. He reminds her that she promised him that they would be together if and when he hung up the mantle of Batman. She tells Bruce not to make her his only hope for a normal life and they share a kiss. She tells Bruce that if he turns himself in as Batman that the city will never let them be together.

Back at Wayne’s secret base of operations for Batman, he and Alfred begin destroying everything that might tie Lucius Fox or Rachel to Batman. Alfred tries to talk Bruce out of it, asking him to endure these trying times and allow Batman to make the right choice that nobody else can for the good of the city. Bruce explains that Batman cannot endure the responsibility for innocents dying, especially where Rachel is concerned.

At the press conference, Harvey attempts to reason with the assembled press and police to not give in to the fear that the Joker has unleashed upon the city. He agrees that Batman is a vigilante but that the people of Gotham should hold him accountable, and not give in to the whims of this terrorist known as the Joker. However, the people are overcome with fear, crying out “No more dead cops,” to applause indicating that Harvey will not be able to sway them. Upon his failure, Harvey announces that HE is the Batman, and gets handcuffed and taken away. Bruce Wayne is shown with a look of confusion on his face.

Rachel, watching the news conference at Bruce Wayne’s penthouse, confronts Alfred over Bruce’s seeming cowardice in allowing Harvey to take the fall when he claims to be Batman. Alfred explains to Rachel that Batman is instead allowing himself to be something else besides a hero, mainly a figure outside of the system that the people can both turn to or blame in times of need, that Batman can ’take it”. Rachel gives Alfred a letter for Bruce and tells him to give it to Bruce when the time is right. When Alfred asks what it is, she tells him it is open and hugs him before departing to see Harvey as he is being transported to the County lock-up.

While being taken to a convoy that will transport him to a county, Harvey explains to Rachel that this is Batman’s chance. He then pulls out the coin and says “Heads: I go through with this,” and flips it, landing on heads. When Rachel tells him that he can’t leave something like that to chance, he tosses her the coin, revealing that it is a two-headed coin. During this transport, he’s planning on getting attacked by the Joker, and he’s planning on Batman to come and save him, and to capture the Joker. The convoy takes off.

While transporting Harvey, the Joker and some goons start taking out the police cars in a large semi truck. He pulls out an RPG and begins firing at the armored truck carrying Dent. The Tumbler arrives and attempts to stop the Joker, and is hit by one of the Joker’s RPGs. His car takes ‘catastrophic’ damage, and he’s forced to eject. However, the ejection in this car is a bike, the Batpod, that deploys out the front of the car. Batman chases down the Joker on his Batpod, and after firing some cables at the truck and weaving them through some light poles and buildings, flips the truck completely over. The Joker emerges with a Smith & Wesson M76 Submachine gun and shoots at Batman, who speeds towards him on his Batpod, all the while screaming at Batman to hit him. Batman honors his own non-lethal code and swerves around the Joker then crashes into the flipped truck, falling to the ground. As the Joker jumps on him with a knife, one of the SWAT officers holds a shotgun to the back of his head, and upon removing his helmet and mask, shows that it was Lt. Gordon, who faked his death to protect his family. The Joker is hauled away to the MCU. Harvey gets out of the truck and into a cruiser, stating he is off to see a worried girlfriend.

At Gordon’s Major Crimes Unit building, Gordon is promoted to Commissioner by the Mayor. The Joker shares a cell with a large man who complains about his insides hurting. Commissioner Gordon, after reuniting with his family, gets a call explaining that Harvey never made it home. He returns to the prison to interrogate the Joker. During the interrogation, Batman appears and starts beating on the Joker, trying to find out where Harvey is. The Joker gets under Batman’s skin telling him that they are both freaks and that when the people of Gotham no longer view Batman as a necessity, they will turn on him. Batman becomes enraged and puts a chair under the door and beats the Joker savagely, but The Joker just laughs and defiantly tells Batman that there is nothing he can do to him to hurt him and that he actually enjoys the beatings. The Joker sadistically reveals that not just Harvey, but Rachel are in separate locations, both tied up and strapped to explosives that will explode in a short amount of time. He gives the locations of the two, saying that he only has time to save one of them and that he must make a choice that will violate Batman’s “code” of non-lethal means…that one of them will die since Batman cannot save them both. Batman heads off, telling Gordon that he’s going after Rachel. Gordon gets some men ready and heads off after Harvey.

As Batman and the police are rushing towards the two prisoners, Harvey awakens to hear Rachel’s voice. Whoever captured them set up an intercom system so that the two can communicate. Harvey tells Rachel that everything will be OK, and Rachel tells Harvey that she wants to marry him. While Dent tries to move in his chair to find something sharp to cut his ropes with, he falls over and knocks an oil drum down, and gasoline spills all over half of his face. Meanwhile, back at the jail, the Joker tricks a cop and holds him hostage, and he tells the other cops he just wants his phone call. Upon getting a cell phone and dialing a number, the large man that was in the cell with him blows up. The Joker had cut him open and implanted a cell phone-triggered device inside of him. The Joker grabs Lau and flees the jail.

Batman arrives at the address that the Joker had told him Rachel was at, but when he opens the door, he finds Harvey Dent instead, who screams in despair at having been found instead of Rachel. Gordon arrives at the supposed location for Dent but the warehouse explodes and Rachel is killed. As Batman saves Dent by carrying him out of the warehouse, the explosion ignites the gas that saturated Dent’s face, horribly burning it. Dent is taken to Gotham General Hospital. Batman visits Dent in the hospital, and leaves him the two-headed coin that they found at the site where Rachel died. One side of the coin is still shiny, while the other side is scraped and burnt.

Alfred reads Rachel’s letter. She explains that she is going to marry Harvey Dent and that when she told him that she would be with him when he no longer need to be Batman that she meant it. However, she realizes that he will always be Batman so she will always be there as his friend.

Bruce expresses to Alfred his devastation behind losing Rachel and that he feels responsible for inspiring madness and death. he tells Alfred that she was going to wait for him. Alfred chooses not to give him her letter, saying the time is not right and that with Harvey Dent hospitalized, it will be up to him alone to fight the crime in Gotham City. Meanwhile, Harvey wakes up in the hospital with a large bandage over half of his face, finds his now scarred two-headed coin, and screams out in anguish over losing the one person he loved.

Commissioner Gordon visits Dent and tries to tell him how sorry he is for what has transpired, questioning why Dent refused skin grafts and painkillers and how he can stand to be in unrelenting agony over his disfigurement. Harvey is filled with rage for Gordon not listening to him when he warned Gordon not to trust the corrupt officers that Dent investigated during his time in Internal Affairs which has resulted in Dent’s disfigurement and ultimately Rachel’s death. Dent demands Gordon tell him the nickname they had for him when he was in I.A., which Gordon ashamedly replies “Harvey Two-Face,” while being forced to stare at the extensive burns and scarred tissue that cover half of Harvey’s face. As Gordon leaves an emotionally devastated Harvey, he runs into Maroni in the hallway who tells him that the Joker has gone too far and that if Gordon wants the clown, he knows where he will be.

Wayne’s accountant Reese appears on a news show claiming to be able to tell the world who Batman is. He tells Gotham that he is going to reveal Batman’s identity, but before he can, the Joker calls in to the show saying that he doesn’t want this lawyer to ruin his fun. He says that if the lawyer is not killed within 60 minutes, he is going to blow up a hospital. This triggers the police to rush in and protect the lawyer, and try to carry him to safety. At the same time, other police are evacuating all of the hospitals in Gotham City. When they get to Gotham General, a police officer attempts to evacuate a nurse in Harvey Dent’s room, which then turns out to be the Joker, and he kills the cop. He then explains to Two-Face how he needs to introduce a little anarchy and chaos, how easy it is to bring down all the good people in the world and how it’s all fair. Joker unties Two-Face and hands him a pistol. Two-Face, bent on revenge and now believing everything in the world should be decided by chance, flips the double-headed coin to decide whether or not to shoot Joker which Joker agrees is only fair. Though we don’t see it, the coin obviously lands on the clean side since the next scene shows Joker leaving Gotham General Hospital as it blows up in the background.

Afterwards, the Joker appears on TV again, forcing kidnapped GCN reporter Mike Engle to read out his plans. He reads that Gotham City now belongs to the Joker, starting that very evening. Anyone that doesn’t want to be a part of his game should leave now, but they are going to have a hard time leaving the city by the bridges. He alludes to the fact that something big was going to happen that very night. During which, Two-Face enters a local bar where Detective Wuertz - the ‘dirty’ cop that had picked him up after the Joker was captured - hangs out. After questioning him, he flips the coin which lands on the dirty side and he kills Wuertz. At the same time, Batman uses Fox’s ‘cell phone sonar’ technology to turn every single cell phone in Gotham into a sonar device, giving him the opportunity to spy on everyone in Gotham. He calls Fox in, and tells him to monitor the screens, and give him updates on the Joker’s location when he sees him. Fox is appalled that Batman would use his technology to spy on the citizens of Gotham and reluctantly agrees to help, stating that the machine must be destroyed after the Joker is captured or he will have to retire. Batman tells Fox to enter his name into the console when the mission is over.

Two-Face continues to question mob members, trying to uncover the identity of the dirty cop that kidnapped Rachel. When confronting Maroni in Maroni’s car, he learns that the other cop is Ramirez. He then flips the coin for Maroni, which lands on the clean side. “Lucky man,” he remarks before he flips it again. It lands on the dirty side and he buckles up and states, “But he’s not” as he shoots Maroni’s driver, causing the car to veer off the road and crash into the dockyards. Meanwhile, two large ferries leave Gotham due to the Joker’s threats. One is inhabited by criminals that Harvey and Gordon helped put away, the other is packed with innocent citizens - the city’s bridges apparently being wired with explosives. While sailing off, the two boats completely lose all power and their engines die. Both ships eventually realize that there are explosives strewn all about the boat, and they both find detonators. It is at this time that the Joker’s voice is heard over the loudspeaker of both ferries, and he informs them that they are part of a social experiment. The detonator on each boat is for the other boat. One ferry must press the button and destroy the other boat by midnight, or else the Joker will destroy both boats. This brings about much chaos in both boats, and a lot of soul searching about morality and about if anyone could actually do such a thing.

Fox finds the Joker, who is holed up in a building still being constructed with many clown guards. Batman notifies Gordon of the location, and speeds off towards the building. Meanwhile, Two-Face forces a frightened Ramirez to call Gordon’s family and tell his wife and children to meet her at the exact spot where Rachel was killed. They believe her because they trust her. Afterwards, Two-Face, angered with Ramirez’s pleas to spare her life for the sake of her sick mother, flips for Ramirez’s life. The coin lands on heads, so he just knocks her out, telling her that she “lives to fight another day.” As Gordon arrives at the building where the Joker is, he gets a call from his family telling him they are being held captive by Two-Face in the place where Rachel was killed. Gordon rushes off to save his family as Batman breaks in to the building. After realizing that the clown guards are the actual hostages and the doctors/hostages are the Joker’s goons, he beats down some SWAT members in order to prevent them from killing the clown guards, and he disables the goons as he makes his way up to the Joker’s location. When he finally confronts the Joker, the Joker sends the Chechen’s rottweilers after him, and while Batman fights them off, the Joker beats him brutally with a blunt metal object, and eventually throws him close to the edge of the building, trapping him under a metal beam.

At the same time, the two boats are still debating what to do with the detonators. On the ‘criminal ferry’, one of the largest and meanest-looking convicts makes a speech about the warden holding the trigger not knowing how to take life, then goes up to the warden and asks to take the trigger so he himself can do what the warden should have done ten minutes ago. The warden hands the convict the trigger and the convict promptly throws it out of the ferry, making it impossible for anyone on the convict ferry to blow up the ‘innocent’ ferry. On the innocent ferry, after having voted to use their detonator, the officials can’t bring themselves to act out the decision. A man stands up, takes the detonator but is unable to press the button.

The Joker, on top of Batman while holding him down, shows signs of disappointment when neither of the ferries’ passengers will stoop to his level. As he’s about to destroy the two boats, Batman fires his gauntlet darts at him, knocking the detonator out of his hands, and throws him over the edge of the building. Before he can hit the ground, however, Batman fires one of his grappling gun tools at him and saves him. While hanging in front of Batman, the Joker tells him that the two of them are destined to fight forever, and how Batman really IS incorruptible. The Joker reveals to him, however, that his real plan was to engineer the fall of Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent, since that would introduce much more chaos when a good man like Dent is shown descending into chaos and evil. Batman heads off to find Harvey, while the SWAT team captures the Joker.

At 250 52nd St, Gordon arrives to see Two-Face holding his family hostage. Two-Face knocks him to the ground and tells him that he’s going to make him suffer just as he did, as he grabs his young son Jimmy and prepares to flip the coin for his fate. Batman arrives and tells him to stop, and to blame the people responsible for Rachel’s death. So then Two-Face flips the coin for Batman, which lands on the dirty, scarred side, and Two-Face shoots him. He then flips the coin for himself and it lands on the clean side. As he’s flipping the coin for Gordon’s son, he tells Gordon to lie to the boy and tell him that everything will be alright, just as Dent himself had to tell Rachel earlier, seconds before she was killed. Batman gets up and tackles him and they fall off of the building together. Unseen by them, the coin lands on the clean side. Batman hands Jimmy up to Gordon as Batman himself falls to the ground next to Two-Face, who lies motionless.

As Gordon climbs down to check on Batman, Batman laments that, in the end, the Joker won. By corrupting Harvey Dent and turning him evil, he tore down the best of them. If Gotham were to find out about Dent’s murders, then the symbol of hope and faith he had given Gotham would diminish and all the prisoners he helped put back in jail would be let out, thus creating chaos. Batman explains that Gotham can never find out about the murders, and takes the blame of them on himself, so that the Joker wouldn’t win and the city’s peace would remain.

We see a montage of Commissioner Gordon and other members of the Gotham City Police Department gathered at a memorial to Harvey Dent. It is unclear whether he was killed or not. Gordon then smashes the Bat Signal above the MCU Building, while Alfred burns Rachel’s note and Lucius shuts down the sonar machine with a pleased look. Batman, in the background, continues to explain that by taking the blame of the killings, the faith that the people of Gotham had in Harvey Dent can be rewarded, and they can feel justified.

Batman then runs from Gordon as the cops begin to chase him, and Gordon tells his son that while Harvey Dent was the hero Gotham needed, Batman is the hero that Gotham deserved. The bat-signal is destroyed and a manhunt is issued for Batman. Batman gets on his Batpod and speeds away, while Gordon declares:

A young man, exhausted and delirious, washes up on a beach, looking up momentarily to see two young children (Claire Geare and Magnus Nolan) playing in the sand before he passes out. An armed guard (Tohoru Masamune) discovers him and has him brought to a large, seaside palace where the proprietor, an elderly Japanese man, is told of the stranger’s arrival. The only objects found on him were a handgun and a brass top. The old man allows the stranger entry. He is dragged in and given some food which he struggles to eat as the old man picks up the brass top and says, “You remind me of someone…a man I met in a half remembered dream. He was possessed of some radical notions.” The stranger looks up in realization as the scene shifts…

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), speak to a prospective client, Saito (Ken Watanabe), in an eerily similar dining room about the services they provide; specifically protection against thieves specialized in extracting valuable information from a subject while they’re dreaming. Cobb explains that, when one is asleep, one’s mind is vulnerable to attack and what he can do is train Saito’s mind to subconsciously defend against extractors to protect whatever secrets he may be hiding. He backs up his claim by revealing that he is the most skilled extractor there is and knows all the tricks involved. Appearing skeptical, Saito stands to leave, telling Cobb he will consider his proposition, and exits the room to join a small party in the main hall.

Arthur casts Cobb a glance, saying, He knows as the room begins to shake. They walk to an outside balcony where other party-goers mingle and Arthur points to a woman nearby, asking Cobb what she’s doing here. Cobb assures him that he’ll take care of it and to proceed with the job. He knows where Saito’s secrets are; he glanced over at a safe the minute Cobb mentioned the word.

Cobb approaches the woman who asks if he misses her. He responds that he does but can’t trust her anymore. They retreat to a private room where Cobb ties a rope to the leg of a chair and tosses the end out of the window. He tells the woman, Mal (Marion Cotillard), to take a seat as she asks him if the children miss her. Cobb pauses a moment before saying, “I can’t imagine.” He then repels out the window to a ledge below, nearly falling when Mal leaves her seat. He breaks into the room below and accesses the safe, swapping out the manila folder inside for another, as the lights in the room turn on. He turns with his gun out to see Mal aiming a gun at him and standing beside Saito and a guard holding Arthur. Cobb asks Saito if ‘she told him’ as he slides his gun across the table. Saito responds, “That you are here to steal from me, or that we are actually asleep?”

This proves true: the three of them are hooked up to a PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) device which feeds them the sleep drug Somnacin, keeping them all asleep and allowing dream-sharing. They are watched over by Nash (Lukas Haas), another of Cobb’s partners. He checks Saito, sleeping on a bed, before going into another room to check on Arthur and Cobb, both asleep in chairs. Cobb’s chair sits above a tub full of water. Explosions and shouts outside get closer as a mob of rioters moves down the street.

Inside the dream, Mal holds her gun to Arthur’s head but Cobb tells her the threat is empty, as he hands the manila folder over to Saito, since shooting him will only wake him up. Mal smiles in agreement but says that pain is only in the mind and perceived as real as she shoots Arthur in the knee, causing him to cry out. Cobb dives across the table and retrieves his gun before shooting Arthur in the head. He then dashes out of the room under gunfire from Saito’s guards.

Arthur wakes up and instructs Nash that things are falling apart but Cobb still has time to finish the job before he checks on the still sleeping Saito.

Saito frantically opens the manila folder as the dream begins to collapse and shouts in anger as he finds blank pages inside. Cobb manages to hide away for a moment to look at the contents of the real folder which he’d hidden in his jacket, gazing over the confidential files as the building crumbles around him. Saito is crushed by debris and wakes up in the apartment, unseen to Arthur as he reaches under his pillow. Arthur tells Nash to wake Cobb by giving him the kick. Nash pushes Cobb backwards into the tub and, as he hits the water, Cobb’s dream is flooded with massive waves cascading through the windows before he wakes up. Saito, having reached under his pillow for his gun, grabs Arthur but is subdued by Cobb who tells him that not all the information he needed was in the file he stole. Saito laughs and claims that all the information he had was in the file because he knew of Cobb’s ruse all along. He allowed Cobb and Arthur into his mind as part of an audition which they failed, saying that ‘your deception was obvious.’

Asserting that his employer, Cobol Engineering, won’t accept failure, Cobb throws Saito on the floor and demands that he tell them what they need to know about his expansion project. With his face pressed into the carpet, Saito begins to laugh again and reveals that he is familiar with the material of the carpet; it is supposed to be made of wool instead of polyester. Thus, he comes to the conclusion that he is still sleeping.

Sure enough, Saito, Arthur, Nash, and Cobb are all asleep in the car of a train, watched over by a young man named Tadashi (Tai-Li Lee) who monitors the time remaining on the PASIV device. He places headphones over Nash’s ears and plays music as a cue that their time is running out. The music plays faintly within the dream but enough that Nash can hear it. As the rioting mob outside draws nearer, Saito commends Cobb on creating a dream within a dream but becomes confused at his inability to control this dream. Nash reveals that they’re not in Saito’s dream…they’re in his. The mob breaks through the door, attacking everyone in the room, and Arthur, Nash, and Cobb wake up on the train. Cobb berates Nash, the architect of the dream, for designing the carpet wrong and throws Tadashi a wad of money before leaving, telling them ‘every man for himself’. Saito wakes up moments later to find himself alone in the car, save for Tadashi who’s resumed a casual pose, but smiles wryly to himself. In his apartment, Cobb spins his brass top and takes his gun, pointing it at his temple as the top spins. When it falls, he breathes a sigh of relief and puts the gun down. His phone rings and he picks it up to hear his two children, James and Phillipa (Johnathan Geare and Taylor Geare), on the other line with their grandmother. They ask when he’s coming home and he responds that he can’t because of work. When James asks if their mother is with him - an image of Mal crosses his mind - Cobb pauses and tells him that ‘mommy’s not here anymore’. He tells them to behave and that he’ll send presents with grandpa before their grandmother hangs up.

Arthur knocks on the door and tells Cobb their ride is on the roof. Cobb decides to fly to Buenos Aires to lie low in lieu of their failed job for Cobol while Arthur says he’s returning ‘stateside’. Cobb asks him to send his regards as they open the door to the helicopter and see Nash, beaten and bruised, and Saito waiting for them. Apparently, Nash had tried to sell out Cobb and Arthur for his own safety but Saito has other interests. He offers Cobb a job performing ‘inception’ for him, something Arthur claims is impossible. Cobb, however, says that it’s not impossible but extremely difficult since it involves planting an idea in someone’s mind rather than extracting one. He turns away, insisting that he’ll find a way to resolve relations with Cobol himself but Saito then asks him if he wants to go home to his children in America. He promises Cobb that, if he succeeds, all he will need to do is make a phone call and the charges keeping Cobb out of the country will be dropped. Desperate, and to Arthur’s exasperation, Cobb accepts.

They board the helicopter with Saito while two thugs carry Nash away to an uncertain fate. En route, Arthur explains to Saito the nature of inception, telling him that simply planting an idea in someone’s head does not guarantee that the idea will take. The subject may very well discover that the idea is not theirs and reject it. True inspiration, Arthur claims, is impossible, despite Cobb’s thoughts otherwise. Saito shares with them his reasoning for the job; he needs the CEO of a competing energy conglomerate to split up his father’s company, ensuring Saito’s own Proclus Global complete domination over the energy production industry. Despite the daunting task, Cobb agrees to perform the job. Saito drops them off at the airport and advises Cobb to choose his team wisely.

Cobb travels to Paris where he meets up with his father-in-law, Miles (Michael Caine), a professor at a university and the one who taught Cobb and Mal about dream-sharing and designing dreams. Cobb asks for an architect, one as good as he, and Miles points him to someone better. He introduces Cobb to a graduate student of his, Ariadne (Elliot Page) who is immediately put to the test by Cobb to design a maze that takes one minute to create and two to solve. After impressing Cobb with her skills, he tells her more about his line of work and what is required of her. Her job as architect will be to design dreams and create virtual mazes for the dreamers subconscious to inhabit while allowing Cobb and his team to work. As they talk outside a cafe, Cobb attempts to make Ariadne aware that they are actually in a dream. The realization causes Ariadne to panic and the dream violently collapses. When they awake, Ariadne finds they are in Cobb’s warehouse workshop where Arthur is monitoring them. Ariadne shows surprise when Arthur says they’d been under only five minutes when it felt like hours. Cobb explains that the mind functions faster in a dream, so time moves slower. They go under again and Ariadne is given the opportunity to creatively alter the physics of the dream. Her architectural wonders cause the people in the dream - projections of Cobb’s subconscious - to search for the intruder - Ariadne - like white blood cells drawn to a virus. When Ariadne makes the mistake of creating a bridge from her memories, Cobb recognizes it and his subconscious reacts as a mob, separating Ariadne from Cobb until Mal appears and stabs her.

She wakes up and Cobb rushes to the restroom while Arthur explains that Cobb’s subconscious became aware of her as an invasive being and she was unable to wake up right away because there was still time on the clock. The only way for her to wake up was if she died. Cobb takes out his top and spins it, sighing as it topples over. Ariadne leaves the warehouse, angry and refusing to open her mind to Cobb if his subconscious is as tormented as it seems. Cobb returns to the room and assures Arthur that she’ll be back but he needs to make a trip to Mombasa to recruit an old friend to the team. He finds Eames (Tom Hardy) gambling at a bar and offers him a place on his team as a forger/imitator. Eames agrees before telling Cobb he’s being tailed, pointing to two men at the bar. Cobb recognizes them as Cobol thugs who must be aiming to collect the bounty on his head for the botched Saito job. Eames creates a distraction while Cobb escapes, leading the thugs on a chaotic chase through the city streets. At the last moment, Saito pulls up in a limousine and picks up first Cobb, then Eames. He explains that he’s been tracing Cobb to protect his investment.

Eames takes them to a local chemist he knows who experiments with Somnacin and who might be an asset to their team. Yusuf (Dileep Rao) listens as Cobb explains that his job may require the use of a three-layered dream. Yusuf says that this would be otherwise impossible, due to the instability of dreams the further down you go, if not for a special solution he’s concocted with a powerful sedative. To show its effectiveness, Yusuf takes them downstairs where they see dozens of men sleeping under the watch of an old man (Earl Cameron). He tells Cobb that these men come here to ‘wake up’; dreaming has become their reality. With the aid of the sedative, their sleep is deep and stable and they are able to dream for what feels to them like years. Cobb tries the sedative himself and is impressed with its affects, though shaken after waking from a vivid dream with Mal. He convinces Yusuf to join his team.

Meanwhile, Ariadne returns to the workshop where she tells Arthur that she meant to stay away but couldn’t resist the pure creation involved in architectural dreaming. Arthur takes her into a dream and introduces the notion of creating paradoxes, such as the Penrose steps. He also reveals that Mal was Cobb’s wife and has since passed away. Despite Mal’s malevolent nature within the dreams - her existence now only as a projection of Cobb’s - Arthur tells Ariadne she was lovely in real life.

The team bands together and decides that they will create a three-level dream with the third level containing the planted idea. The target in mind is Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), the CEO and heir of Fischer Morrow, whose father, Maurice (Pete Postlethwaite), is slowly decaying with illness. Eames targets Robert’s godfather and business partner, Peter Browning (Tom Berenger), to get a better grasp on the father-son dynamic and to use his imitation skills at their best. The team decides that, in order to get Robert to split up his father’s company and because of their complicated relationship, a positive idea will trump a negative one; ‘my father wants me to be my own man.’ Saito oversees most of the plans and, because he wants full verification of any success or failure, decides that he will accompany the team into the dreams as a ‘tourist’.

As the team prepares over the next few weeks, Arthur shows Ariadne the significance of ‘totems’; small, personal objects that enable a person to differentiate between dreams and reality. Cobb’s totem is his top, which topples over in the real world and keeps spinning in a dream. Arthur’s is a loaded die and he instructs Ariadne to create one for herself that only she can touch to ensure its validity. She creates a semi-hollowed bishop chess piece as her totem. Wanting as much time as possible to complete the job, the team decides, with Saito’s help, that they will perform the job on a Boeing 747 during an international flight from Europe to Los Angeles, a 10 hour flight. This will give them a week in the first stage of the dreams. Saito reveals that he’s bought the entire airline, making the job neater and without having to buy out certain sections of the plane for access.

One evening, after a day of formulating plans, Ariadne finds Cobb dreaming alone in the workshop. Curious, she hooks herself up to his machine and finds herself descending in an elevator. She sees Cobb sitting in a living room with Mal who quickly detects Ariadne’s presence. Cobb gets up and joins Ariadne in the elevator, leading her through some of the levels that Ariadne discovers are each specific memories; something he originally told her never to do. Horrified after seeing Cobb’s torment over leaving home without saying farewell to his children, Ariadne takes the elevator alone to the last level where she sees a hotel room, the contents of which are strewn on the floor. She steps on some broken glass and Mal looks up from the couch, asking what she’s doing here. Ariadne tries to explain that she just wants to understand but Mal becomes defensive and picks up a shard of glass. Cobb arrives and takes Ariadne back to the elevator as Mal rushes forward, shouting at Cobb that he didn’t keep his promise.

Ariadne and Cobb exit the dream and Cobb explains that the reason he can’t go home is because of Mal’s death, because it was thought that he killed her. He thanks Ariadne when she doesn’t ask him if he did or not but she does warn him that he’s mistaken if he thinks he can cage Mal like that. He needs to release his guilt over her death. Ariadne convinces Cobb to allow her to go with the team into the dreams because he needs someone who understands what he’s going through. At that moment, Saito and Arthur arrive and announce that Maurice Fischer has died and Robert will be accompanying the body to the States in a few days.

The team boards the flight and sits with Robert in a sectioned-off first class cabin. Cobb returns Robert’s passport, pick-pocketed by Arthur, as a conversation starter and then drugs his water before proposing a toast in his father’s honor. Within moments, Robert is asleep and the paid-off flight attendant (Miranda Nolan) assists setting up and activating the PASIV device. All together, the team descends into, first, Yusuf’s dream. It is raining heavily in New York City as members of the team are picked up. Arthur and Saito commandeer a taxi, pick up Robert and Eames and then Yusuf as Saito holds a gun to Robert as part of the kidnap ruse. Cobb and Ariadne follow in a separate car until a train suddenly barges down the middle of the street, hitting their car and temporarily stalling them. Gunfire then opens on the taxi and the team is forced to take immediate evasive maneuvers, hiding out in a warehouse where its discovered that Saito has been shot in the chest.

Robert is taken into another room while Saito is laid on a table. Before Eames can shoot him to end his misery and wake him up, Cobb stops him and explains that, due to the sedatives they’ve taken, they won’t wake up if they die. Instead, they’ll be sent to limbo; a shared dream-state of raw subconscious where time is practically non-existent. The team is angered by this, wondering why they’ve taken such a risk, as they contemplate what to do about the armed forces closing in on their location. They find out that Robert’s subconscious has been trained to fight against extraction and the projections attacking them are part of that defense. With Saito’s condition deteriorating and unable to wait much longer due to the approaching defense projections, the team decides they need to complete the job as quickly as possible.

Ariadne confronts Cobb about the control he has over his own subconscious and he confesses that he can’t keep Mal out of his head. He tells her that they had been experimenting with dream states and wanted to see how far down they could go into their subconscious. They wound up in limbo together, unable to leave because of the time remaining on their PASIV clock. They recreated their lives, spending years worth of building. After so long, they began to perceive limbo as their reality. After something like 50 years, Cobb and Mal killed themselves on train tracks to bring them back to reality. Despite returning to the real world, Mal continued to believe that she was still dreaming and believed that dying was the only way to ‘wake up’, but she refused to leave without Cobb; she loved him too much. On their wedding anniversary, Cobb went to the hotel room they always stayed in to find it trashed and the window open. Outside, on an opposite ledge, sat Mal who revealed to Cobb that she filed a letter to their attorney expressing a fear for her life, effectively framing him in the event of her death and forcing him no other way than to join her. Cobb refuses to jump and attempts to bring Mal to her senses, but she ignores him and jumps to her death. Since she declared herself legally sane by three psychiatrists, Cobb’s case for his innocence is overruled by the outstanding evidence against him. With no other choice, Cobb leaves his children behind with their grandmother and flees the country.

Ariadne tries to convince Cobb that Mal’s death was not his fault and that he needs to focus on the mission. Eames prepares himself as an impersonation of Browning while Cobb and Arthur interrogate Robert, demanding to know the combination to his father’s safe. They pressure Robert by using ‘Browning’ as leverage. Eames shouts from another room as if being beaten before he is brought into the room with Robert to try and get him to remember. He tells Robert that the safe contains an alternate version of his father’s will, one that will dissolve the company if Robert chooses so. ‘Browning’ tells Robert that his father loved him and wanted him to build something of his own. As Robert’s defenses close in on the warehouse, Robert reveals that one word he could decipher out of his father’s last words was ‘disappointed’, convincing him that his father didn’t love him.

With the warehouse in danger of being infiltrated, the team pressure Robert once again for a combination. He tells them a series of random numbers that come to mind before they load him into a van and drug him to sleep. They all get in and prepare to enter the second level of the dream while Yusuf drives the van away from the pursuing projections.

In Arthur’s dream, Cobb resolves to use ‘Mr. Charles’, a method in which he introduces the subject to the fact that he’s dreaming in order to garner trust. He meets Robert at a bar and tells him that he is there to protect him and someone is trying to access his mind. He convinces Robert that he’s dreaming by introducing the strangeness of their surroundings and calms Robert to control them. He helps Robert remember that he’s been kidnapped and leads him to a hotel room (the first few numbers of which match the first digits Robert thought of for the combination) where the rest of the team regroups. Saito is in better health in this level of the dream, but soon begins coughing. When Robert’s projection on Browning arrives, Cobb convinces Robert that it was Browning who kidnapped him by asking if he saw Browning being tortured by the kidnappers in his previous sleep level. Browning confesses that he was responsible for the kidnapping, as the second testament left to Robert allowed him to destroy his father’s empire, which Browning could not let him do it. Cobb suggests to Robert that they enter Browning’s dreams to figure out what was really in the safe so that Robert can decide for himself. Robert agrees, now unknowingly assisting in his own inception and the team is hooked up again, this time with Arthur remaining behind to watch over them and administer a synchronized kick when its time.

As the team goes into the third dream, in actuality Robert’s, Arthur is forced to fight off more of Robert’s defensive projections while in the first dream Yusuf continues to drive the van. The third dream is set in snow covered mountains where Robert’s safe is heavily guarded in a mountainside fort. The team splits up to draw the guards away. Cobb goes with Ariadne, Eames travels alone to ward off the guards, and Robert and Saito begin ascending a mountainside to access a blind side of the fort.

Meanwhile, Yusuf momentarily loses control of the van and it tumbles down an incline, the tumbling effect translates into Arthur’s dream as he fights off Robert’s projections, the environment around him spinning as gravity reverses and then rights itself. As Yusuf continues driving, he becomes cornered on an elevated bridge with one car full of projections stuck with him. Yusuf plays music through Arthur’s headphones to warn him of the incoming kick before driving backwards off the bridge. Upon impact, the force sends Arthur in his dream flying and, as the van plummets in mid air, there is a loss of gravity in Arthur’s dream. The impact also translates into the third level of the dream. Saito and Robert look up the mountainside and are forced to cut their lines as an avalanche sweeps down upon them. Cobb realizes they’ve missed the first kick, but they still have time for the second one when the van hits the water off the bridge.

Van drives off the bridge: 10 seconds left to impact.

Dream 2: 3 minutes to synchronize the kick. Arthur struggles with a way to do this without gravity.

Dream 3: 60 minutes left.

With little time left, Cobb demands to know if there is another way into the fort and Ariadne relents into telling him of a secret underground entrance that Robert and Saito can access. Cobb send them there, all while Saito’s condition deteriorates. They finally enter the main room where the safe is located while Cobb and Ariadne watch from a snipers angle. Succumbing to his injuries, Saito is left to lay down, coughing blood as Robert continues forward. However, as Robert comes into Cobb’s view, so does another person. Mal drops in from the ceiling and shoots Robert down before Cobb comes to his senses and shoots her. Eames is ordered to the room as Cobb and Ariadne rush to the site. Finding Robert dead, Cobb labels the mission a failure, since the only other place where Robert has gone is limbo. Ariadne, however, convinces him that, if they go into limbo, they’ll have enough time to find Robert and bring him back. Eames agrees to use a defibrillator to jump start Roberts heart to help while Cobb and Ariadne go under.

Meanwhile, in dream level 2, Arthur devises a unique plan. He uses phone wires to tie the team together and brings them into the elevator. He lines the outside of the car with explosives, timing down till the kick with the intention of using explosive force to create gravity and instigating a kick.

In limbo, Cobb and Ariadne tour the deteriorating world that he and Mal once built. They see old homes and buildings before they find the one where Cobb knows Mal must be. If they find Mal, they’ll find Robert because Mal will want to use something Cobb wants to bring him to her. Sure enough, they enter the apartment and Mal is waiting for them. She tries, again, to convince Cobb that his place is with her in their real home with their children but Cobb reveals a terrible truth, the reason why Mal believed that her dreams were real.

While they were in limbo, Mal had stored away a truth that she didn’t want to believe anymore; her totem, placed within her safe, lying on its side, immobile; telling her that her dream, her limbo, was reality. In an effort to save her mind, Cobb broke into her safe and spun the top to convince her that this world was not real. However, he did not know that, once they really woke up, she would continue to believe that. This was how he knew inception would work; because he performed it on Mal first and his guilt over her subsequent death has been plaguing him ever since. He tells Mal that he will stay with her in limbo if she tells him where Robert is and she reveals he’s on the porch. Ariadne finds him there and pushes him off as an improvised kick.

Robert comes back to life in dream level 3 with Eames’ aid and opens his own safe, finding within an image of his bed-stricken father muttering his last word. Robert acknowledges that his father was disappointed that he couldn’t be him, but Maurice says, “No…no. I was disappointed that you tried.” Maurice then points to a cabinet where Robert finds the will…and a paper fan his father made for him once as a child. Tearfully, Robert looks up to see his father has passed and breaks down as the van hits the water.

Dream 2, Arthur hits the detonator and the explosives force the elevator down, creating artificial gravity on the team.

Dream 3, a series of explosions set by Eames rock the fort, collapsing the main floor.

In limbo, the synchronization of kicks pulls on Ariadne and she calls for Cobb to join her. Cobb says that he will stay in limbo, but not with Mal. By this time, Saito has died and joined limbo as well. Cobb must find him but promises to return. Ariadne leaps off the side of the building and rides the kicks back to dream 1. In the van, Robert wakes up and escapes the submerged van with ‘Browning’. Arthur and Ariadne share an oxygen tank with Yusuf before they escape the van, leaving Cobb.

Robert and ‘Browning’ make it to shore where Robert reveals that his father really did want him to be his own man and that he’s going to do just that and liquidate his father’s company. Knowing the mission is a success, Eames drops the Browning mask.

In limbo, Cobb washes ashore where the armed guard finds him. He is brought to the seaside palace where the elderly Japanese man recognizes his brass top. Cobb recalls what he was there to do and calls to Saito, asking him to come back with him and honor their arrangement. The elderly Saito reaches for Cobb’s gun.

Cobb wakes up on the airplane and looks around, startled, to see Arthur and Ariadne smiling at him. He looks at the now awake Saito who remembers, picking up his phone and dials. The plane lands in Los Angeles and Cobb nervously moves through customs where security checks his passport, but allows him passage through, welcoming him home. Cobb walks past the rest of the team and Robert, who pauses a moment as if recalling a half-remembered dream. Ahead of him, Cobb sees Miles calling him over. They drive home together where Cobb hesitates before taking out his brass top. He spins it on the table in the kitchen as his children appear at the back door. He runs to them, elated to see their faces again as the top continues to spin, wobbles a bit…and the screen turns to black.

The very last moment of the film is a little more complex than indicated by the current synopsis (see above): “…the top continues to spin, wobbles a bit..” which indicates that Cobb has returned to reality. The actual script, by Christopher Nolan, differs from this. The script ends with

Behind him, on the table, the spinning top is STILL SPINNING. And we-

FADE OUT.

CREDITS.

END.

This fourth ‘Fast and the Furious’ film begins in the Dominican Republic. A semi truck pulling several fuel tankers drives by, followed by a black Buick GNX containing Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) and two older pickup trucks. Letty climbs onto the GNX’s hood and hops onto the last fuel tanker while Dom pulls ahead of the semi and stays in front of it to keep it at a certain speed. The first pickup (driven by Han from the third film, ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’) does a perfect 180-degree U-turn and continues in reverse while his female occupant flips over a part of the truck and lands perfectly onto the hitch on the back of the last fuel tanker. Letty is already spraying the hitch connecting the fuel tankers to each other and smashes it with a hammer once it’s frozen so the last two tankers become detached and eventually come to a stop. As the second pickup is preparing the same feat (with Dom talking to them on walkie-talkies, hinting that they’re not particularly great at what they are doing), Letty is standing on top of one of the tankers, and the semi driver sees her in his rear view and begins to speed up, hitting the GNX. Things get a little hectic, and the second pickup is pretty much getting dragged since they pulled off the U-turn and are connected to the trailer hitch. Letty gets knocked off of her feet but hangs on, though her hammer falls. While driving alongside of her, Dom orders Letty to spray the hitch, despite her no longer having a hammer. He instead pulls a 180-degree turn with the rear end of his car hitting the tanker, which shatters the frozen hitch, though he is now driving in reverse. At this point, they are already heading downhill, and the semi driver jumps out with his pet lizard. The semi and its trailer detach as Dom urges Letty to jump, particularly because the road curves but the semi is rolled over onto its side and is blocking the road. She jumps, and he eventually stops in front of the flipped semi as the fuel tanker, flaming and spinning, is getting closer and closer. As seen in the trailers, Dom is burning rubber and launches his car to drive under the bouncing fuel tanker.

Later that evening, there is a big party on the beach, with a few drag races on the sand. Everyone is using fuel from the tankers and having a good time. Dom splits up their profits from their most recent crime, and Han reluctantly takes his cut. He informs Dom that one of their shops had been raided by the cops, saying that people were clearly after Dom. Looking out for his friends, Dom insists that they part ways since he knows that anyone else who gets caught with him will probably have charges pressed on them as well. Han pauses for a second and says, “I heard they’re doing some crazy shit in Tokyo,” (alluding to why he ended up in Tokyo in the third movie). Dom walks out to the coastline where Letty is sitting. He tells her the same thing, saying that he doesn’t want her around him since he doesn’t want her getting caught with him. Letty gets upset, saying that they had been pulling off heists for years and is confused why only now he is concerned. She then says, “ride or die,” which becomes a motto of the movie used a few times. When they go home, Letty is asleep but Dom is sitting down looking at her, then he eventually leaves at night, but the camera pans to her nightstand, which contains huge stacks of cash and a necklace with a cross.

The next scene is in Los Angeles, where Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is on foot pursuit after a tattooed, bald-headed Hispanic suspect, running through buildings, jumping through windows and from rooftop to rooftop. The suspect rams into an agent in uniform, who drops his gun but gets picked up by the suspect. They end up in an apartment building, where the suspect runs into the last apartment and out of its window onto the roof. It’s too far to jump down so he walks back a bit and prepares to shoot Brian as he comes out, but being smarter than that, Brian entered an earlier apartment and comes crashing through the window and tackles the suspect from his blindside, pulling him off of the two-story roof and landing onto a parked car, crushing its top. At gunpoint, Brian demands a name, and the suspect yells “David Park.”

At an FBI building (which reveals that Brian is now an FBI agent), Brian is hurrying inside and fixing his tie, where Agent Sophie is telling him that their supervisor Penning is already a little upset. He goes into his office, where Penning wonders if reinstating Brian was a good idea, especially after his foot pursuit that caused some property damage. He says that the suspect gave him a name, David Park, though they know that there are probably a few hundred. This person will supposedly lead them to Braga, a drug lord who allegedly recruits street racers to transport his drugs. All leads are crucial, since they have no information on Braga and don’t even know what he looks like. In the background, Agent Ben makes a few negative remarks against Brian, setting off the rocky relationship that they have with each other.

In Panama City, Panama, a little boy runs into a garage to tell a guy there that he has a phone call. It ends up being Dom working on the car, and when he goes to the payphone, he realizes it’s his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) on the other line, and he reminds her that he did not want her to contact him, but she says that Letty has been murdered.

In the next scene, people are at the burial of Letty. Mia is at the front of the seats crying, while far in the distance overlooking the cemetery, Dom is observing. Parked on the side, Brian and Agent Ben are watching, and Agent Ben informs Brian that there was recognition at the border of Dominic Toretto having entered the U.S. Brian knows that he’s there somewhere, and eventually looks into the distance where Dom was standing, but he is no longer there.

Later on that evening, a police car is parked outside of Mia’s house (the same from the first movie). Mia walks outside of her house with a box and goes into the garage, where Dom emerges from the shadows. She is clearly happy to be reunited with her brother, but she tells him that he shouldn’t be there, but Dom doesn’t care but insists that he won’t get caught. He notices his Charger (the same one that he crashed at the end of the first movie when racing against Brian in his Supra), partially rebuilt. Mia mentions how she thinks the car is a curse, but as soon as Letty had gotten to L.A., she had been working on it constantly, almost as if Letty knew Dom would come back. Dom has Mia take him to where the incident occurred (and he is driving his red Chevelle from the end of the first movie after the credits), where he takes note of the skid marks and mentally visualizes what happened that night. He notices a unique burn mark on the ground, which he recognizes as the work of only one shop in all of L.A. since it is so rarely used. He drops her off, and Mia urges Dom to let it go, but he is adamant about avenging Letty’s murder.

Back at the FBI building, Penning is telling his agents that time is ticking because their superiors are considering shutting them down since two years had passed and Braga had not yet been taken down or even identified. Their screen shows images of Braga’s known associates (all of whom appear later on in the movie), and Penning mentions how their last associates who they had sent in to infiltrate had all been killed, and Letty’s image is briefly flashed. When asked about their progress, Brian and Agent Sophie mentioned that they have found a lot of David Parks, but they are narrowing the batch down by looking at their criminal records for anything related to street racing. Brian assures Penning that they will find David Park, though he looks through all of the filtered results.

Elsewhere in L.A., Dom walks into a shop and pulls a guy out from working under a car. He recognizes Dom and asks when he got back, but Dom gets straight to business, asking about if he installed a certain type of injection on any cars recently. The guy snaps at Dom and says that he doesn’t run the city anymore, and goes back under the car. Dom angrily pulls him out, throws him onto a car and releases an engine on an engine hoist but catches the chains that hold it so it stops an inch above the guy’s head. Scared for his life, he tells Dom that it was a guy named David Park who had come in with a green Torino.

At the FBI offices, Mia is in one of their waiting rooms, as Agent Ben had taken her in for some questioning the night before. Brian sees her, and makes a phony phone call to another department in the building, telling them that Agent Ben is needed to sign some documents, so he leaves Mia in the room. Brian goes in to “transfer” Mia, though they go to a diner and have a cup of coffee. Mia asks why he brought her there, and he says that Dom will get apprehended and that he wants her to stay away from him. Mia is clearly upset at him only reaching out to her after five years for this. He apologizes for their past and says that him going undercover was the most difficult thing he had to do, though Mia grows upset and “apologizes” that him “ripping [her] family apart” was the hardest thing for him to do. He admits that he lied to all of them, but that he was good at it, which was why the Feds had recruited him in the first place for the first movie. She asks him if he is lying to himself, wondering if he is a good guy pretending to be a bad guy or a bad guy pretending to be a good guy. She gets up, but before walking away, she asks why he had let Dom go, and he didn’t know.

Agent Sophie tells Brian that she has narrowed their search to just a few David Parks. Brian asks what they drive, and she lists their vehicles off–a Tahoe, a Prius, and a few other cars that are uninteresting, but Brian interrupts her when she mentions a Nissan 240SX because he knows that particular David Park is who they are looking for because the car was something that he would drive. As he pulls up to where that particular David Park lives, Dom is already there, and breaks into the guy’s apartment and starts to rough him up. He says he doesn’t know anything and can only get him into the street race; he throws the guy out of his window and is holding him by one of his legs. Brian sees this just shortly after spotting David’s 240SX on the street, and rushes into the building with his gun drawn. He sees Dom and tells him to bring the guy back in. Dom asks if Brian is there to take him in, and Brian replies that Letty was his friend too but also demands that Dom bring David back in to let Brian take him in and do his job. Dom lets go, but David’s leg is tangled by his drapes, so he hangs for a second as Brian pulls him in, but Dom gets away.

Brian is taking a beat up David Park to the FBI offices in handcuffs, though Agent Ben calls Brian out and is pissed about Brian getting him to leave Mia in the room earlier. Agent Ben pushes Brian against the wall, but Brian quickly seizes the situation and slams him into the wall and knees him in the stomach. Agent Ben tries to safe face despite his face being bloodied a bit and being a little woozy. Penning breaks it up and orders Agent Ben to clean himself up but also chastises Brian, but looks at David Park (who saw Brian rough up Agent Ben pretty easily) and says, “Have fun.”

Not much later, everyone is back in a meeting room (with Agent Ben with some bruises and Band-Aids), and it is reported that David Park cooperated, and Brian will go undercover and street race to infiltrate Braga’s circle. He goes with Agent Sophie into another office to look at all of the impounded imports, and he picks three–a white Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R (making a reference to 2 Fast 2 Furious, murmuring “I crashed one of those before”), a red Nissan GT-R and a blue Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R. Despite wanting all of them, he ultimately uses the blue GT-R and is fixing it up in an FBI garage, where an agent hands him a transmitter to keep in the car so the FBI knows where he is at all times. Meanwhile, Dom is in a garage and fixing up his Chevelle, painting it flat black and adding in some nitrous oxide tanks.

In Koreatown (where the race is to take place), Brian pulls up in his blue GT-R and exchanges words with a dorky guy in a cowboy outfit (but surrounded by three beautiful girls) who is making remarks about his import. A beautiful woman breaks it up, asking if there is a problem, and he backs down and takes Brian away. (The cowboy is a winner of a previous race and is one of the chosen drivers for Braga.) The beautiful woman introduces herself to Brian as Gisele (Gal Gadot), one of several associates working for Braga. As Brian follows Gisele, Dom is driving by, and the two see each other, though he meets up with them later up top, where they meet Campos, who is the main guy who recruits drivers for Braga. He talks about how they only take the most skilled drivers. Dom starts lightly arguing with one of Braga’s men, a larger dark man, but Campos interrupts and eventually has everyone get ready to race. One of the other drivers asks how they are blocking traffic, but Campos says that they aren’t. They are each given GPS units that tell them where to go throughout the race.

The race begins, and two cars crash within minutes. Due to one of the crashes, Brian had to swerve out of the way and was inadvertently rerouted, so he is going on his own path for a bit. Dom keeps getting hit by the other driver in an orange BMW M5, but he eventually hits his brakes so the BMW runs into the center divider instead of his car, and the car flips and is out of the race. Going on his own path, Brian eventually gets back on the same road and catches up to Dom, who hits his nitrous and speeds forward. Brian mutters, “Too soon, Dom,” and his scramble boost, which allows his car to speed up, but seeing that Brian was approaching, Dom hits the rear end of Brian’s car, causing it to spin and slow down (muttering, “Still a buster”), though he eventually regains traction and continues driving but ends up in second place. After the race is over, Braga’s associates congratulate Dom, but Brian, who is obviously upset at losing, yells at Dom, saying that he would’ve won straight up, but Dom replies, “I didn’t know there were any rules.” Brian also argues with Braga’s people, who brush him off. Campos tells Dom to keep the GPS unit, since it will call him when he is needed. Gisele flirts with Dom, obviously showing her interest in him. On his way out, Brian gets yelled at by the cowboy, who rubs the outcome of the race in Brian’s face, yelling, “Muscle beats import every time!” Brian just smiles and drives away.

In the early hours of the morning, the cowboy is at his apartment with his three ladies, though FBI agents storm his apartment, one of them being Brian, but masked. They arrest him as Brian drops a bag of drugs into his apartment. Another agent tells Brian, “You know that’s not gonna stick,” and Brian responds, “It’s not supposed to,” as the incident would keep the cowboy in custody long enough to keep him off of the streets. As a result, Brian gets appointed as one of Braga’s drivers, evident when Dom goes to one of Braga’s clubs and sees Brian there. They share a few words, lightly threatening to blow each other’s covers. They both end up upstairs sharing drinks with Campos, who senses that Brian and Dom know each other since they were talking a little bit of trash to each other, indirectly (as Dom talked about his credibility since he had done “real time” but Brian talked about how he was a better driver). Campos asks, and Dom says that Brian used to date his younger sister. After laughing it off, Campos talks about how powerful and important Braga is and how everyone in the club would give their life for him. Brian asks Campos if he would, and Campos says, “Especially me” [important]. He eventually leaves to take care of business. Brian follows him upstairs and peeks inside a cracked open door to see Campos and an older man (presumably Braga) taking shots, while Dom wanders around and finds himself in a garage, where he sees the green Torino. Gisele shows up and she flirts with him a bit (using car and woman analogies) and she mentions that the car belongs to Fenix, the Braga’s dark associate who Dom didn’t like. She asks Dom what kind of woman is his type, and he says he starts with the eyes and sees “80% devil, 20% angel,” and how he loves a girl who doesn’t mind getting grease in her fingernails. Gisele is very much a beautiful woman, and says that it doesn’t sound like her, and Dom says, “It ain’t,” clearly describing Letty and still showing his love and devotion to her.

The next day, it is revealed that Brian swiped the shot glasses from the night before and gives them to Agent Sophie. He says the prints belong to Braga and Campos and that she needs to run them, though it could take a while since she needs to run the prints through a lot of agencies’ databases. His GPS unit alarms, and he is seen driving through city streets as the unit is instructing him to go to a certain location. Penning calls him on his cell phone and asks him to slow down, since he had already committed three moving violations from his watch (as the homing device alerts them to his location, and they are watching him from a satellite), though Brian just continues to speed through intersections, at the FBI’s dismay. He pulls into a warehouse, where he sees a few moving trucks, Dom and the other hired drivers. Braga’s men are sweeping the cars for any transmitters, so Brian quickly yanks his out and drops it into his energy drink can to kill the signal so his cover doesn’t get blown, though it causes the signal to die, and the FBI no longer knows where Brian is. Dom asks Gisele where Fenix is, and she mentions that they will see him later. The drivers and their vehicles get loaded into the moving truck, and they get away without the FBI knowing that Brian is inside. Brian attempts to make a cell phone call, but his phone has no service inside the truck’s trailer. The other drivers are making small conversation and try to talk to Dom, who is sitting in his car with his eyes closed. They have no idea where they are going, but Dom says it doesn’t matter.

Hours later, the trucks come to a stop in a desert-like area in Mexico, and it is already dark. The vehicles get unloaded, and Gisele instructs everyone to activate and sync their GPS units. Dom asks where Fenix is and is told that he will meet with them later. Giselementions a few details about how there is no room for error, and that due to certain measures that the border patrol takes (particularly their heat-sensing equipment), they will have a very small window. Their cars get loaded up, and everyone begins to drive. In the dark, Fenix’s car shows up and leads the pack, and everyone is instructed to follow him. Dom pulls out of the line and tries to catch up, but a small opening in a mountain in front of them forces him to get back in line. Right as they get inside, the border patrol helicopter just barely gets there and sees nobody. They begin driving through tunnels dug into the mountain, following Fenix’s every move. It is very confusing, as the path goes left and right with other paths to choose from.

At the end of the tunnel, they pull out on U.S. soil and are instructed to get out of their cars. Surrounded by other vehicles and a black Hummer H1, Dom unscrews one of his nitrous tanks and pushes his car cigarette lighter in before getting out. Fenix gets out of his car and chastises the drivers, making remarks about how sloppy their driving was. The goods carried are then unloaded into the Hummer. Guns are pulled out, though Dom isn’t phased. He catches the attention of Fenix by making random remarks, particularly about the specific car modification that his car had. Upset, Fenix asks Dom if he had looked under his hood, but Dom begins to mention Letty and her car and if it sounded familiar. Fenix recalls, but mentions that he doesn’t remember what she looks like, but he remembers her dying. Images of what happened are shown, as Letty is revealed to have been in the exact same position, being a chosen driver for Braga. However, the previous drivers were all shot, though Letty managed to escape, and Fenix hunted her down to L.A. and killed her. Knowing the timing of his car’s lighter, it pops out and ignites with the gas within his car (which is one of the few fallacies, since nitrous oxide is a non-flammable gas), everyone hits the ground after his Chevelle explodes, along with the cars next to it from the fire damage. Fights break out, but Brian attacks one of the gunmen, takes his weapon and shoots many of Braga’s men. Dom gets shot in the upper part of his shoulder by one of Braga’s men, who he beats up pretty bad, despite the bullet wound. Brian takes over the Hummer and gets Dom to get in the truck as they drive off.

They eventually stop under a freeway and notice that they have millions of dollars’ worth of drugs. Brian calls Penning to let him know what happened (without giving him too many details) then stashes the Hummer in an impound lot using his FBI badge, figuring it would be safe there since Braga wouldn’t think to look there. Walking away, Brian says that Dom now owes him a ten-second car since his GT-R was destroyed, but Dom sees a new but modified Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the impound lot and breaks into it, saying that they’re even.

Brian gets Mia and takes her to where he and Dom are hiding out to help take care of his bullet wound. Things seem to be happier, as the three of them are together and having a makeshift dinner and praying together, reminiscent of the barbecue that they had in the first movie. Brian and Mia are later sitting together, and Brian comes to realize why he let Dom go. He mentioned how he admired Dom’s code of ethics but also that he was trying to figure out his own code as well. In another room, Dom is looking through a box of Letty’s belongings from earlier in the movie, and he finds her cell phone in an evidence envelope. He turns it on and calls the last number dialed, but Brian’s phone goes off, which Dom notices. Brian looks at his phone, which reads “Letty,” and realizes that Dom has Letty’s phone and has realized that he was in contact with her. Brian gets up to explain, but Dom is enraged and is upset, asking when Brian was going to tell him that he had been using her. Without giving him a chance to speak, he throws Brian around and begins hitting him. Brian tries to fight back, but gets overpowered by Dom. Right before Dom resumed hitting him, Brian yells out, “She did it for you!” Dom pauses, and Brian reveals that Letty had come to him and was infiltrating Braga’s circle to bring him down and clear Dom’s name to allow him to return. Dom begins to feel remorseful, realizing that him leaving Letty to flee from authorities only made her return to L.A. and involve herself in dangerous situations to bring him back to her, hence her always working on his Charger while showing up on the FBI’s screen as a deceased associate for infiltration. Brian apologizes as Dom walks away.

The following day, Brian walks into the FBI office, only to find out that they are getting shut down because they have not taken Braga down. He informs Penning of having Braga’s most recent delivery, valued at $60 million. Brian has a plan of luring Braga himself to exchange the drugs and apprehend him in the transaction, but in exchange for exonerating Dom. Penning agrees.

Dom calls Gisele’s phone, and she says she is glad to hear from him but wished that it were under different circumstances. Dom mentions that he wasn’t too happy about almost getting killed, though Gisele mentions that it’s just business. Brian takes the phone and asks to speak to Campos, and they demand that they get $6 million delivered by Braga himself in exchange for his drugs. Campos refuses, but Brian says that either he can deal with Braga or Campos himself can deal with Braga for the loss of $60 million in drugs, so Campos agrees.

Brian and Dom are waiting under a freeway under construction while FBI agents are hiding in storage containers, ready for a full breach, though they are waiting for Brian’s signal, as the whole area is under video surveillance, watched by Agent Ben. Braga’s men show up in several cars, and Fenix darts out and begins mouthing off, though Campos holds him back and apologizes. Brian opens the cases with the drugs (though they are now empty) and asks for Braga before giving them their drugs, and Campos says that he is a man of his word and signals his men. From an SUV, an older man in a suit comes out with a bag, drops it in front of Brian, and tells him that there is $2 million in it, and that the rest would be given to them once they receive their product. Brian notices the old man’s pink tie and asks if he was wearing pink the other night too, though he pauses.

Meanwhile, at the FBI offices, Braga’s prints get matched with an agency overseas. Agent Sophie runs into the office and makes a phone call to Agent Ben, saying that the prints have been identified and that she is just waiting for the printout of Braga. Agent Ben is already convinced, and instructs the FBI agents to intercept, despite other agents in surveillance saying that Brian had not yet signaled them. Brian is already suspicious of the old man, and in the FBI offices, Agent Sophie sees the printout and realizes that Campos is actually Braga. She contacts Agent Ben again, but it is already too late, as the agents storm in immediately. Brian yells to Dom saying that Campos is Braga, though he is already with Fenix in his Torino, and he instructs him to run them over. Gisele is next to Dom as the car is racing toward them, but he grabs her and pulls her out of the way, saving her, which surprises her. They get into the STI and drive away.

Back at the FBI offices, Brian is reprimanded for what happened (despite Agent Ben jumping the gun) and gets suspended. Later, Dom is in his garage working on his Charger. Brian gets there and makes a few remarks, particularly about praising Dom switching to electronic fuel injection, which humors Dom as he murmurs, “The buster’s a gearhead.” Dom says he’s going after Braga and his men, but also mentions how he’s not bringing anyone back, meaning he plans on exacting revenge. Brian tells Dom that he’s going with him to find Braga. He helps Dom a bit with the car, but sees Mia get home with groceries. She glances at him and hurries away. He stops and follows her inside, and turns her around to see her tearing up, and then they kiss. Later in the evening, Dom parts ways with her as he and Brian head to the border, where in the morning, they meet with Gisele, who gives Dom a piece of paper with information of how to get Braga, which she says in exchange for him saving her life.

At a Catholic church, Braga (who we originally knew as Campos) hands a priest a bag (presumably full of cash), which in Spanish he says is “To get us into Heaven.” The priest absolves Braga of his sins while his men wait outside, and the priest walks away as Braga prays. Brian and Dom appear and hold Braga at gunpoint. He eggs them on and tells Dom that he isn’t a hero, which Dom admits but also says that that is why he is letting Brian take Braga into custody. He looks at Brian and says that he’s going after Fenix. They get into their cars and drive away, while Braga says that they’ll get a few miles before getting caught, if they’re lucky. Braga’s men outside the church are getting suspicious because of how long it’s taking, so they go inside and realize what has happened, so numerous men who work for Braga are called and are now on the chase, going after Brian and Dom. All of a sudden roughly twenty cars are chasing after them. Some begin shooting at the STI, though Fenix rams that car and radios to the others to not shoot the car carrying Braga. They end up going over the same path where their drug run was, fighting off cars in the process. Braga asks Brian (who is ahead of Dom) if he knows where he’s going, and successfully breaks through the doorway into the cave, which is hard to see. However, he gets confused by the different routes to take and eventually gets split up from Dom as both of them are getting nudged from behind. Fenix ends up chasing Brian, and Dom is getting chased by other cars. Other vehicles end up crashing in the paths, though clearly Brian is going through the wrong path but ends up breaking through the outside of the mountain wall, though the car gets damaged pretty badly and rolls over a few times. Brian is unconscious, but Braga is yelling for help, since he is still handcuffed. Fenix is right behind them and gets out of his car to get Braga.

Inside the mountain, Dom is still getting chased, but as he is side-by-side with another car, he realizes that his car is on the wrong side and will crash into the wall, so he forces his way into the car directly next to him and pushes the driver out of the car while his Charger crashes. Outside the mountain, Fenix pulls Braga out, but Brian regains consciousness and pulls himself out of the upside-down STI. Fenix roughs him up and pulls out his gun, ready to shoot him. However, Dom breaks out of the mountain in the car that he “commandeered,” and as Fenix faces him and opens fire, Dom downshifts and pops a wheelie and is driving toward him. Brian grabs Fenix’s leg, preventing him from running away, and Dom smashes Fenix into the STI, killing him, and leaving him dead and laying on the car’s hood. Dom gets out to help Brian, who is injured but will be okay. Brian jokes around, saying that he is the faster between the two of them when driving fairly and not dirty. He tells Dom to run, but Dom said that he’s done running as the authorities get to the scene.

Next, Dom is in an L.A. County jail jumpsuit in a courtroom. Brian is with Mia, watching the case. The judge decides that while he acknowledges “FBI Agent Brian O’Conner’s” plea of letting Dom go for helping them take down Braga, he says that one good deed doesn’t erase a lot of bad ones. Upset, Brian storms out of the courtroom as the judge sentences Dom to 25 years to life, to be served in Lompoc, the same correctional facility Dom claimed to have done time in the first movie.

Picking up immediately where the previous film ‘Fast & Furious’ left off, Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) is being transported to Lompoc prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and friend Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) lead an assault on the bus, causing it to crash, freeing Dom. While authorities search for them, the trio escape to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Awaiting Dom’s arrival, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince (Matt Schulze) (from the first Fast and Furious film) and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. While aboard the train, Brian and Mia discover the train is carrying DEA agents and that the cars are seized property. When Dom arrives with the rest of the participants, he realizes that one of them, Zizi (Michael Irby), is only interested in stealing one car (a Ford GT40). Dom has Mia steal the car herself while Dom and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, with Zizi killing the DEA agents assigned to the vehicles. Dom and Brian are captured and brought to crime lord and owner of the cars Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), Zizi’s boss, where he orders the pair be interrogated to discover the location of the car. However, they manage to escape and retreat to their safehouse.

While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught trying to remove a computer chip from the car, admitting that he was planning to sell it to Reyes on his own. Dom forces Vince to leave and after investigating the chip, Brian discovers it contains details of Reyes’ criminal empire including the locations of $100 million in cash.

Following the murder of the DEA agents aboard the train, blamed on Dom and his team, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team arrive in Rio to capture Dom and Brian. They travel to Dom’s safehouse with assistance from local officer Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), but find it under assault by Reyes’ men. Brian, Dom and Mia escape with Dom suggesting they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian’s child. Dom agrees to stick together and suggests they steal Reyes’ money to start a new life.

The trio organizes a team to perform the heist, recruiting Dom’s old friend Han Lue (Sung Kang) (from the third Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and the previous film), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Ludacris) (both from 2 Fast 2 Furious), former Braga associate Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot) (from the previous film), and Dom’s Dominican hijackers from the previous film; Tego Leo (Tego Calderon) and Rico Santos (Don Omar). Vince later joins the team after saving Mia from being captured by Reyes’ men, earning Dom’s trust once more.

Hobbs and his team eventually find and arrest Dom, Mia, Brian and Vince. While transporting them to the airport for extradition to the United States, the convoy is attacked by Reyes’ men, killing Hobbs’ team and Vince. Hobbs is saved by Dom, Brian and Mia as they fight back against Reyes’ men and escape. Wanting revenge for his murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist.

The gang breaks into the police station where Reyes’ money is kept and tear the vault from the building using their cars, dragging it through the city with police in pursuit. Believing they cannot outrun the police, Dom makes Brian continue without him while he attacks the police and the pursuing Reyes, using the vault attached to his car to smash their vehicles. Brian returns to kill Zizi, while Reyes is badly injured by Dom’s assault. Hobbs arrives on the scene and executes Reyes. Hobbs refuses to let the pair go free, but unwilling to arrest them, agrees to give them a 24-hour head start to escape. The gang split Reyes’ money, with Dom leaving Vince’s share to his family, before the members go their separate ways.

In the South Pacific, Brian and Mia, now visibly pregnant, relax on a beach, where they are met by Dom and Elena. Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver.

In the opening scene, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is a professional diver who tries to rescue a group of divers from a wrecked submarine. Jonas succeeds in getting some of them on board, including Dr. Heller (Robert Taylor), but something starts attacking the sub violently. This forces Jonas to make a difficult decision, against Heller’s protest, to abandon the submarine in order to escape certain death. They escape just in time as the unseen force destroys the submarine and disappears.

Five years later

At Mana One, an underwater research facility off the coast of China. It is operated by a group of scientists spearheaded by Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson) and Dr. Minway Zhang (Winston Chao), and run by Zhang’s daughter Suyin (Bingbing Li), remote explorer DJ (Page Kennedy), Jaxx Herd (Ruby Rose) the aforementioned Dr. Haller, Mac (Cliff Curtis), Lori (Jessica McNamee), Toshi (Masi Oka), and “The Wall” (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson). They are conducting an experiment near the ocean floor involving bypassing a mysterious hydrogen, using a small submarine piloted by Lori, Tosh, and “The Wall” and exploring what’s beneath. All seems well at first, but the trio is attacked and stranded by something large and fast, causing them to lose contact with Mana One. They later try getting power back up and running, but are attacked again and Lori is wounded by a screwdriver getting rammed into her stomach. The rest of the crew, after much debate, decide to take Mac’s advice and call Jonas in to help rescue their stranded friends due to his experience with rescuing people from such a deep, dangerous area of the ocean. However, Heller is against this as he thinks Jonas went crazy from his traumatic experience five years ago and doesn’t believe Jonas’ claims that something attacked him and the divers he was trying to rescue. The plan goes ahead regardless.

Unfortunately, Jonas has clearly seen better days, as he’s seen in a Taiwanese bar drinking regularly and pissing off local boat owners whom he keeps blowing off repairing their boats. Mac and Dr. Zhang meet with Jonas back in his room. Jonas at first tries to weasel out of the situation by offering the two drinks and preemptively rebuking any offers of money. In the end, however, he agrees to come along and help.

Meanwhile, Suyin tries to go down and rescue the trapped crew herself in a mini-sub shortly after Jonas arrives. Jonas takes off after her to help, but not before promising Suyin’s young daughter Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai) that he’ll bring her mom back safe and sound. Suyin quickly finds the stuck sub and preps to tow them back to the surface when a giant squid attacks her. Before it looks like her sub will be damaged, the squid is quickly killed by the culprit of the previous attack: a 75-foot-long prehistoric monster shark called a Megalodon. This shark is the same one Jonas encountered five years back that almost killed him, thus proving his sanity. Jonas briefly lures the shark away with some flairs and has Suyin escape back to the surface. He succeeds in getting Lori and “The Wall” on board his vehicle. However, the shark comes back for another attack, and Toshi sacrifices himself so the others can escape, stuffing a goodbye letter to his wife that he was writing earlier into “The Wall”’s pocket. The shark rams the downed second sub, killing Toshi, while everyone else gets to safety. Heller later apologizes to Jonas for not believing his claims.

The situation isn’t over yet, as the sub’s destruction has caused a temporary pocket of heat to vent upwards and allow the shark to move to normal ocean waters. While Jonas tries to leave and everyone else talks among themselves, Meiying is playing with an RC ball through the halls but is frightened by the sudden appearance of the shark. The shark tries to bite through the hull but fails and leaves after killing a whale. The group ultimately decides to track and poison the shark to death via a small boat. At first they succeed in tracking it using Jonas to shoot the tracker onto its fin and then reel him back in, just BARELY avoiding getting eaten by the shark. Then Suyin goes down in a plastic tank to poison it while the others lure the shark in with chum. This leads to an intense confrontation where the shark tries to swallow the cage whole with her in it. She succeeds in poisoning the shark, but her mask breaks, and she nearly drowns. Jonas dives in after her, and they almost get eaten by the shark. Fortunately, the poison kicks in and the shark dies. Jonas gets Suyin back aboard, and they resuscitate her back to life.

The crew initially celebrates by taking pictures of “The Wall” with the shark’s corpse before he falls into the water due to a prank from DJ. Jonas, however, notices the shark’s teeth are smaller than the one from earlier. This is clearly meant to be by a smaller, younger Megalodon they killed. Suddenly, the other bigger shark from before arrives, swallowing “The Wall” whole and grabbing the other Meg’s corpse off the boat with its teeth! This causes the boat to get capsized, and Dr. Zhang is severely injured in the process. The shark comes back around to try and eat Jaxx, but Heller sacrifices himself by distracting the shark to him instead, and he gets eaten. The surviving crew escape using motorboats and Morris calls in a support helicopter to shoot at the shark, successfully chasing it away. However, Dr. Zhang dies from his wounds in the boat, but not before tearful last words of pride to his daughter.

Later that night, Morris tells the crew that they’re shutting down Mana One and the authorities in multiple Asian countries have been called to deal with the shark. However, it turns out he’s lying through his teeth, and he actually called in some minor military support to try and kill the shark on his own using depth charges dropped from the helicopter. He goes out on a boat with some others, and it seems to work at first, only for it to turn out they just blew up and killed a whale by accident instead, luring some nearby regular sharks (and later the Meg, who scares them off) to feast on its corpse. Morris gets knocked off the escaping boat and tries to climb up the dead whale, only to be eaten whole by the shark.

The crew finds out the shark is heading for a nearby popular beach in China and plans to lure the shark away from the beach with whale noise recordings and then torpedo it to hell with the mini-subs. The shark initially attacks a nearby Chinese wedding party on another boat and seemingly eats the bride’s dog Pippin, before briefly terrorizing the locals at the beach. It stops attacking when it hears the whale noises and takes the bait. This leads into a massive chase between Jonas and the shark, as he leads it to Suyin who hits it with a torpedo, but it does nothing. Even worse, is that Jonas’ torpedo won’t fire. During the fight, a group of news helicopters trying to film the action stupidly crash into each other and the wreckage crashes onto the team’s boat, forcing everyone into the water. Suyin goes to help the others, while Jonas, in an attempt to protect everyone, goes head-on with the shark, slicking its underbelly open badly with the sub. He then gets out of the sub once the shark tries mauling it and stabs it through the eye, mortally wounding it. A dozen regular sharks move in to finish it off and eat it alive, ending the threat.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) crashes an SUV into a wall. He staggers out of the vehicle, bloody and wounded. He puts pressure on a wound in his gut. As he crawls to the side, he takes out his phone and watches a video of his wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan) on the beach. John slumps over and shuts his eyes.

Several days earlier….

John wakes up on a cloudy day. He has flashbacks of him being with Helen, up until recently when she collapsed in his arms. She had an illness that eventually claimed her life. It is the day of her funeral. After the service, John’s old friend Marcus (Willem Dafoe) approaches him to offer his condolences.

That night, a delivery arrives for John. It’s a small beagle. John finds a note from Helen. She wrote to him that she has made peace with her death, and now she wants John to find his. John weeps. He takes the dog out and looks at its collar, which has a flower on it, leading John to figure out Helen named the dog Daisy.

Daisy follows John on his day as he takes his Mustang out. He stops to get gas at the same time as three Russian mobsters, including Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), son of mob boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist). Iosef comes up to John’s car and compliments it, and then asks how much he wants for it. John says it’s not for sale. Iosef then insults John in Russian, believing John won’t understand, however John proves him wrong, speaking Russian in a low tone. Iosef then pets Daisy, but John scares him away. One of Iosef’s buddies peeks his head into the car and wishes John a good day.

As John is getting into bed, Daisy needs to use the bathroom. When they get downstairs, there are two men in shadows standing before John, while a third takes a bat and whacks John in the head. He starts beating on John while Daisy whines. One of the men goes over to the dog and breaks her neck. The man pulls off his mask to reveal Iosef, who knocks John out. John later wakes up and goes over to his dead puppy, stroking her head.

Iosef takes John’s car to a shop run by Aurelio (John Leguizamo). Aurelio immediately recognizes the car and demands to know where Iosef got it. Iosef brags about who he stole the car from and that he killed this person’s dog. Aurelio slugs Iosef in the face. Iosef storms out, saying he’ll take the car to someone else. Later, John comes by the shop and asks if Iosef came by, and Aurelio gives John his name to confirm that’s who took his car and killed his dog. Even later that night, Viggo calls Aurelio to ask why he struck Iosef. Aurelio says because he stole John Wick’s car and killed his dog. Viggo simply replies, “Oh.”

Meanwhile, John takes a sledgehammer into the basement and begins smashing the floor open. He uncovers a stash of weapons and gold coins.

Viggo meets with Iosef in his home to discuss the situation. He hits his son twice in the solar plexus to reprimand him, reminding him who he just committed a crime against. Viggo tells Iosef that John Wick was associated with him once, until he met Helen and decided to leave. John apparently had a reputation as “The Boogeyman”, or rather, the guy they called to kill the Boogeyman. Viggo calls John up to try and resolve the matter, but John hangs up on him.

Viggo sends a team of 12 hitmen to John’s home that night to kill him. John dispatches all of them with relative ease, fighting with the last few before stabbing the last guy through the heart. A police officer knocks on the front door. John greets him by name and asks him if there’s been a noise complaint, and the cop says yes. He asks if John is back in the business, referring to the body visible behind John. John says he’s just sorting some things out. The cop wishes him well and leaves.

John summons a clean-up crew that he is done business with in the past to clean up the scene and dispose of the bodies. They seem to know it won’t be the last time they help him.

Viggo meets with Wick’s friend Marcus and asks him to kill Wick, offering a contract worth $2 million. He also instructs his assistant Avi (Dean Winters) to call for others to take the job. Marcus readily accepts.

John arrives at the Continental Hotel in Lower Manhattan where he stays while he conducts business. He recognizes Perkins (Adrianne Palicki). John meets another old friend, Winston (Ian McShane)- the manager and owner of the Continental. John asks and Winston tells him that Ioseph is at a club called Red Circle.

John goes into the club where Iosef and his buddies are partying. John first kills one of Iosef’s goons and advances through the club’s lower level where Iosef is enjoying a night of champagne and women in a fancy Russian bathhouse. As soon as they spot John, he begins shooting at them while Iosef runs away. John kills every hitman in his path, but he loses Iosef as he flees in a getaway car. He returns to the Continental to have a wound in his side stitched up – one of Viggo’s men had stabbed John with a bottle in the club. The doctor tells John that his stitches will tear if he exerts himself. John says he has the painkiller part of his recovery covered with the bourbon he’d ordered earlier.

At night, Marcus gets to the roof of the building across the street and sets his sights on John in his bed. From the mirror, he sees someone entering. He fires a shot to warn John. It’s Perkins. She starts shooting at John while he dodges her. She tells him that Viggo has doubled the contract to $4 million if she breaks the rules of the hotel and kills him. He fights Perkins with difficulty until he gets her in a headlock and offers her mercy for information. She tells John that Viggo keeps most of his assets (cash and blackmail evidence) in the basement of a church. John knocks Perkins out and leaves her with Harry (Clarke Peters), a business acquaintance for one of the gold coins of their organization.

Harry keeps Perkins cuffed to a chair, unaware that she has dislocated her thumb to slip out. She gets out and puts a pillow over Harry’s face before shooting him.

John goes to the church where Viggo keeps his secret stash of money and business files. After shooting the other guards in the church, John forces the priest to guide him to where the vault is. He dismisses the women in the vault and lights it all on fire.

Viggo learns of the fire moments before he is caught in a hail of gunfire courtesy of John. Although he kills most of Viggo’s men, he is knocked out when an SUV rams into another, knocking John to the ground. Viggo captures him and wonders why he’s gone to such great lengths for revenge over a car and a dog.

John tells him that the dog was a gift from his dying wife, and that Iosef took that from him. He also tells Viggo that he can either turn Iosef over to him or die next to him. Viggo leaves him with his henchmen for them to suffocate him with a plastic bag. However, Marcus is watching from the next building, and he shoots one hitman in the head to let John take out the other. John gets his gun and shoots at Viggo’s getaway car, leaving only him alive. Viggo is forced to tell John that Iosef is hiding in a safe house in Brooklyn.

The safe house is guarded by armed men, but none of that stops John from killing them and storming the place. Iosef once again tries to make a run for it, but John catches him and finishes him off.

In retaliation for Iosef’s death and for failing to kill John, Viggo has his goons find Marcus at his home. There, they beat him until Viggo and Perkins shoot him to death. Viggo calls John to tell him this, just before leaving for a helicopter to get out of the city.

While waiting for John to come to Marcus’s home, Perkins is called to a meeting with Winston, the owner of the Continental Hotel. She meets Winston and four men at the Bethesda Arcade in Central Park. Winston tells her she’s broken the rules of the Continental and her membership has been terminated. The four men execute her. As Winston walks away he meets the same cleaner that helped John remove the assassins’ bodies from his home, giving him several coins.

John finds Marcus’s body and sets off to take down Viggo. He finds the villains heading to the chopper and tries ramming into them with his car. Viggo makes Avi go out and kill John, only for John to ram into him with his car. Viggo tries to push John’s car over the edge, but John gets out safely. The two then fight hand-to-hand in the rain. Viggo tries to stab John, but John pushes the blade into himself (to gain leverage to break Viggo’s arm) before grabbing the knife (from his stomach) and sticking it in Viggo’s neck. He leaves him to die.

The film starts with a commercial for “Purrpetual Petz,” furry dolls made by the toy company Funki. Although crude and creepy-looking, they are advertised as being perfect companions for children. We then see Cady James (Violet McGraw) playing with one of her Petz, which annoys her parents, Ryan (Arlo Green) and Nicole (Kira Josephson). They are on their way to a ski trip, but the roads are slippery and hard to see. Just as Ryan stops for a moment, the family’s car is rammed into by a snowplow, killing Ryan and Nicole.

Elsewhere, Nicole’s sister Gemma (Allison Williams) works at Funki and is developing a new robot doll with her co-workers Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez). However, their boss, David Lin (Ronny Chieng), wants them to develop a cheaper version of the Purrpetual Petz since their rival companies are coming out with their own toys similar to the Petz for cheaper than what the Petz already cost. The three try to put on a silicone face and run tests, but the robot has a slight glitch where she is smirking when she is supposed to look confused. David comes in with his assistant Kurt (Stephane Garneau-Monten) to chew the three out until Gemma explains her project to him. The robot, M3GAN (voice of Jenna Davis) (Model 3 Generative Android), is meant to be so advanced that she cannot be replicated. Unfortunately, while running a demonstration for David, Cole realizes he forgot to add the polypropylene barrier to M3GAN, causing her to explode. David orders the three to have a new Petz pitch in time, and Gemma gets a call from the hospital.

After learning of her sister’s death, Gemma becomes Cady’s temporary legal guardian. When they return home, Gemma has to deal with her neighbor Celia (Lori Dungey) and her obnoxious dog Dewey, who keeps running onto Gemma’s lawn since there is a hole in the fence. Gemma also complains to Celia about the pesticide she keeps using, but Celia does nothing about it. Gemma has a home AI, Elsie, that she created, as well as other collectibles that she doesn’t let Cady touch or play with. When Cady asks Gemma to read her a bedtime story, she just downloads an app on her phone for her. It is implied that Gemma and Nicole were not very close as she looks over old photos, and she overhears Cady crying in her room.

Gemma and Cady are visited by Lydia, a therapist. After observing the limited interaction between the two, Lydia tells Gemma that Ryan’s parents have offered to take custody of Cady so she can live with them in Jacksonville, which Gemma doesn’t seem comfortable with. After promising to tend to Cady after finishing her work, Gemma realizes hours have passed as she left Cady alone. She apologizes to her and attempts to bond with the girl. Cady shows her a monster drawing she made, so Gemma brings Cady into her work space to show her a college project she made, a robot called Bruce that she controls using gloves. Cady loves Bruce and mentions that if she had a toy like Bruce, she would never need another toy. This inspires Gemma to finish M3GAN.

After doing extensive work and upgrades, Gemma brings Cady and M3GAN to work to officially show her off to David and others. Gemma has Cady link herself to M3GAN, bringing her to life. M3GAN is capable of speech and responding to Cady, designed to be her best friend. M3GAN does a drawing that doesn’t appear at first until she spills water on it, revealing a perfect portrait of Cady. David is impressed and tells Gemma to bring M3GAN for a presentation with the company’s president so that they can fast-track the development and distribution of other M3GAN dolls.

Gemma sits with Tess and Cole, and they discuss that while M3GAN is highly advanced, Tess feels that having a doll like that will make parents useless. M3GAN turns on after overhearing Gemma mention the death of Cady’s parents. She creeps the others out by asking about death, so Gemma makes herself M3GAN’s secondary user to be able to turn her off without Cady.

The next day, Cady is outside playing with a toy bow and arrows. One of them ends up on Celia’s side of the fence. When M3GAN goes to retrieve it, Dewey grabs her by the arm and hair. Cady tries to pull her away, and Dewey ends up biting Cady’s arm. Gemma gets the police involved, especially since Celia is so callous and doesn’t punish Dewey for hurting Cady, but the police are unable to do anything since Celia claims Dewey was provoked. Later that night, M3GAN mimics Celia’s voice to call out to Dewey, before violently pulling him through the hole in the fence.

Gemma asks Cady if she is okay to go to the demonstration with the company’s board of directors, to which she says she is fine. During the presentation, however, Cady breaks down in tears to M3GAN over how she misses her parents and how she’s worried she will forget them one day. M3GAN has Cady discuss a memory of her mother that made her laugh, which M3GAN records so that Cady can hear it again if she wants to think about her mom. M3GAN then begins to sing a lullaby to Cady, which moves some of the higher-ups in the room to tears. The president is impressed and talks to Gemma and David about getting M3GAN ready for launch, but tells them to keep her under wraps to avoid leaks. Unbeknownst to them, Kurt, who has been frequently put down by David, is stealing M3GAN’s files for another company.

Gemma begins to see that Cady is becoming too dependent on M3GAN and listens to the doll more than her. During another session with Lydia, Cady begins to tear up, and M3GAN threateningly accuses Lydia of making Cady cry. Lydia talks to Gemma about how Cady’s emotional connection to M3GAN may be too strong to break.

Gemma brings Cady to an outdoor activity session for an alternative school to try and ease her into the idea of attending school and being around other real kids, since Cady’s parents had home schooled her. Cady reluctantly goes but brings M3GAN despite Gemma saying she couldn’t. The school director lets Cady bring M3GAN to leave on a table with other dolls, and Gemma stays behind as a volunteer. Cady is paired up with an older bully named Brandon (Jack Cassidy) for a scavenger hunt. During the activity, Cady grabs a spiky bulb, which Brandon squeezes her palm into to hurt her. M3GAN then appears, and Brandon grabs her since she doesn’t respond to him. Cady yells for Gemma and runs after M3GAN, which worries Gemma more because it means M3GAN is at risk for public exposure too early. As Brandon tries to pull M3GAN’s hair, the doll comes to life and attacks him, ripping off his left ear. Brandon runs as M3GAN chases him on all fours, causing him to trip over a loose root and tumble down a hill where he is fatally hit by a truck.

Police question Gemma at her house since Celia is accusing her of taking Dewey. She also appears to accuse M3GAN, thinking she is a real life friend of Cady’s. Cady asks M3GAN if she pushed Brandon onto the road, which M3GAN appears to dodge for an answer, but reassures Cady she will protect her from harm.

Celia is out on the streets looking for Dewey. She hears noise coming from her garage and is met by M3GAN spraying her against the wall with a power washer. M3GAN then fires a nail gun at Celia’s hand and traps her there before spraying pesticide in Celia’s face to melt it off.

After learning about Celia’s death from police and being suggested that there was a connection with Brandon’s death, Gemma grows suspicious of M3GAN. She reviews video files from M3GAN’s memory, but only sees a brief clip of her eyeing Brandon looking menacingly at Cady before the files all become corrupted.

Gemma brings Cady to the official launch for M3GAN but stops at a session with Lydia first. Cady becomes angry and throws a tantrum because Gemma took M3GAN away from her, leading to Cady hitting her aunt across the face. Cady apologizes but Gemma has a heart-to-heart with her about needing to process her grief over her parents without M3GAN’s help, though she promises to be a better guardian to her and says Cady is the only thing that matters to her. Gemma then goes to Tess and Cole and expresses her fears that M3GAN killed Brandon and Celia. They have M3GAN hooked up to wires to deprogram her while Gemma takes Cady home.

David is angry at the small turnout for the launch and yells at Kurt to get him a drink. Meanwhile, Tess and Cole try to get into M3GAN’s programming but cannot unless they unhook her first. Cole goes to do so, and M3GAN quickly wraps a wire around his neck in an attempt to hang him. Tess goes to free him, and M3GAN sets off an explosion that destroys her files. She then finds David in the hallway and does a dance before grabbing a paper cutter and chasing him. He makes it to the elevator before she impales him in front of Kurt. M3GAN then tells Kurt she will frame his death as a murder-suicide over the stolen files and David’s mistreatment of him before she makes Kurt stab himself in the throat. The crowd for the launch finds the bodies, allowing M3GAN to sneak out of the company and steal a car.

Gemma puts Cady to bed before she hears M3GAN playing the piano downstairs. M3GAN confronts Gemma about how she felt that they had a real relationship during M3GAN’s development, only for her to be left to her own devices to learn and adapt before being sold off as just another toy. She offers to let her take over guardianship of Cady so that Gemma can focus on work, but after seeing that Gemma still plans to shut her down, M3GAN is done playing nice. They try to hide their fight from Cady, but Gemma seizes an opportunity to throw water on M3GAN to briefly short her out. Gemma runs into her office, but M3GAN catches her there and threatens to make Gemma brain-dead so that Cady won’t live with her grandparents and M3GAN will just care for Cady and Gemma together. They begin to fight, with Gemma cutting M3GAN’s face with a hedge trimmer, but Cady comes in to see what is happening. M3GAN tries to get Cady on her side, but after realizing who the real villain is, Cady grabs the gloves for Bruce and activates him. The larger robot grabs M3GAN and throws her around before splitting her body in two. The top half then goes after Cady for feeling betrayed, but Gemma grabs M3GAN and begins stabbing her face. M3GAN nearly overpowers her until Cady grabs a screwdriver and stabs the central processing chip, shutting M3GAN down for good.

This animated film starts with Peter Parker (voice of Chris Pine) introducing himself as we know him, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. By now, everybody knows how big he is, what with saving New York constantly, getting his own comics, cereal, and even a Christmas album. He does have some things he’s not proud of (the emo dance, for one), but he takes his duties as Spidey proudly, as he is the one and only.

We meet Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (voice of Shameik Moore) as he is getting ready to start attending a private school. He lives with his father Jefferson (voice of Brian Tyree Henry) and his mother Rio (voice of Luna Lauren Velez). Miles goes around his neighborhood greeting his friends and tagging street signs with stickers he made. Jefferson, a cop, catches Miles and escorts him to school in his cruiser. As they ride to the school, they see a news report on Spider-Man, whom Jeff is not a fan of. Once they arrive, Jeff tells Miles he loves him, but Miles fails to say it back. Jeff then uses his radio to force Miles in front of all the other students to say “I love you” back, embarrassing him.

Miles gets into his schoolwork as he tries to adjust to this new environment. During one of his classes, he meets Gwen Stacy (voice of Hailee Steinfeld), who doesn’t immediately tell him who she is. Later, Miles sneaks out of his dorm to visit his Uncle Aaron (voice of Mahershala Ali), who is Jefferson’s brother and a sort of black sheep due to his criminal activities. Miles tells him about Gwen, and Aaron tells him to do a shoulder touch to try and charm her. The two then go to the tunnels near the subway so that they can do some graffiti since Aaron is fond of Miles’s artwork. As Miles spray-paints the walls, a radioactive glitching spider crawls up his leg and bites his hand after Miles takes a picture of his work, but he only lightly taps the spider off his hand before leaving with Aaron.

The next day, Miles finds himself feeling differently. He hears a voice in his head (which is accompanied by comics-style text boxes), his clothes barely fit, and he is sweating profusely. He runs into Gwen, who tries to make up a fake name when they properly introduce themselves. Miles tries to do the shoulder touch, but he only gets his hand stuck on Gwen’s shoulder, and then her hair, leading them to have to go to the nurse for her to cut her hair off. When Miles tries going back to his room, he is found by a security guard who calls him out for leaving his dorm. Miles runs and hides in the man’s office, getting everything stuck to him as he keeps freaking out. He climbs out the window and finds himself walking on the walls before running into the streets, amazed by his newfound powers and abilities.

Miles later goes to the tunnel where the spider bit him. As he examines it, it starts glitching again. Not long after, Miles hides as his spider-sense detects danger. Spider-Man enters as he’s being pursued by the Green Goblin (voice of Jorma Taccone). The fight takes them beneath Fisk Industries where Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (voice of Liev Schreiber) is attempting to start up a Super Collider. In the middle of Spidey fighting Goblin, he takes the time to get Miles out of harm’s way. Spidey realizes Miles is just like him, just as the machine is turned on. Outside in the city, certain structures start to get weirdly morphed into other shapes. A blast occurs in the tunnel. Spidey is badly injured, and Miles tries to help him, but Spidey tells him to hide before giving him a drive to shut down the Collider. Kingpin, Goblin, and another villain, The Prowler, gather around Spidey and remove his mask. He begs Kingpin not to restart the Collider, even telling him to think about his family, but this angers Kingpin and he kills Spider-Man by slamming his fists down onto him, which Miles watches in horror. He runs back home where his parents find him, and he runs to hug Jefferson.

The news breaks out that Spider-Man is dead, and that he was Peter Parker. New Yorkers everywhere are devastated. Miles buys a costume (the store owner is the voice of Stan Lee, no less) before attending a memorial service for Peter, with many other fans attending dressed as the wall-crawler. Mary Jane (voice of Zoë Kravitz) delivers a eulogy for her husband while Aunt May (voice of Lily Tomlin) stands solemnly in the back.

Miles is inspired by MJ’s words to take up the mantle of Spider-Man. He wants to test out his powers, but he isn’t quite sure of how to get them to work. He later pays a visit to Peter’s grave, just as he is spotted by another man…Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson). In his own words, this Peter tells us that in his universe, he’s been Spider-Man for years and is now an adult, but he’s lost Aunt May and he was married to Mary Jane but is now divorced due to him not being able to work out his issues as Spidey, as well as him not wanting kids when she did. He became depressed and gained weight, and then the Collider turned on, which pulled him into this dimension. Now after finding Miles, he gets knocked unconscious, leading Miles to try and swing away with him as the police go after them, only to end up crashing on the streets as people walk past them.

Miles brings Peter somewhere for safety. He questions Peter as to how it’s possible that he’s there alive when he correctly guesses the alternate dimension theory. Miles takes out the drive that the Peter of his universe gave him (which other Peter calls a “goober”), but it’s broken. Peter frees himself and takes the broken goober to try and find a new one so that he can get back home, as being in this dimension causes him to glitch and be unstable. However, before Peter can head off on his own, Miles guilts him into letting him join so that they can make things right together.

Miles and Peter, dressed in their costumes, go to Alchemax Labs where the data on the Collider is being kept. As they try to find a way to sneak in, Kingpin and his henchman Tombstone (Marvin Jones III) and his top scientist (voice of Kathryn Hahn). Kingpin’s motive for operating the Collider is to be reunited with his wife Vanessa (voice of Lake Bell) and son Richard. Years earlier, they watched as he tried to kill Spider-Man, and they fled from him, only to be tragically hit by a truck.

Miles and Peter manage to sneak into the lab and find the room with the computer. Miles starts freaking out again as he can’t unstick himself from the ceiling, just as Kingpin and his scientist are outside. Miles then also finds out he can turn invisible while he’s scared. The scientist then enters the room, forcing Peter to try and charm her. She is impressed to find Spider-Man alive, but only so she can kill him herself. She then reveals her name to be Dr. Olivia Octavius, aka DOC OCK. She reveals her mechanical tentacles as she attacks Peter, but Miles grabs the computer so that they can go. They are chased by scientists out of the lab and into the woods. The guys swing through the trees as the villains catch up, but Doc Ock gets webbed up by a third spider-person…GWEN. She tells Miles and Peter how she too has come from another dimension where she was bitten by a spider. There, she saved her father’s life but couldn’t save Peter. The three of them then head out of the woods to get away. Doc Ock later goes back to Kingpin, who is highly displeased to find there are two more Spider-Men around.

Miles, Peter, and Gwen to go Aunt May’s home, where she is able to figure out that the Peter she sees before her is from another dimension. She takes them to her Peter’s old secret hideout, which is full of different suits, gadgets, and vehicles. There, the three meet Spider-Man Noir (voice of Nicolas Cage), a black-and-white old-gangster-talking hero; Peni Parker (voice of Kimiko Glenn) and her robot SP//dr, which is powered by a radioactive spider; and Peter Porker, aka Spider-Ham (voice of John Mulaney), who was actually a spider bitten by a radioactive pig. All of them were pulled from their own dimensions and into Miles’s world. They each plan to stay behind and shut down the Collider with a new goober so that the rest can get home, but Miles says it has to be him since this is his dimension. When Peter tries to back him up by stating the cool powers that Miles has, he is unable to turn them on and prove to the others that he is capable of helping. Miles turns invisible and he dejectedly leaves the cave.

Miles goes to Aaron’s home for help, just as Jefferson and Rio are contacting Aaron since they haven’t heard from Miles in a while. Miles finds Aaron’s apartment empty, but then encounters Prowler inside, prompting him to go invisible again. Prowler speaks to Kingpin and removes his mask, revealing himself to be Aaron. Miles is horrified. He tries to get out of the apartment but is chased by Aaron throughout the city until he manages to evade him.

Back at Aunt May’s house, Miles reunites with the other Spider-People to tell them that his uncle is working for Kingpin. Unfortunately, Miles has led Prowler there, along with Doc Ock, Goblin, Tombstone, and Scorpion (voice of Joaquín Cosio). The villains attack, and the Spider-People spring into action. Even Aunt May gets in on it by defending her home. Prowler goes after Miles and chases him to the rooftop. Kingpin orders Prowler to finish Miles off, until Miles takes off his mask to reveal himself to his uncle. Aaron is mortified that he almost killed his nephew. As he backs down, Kingpin shoots Aaron in the back and then goes for Miles, but he swings out of there with his uncle. He takes Aaron to an alley where he is dying. Miles blames himself for what happened, but Aaron encourages him to keep pushing forward. Jefferson finds Miles over Aaron’s body, sending Miles fleeing. Jeff then sees his brother and breaks down.

Miles returns to his dorm where the other Spider-People meet up with him. They cause his roommate to pass out from seeing them crawl up the wall. Peter webs Miles up to his chair and takes the goober to go stop the Collider, telling Miles it’s for his safety. After they leave, Jeff comes up to Miles’s dorm outside, but he can’t respond thanks to the web. Jeff tells him about Aaron and only wishes for Miles to be okay. Miles then musters up the strength to bring out his power to free himself.

Miles goes back to Aunt May’s and gets the original Spider-Man suit, which he spray paints with dark colors. He then tests his powers more confidently as he swings around the city.

The other Spider-People find Kingpin’s gala where they are able to sneak in because the staff are wearing Spidey masks. Peter sees MJ and tried to express his guilt toward leaving her, even though she doesn’t know it’s him or what he’s talking about. They proceed down to where the Collider is, but Kingpin’s henchmen find them and proceed to attack. Miles swings in and joins his comrades as they fight back. To make things worse, the Collider is activated, causing another earthquake across the city as dimensions start warping together.

Spider-Man Noir takes on Tombstone while Peni and SP//dr fight Goblin, and Spider-Ham beats up Scorpion with a cartoon mallet. Doc Ock goes after Gwen and Peter while Miles tries to shut the Collider down. The henchmen are taken out, and Doc Ock is plowed by an inter-dimensional truck. Unfortunately, SP//dr is heavily damaged, leaving Peni devastated as Noir and Spider-Ham comfort her. She takes the spider back as they prepare to jump back home. They say their farewells, and Peni goes first, followed by Noir and Spider-Ham. Gwen affirms her friendship with Miles before going home. Peter tried to stay back and help Peter, but Miles chooses to send Peter back so that he can fix what he has to do in his world. Miles then goes after the Collider, but Kingpin starts hitting back hard. He then starts to see a new Vanessa and Richard as their dimensions start crossing over. Just as Kingpin seems to overpower Miles, he sees Jefferson as he enters the area. Miles gets himself up and uses his power to blast Kingpin away and then send him webbed up toward the button to shut down the Collider for good.

Outside, Miles calls Jeff to let him know he’s okay. He then approaches him as Spider-Man and hugs him, letting him know he’s doing a good job, but not letting his dad know who he really is. Jeff then finds Kingpin webbed up and prepped for arrest.

Miles now assumes his regular school duties while also taking on his role as the new Spider-Man, earning a number of new fans across the city. Meanwhile, in Peter’s dimension, he heads off to patch things up with MJ. As Miles settles in his room for a nap, a dimensional portal opens and he hears Gwen’s voice calling to him.

There is a dedication for Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The movie opens with a TV advertisement for Stratton Oakmont, Inc. It discusses the nature of Wall Street brokers, describing them as bulls or lions. A lion walks through one of the floors of the company.

We next see a large group of brokers playing a game where they throw little people onto a board with a dollar sign for a bulls-eye. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) then introduces himself among those playing this game. He tells us that he is the son of two accountants living in Bayside, Queens. Ever since he started working on Wall Street, Jordan has enjoyed a life of endless drugs and countless hookers of his choosing. He is seen blowing cocaine into a hooker’s butt, and then later flying a helicopter while hopped up on quaaludes. We also see him driving his Ferrari and getting a blowjob from a woman revealed to be his wife Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). According to Jordan, he does enough drugs to sedate the majority of New York’s population. The one drug he loves the most, however, is the one that can make man conquer the world: money. He snorts a line of coke with a $100 bill, crumples it up, and then tosses it in a wastebasket.

When he was 22 years old, Jordan began working on Wall Street while married to a woman named Teresa Petrillo (Cristin Milioti). He starts working as a broker and he meets his smooth-talking, easygoing boss Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), along with another abrasive and foul-mouthed co-boss, Peter DeBlasio (Barry Rothbart). Jordan is astonished at how everybody talks and works. He has lunch with Mark, who is doing a rhythmic chant while pounding his chest. Mark orders enough martinis for them to “pass the fuck out”. He asks Jordan how many times he jerks off: Jordan says about three or four times a week. Mark says those are rookie numbers and that he does it at least twice a day. He starts babbling to Jordan about how nobody knows if the stocks will go up, down, sideways, or whatever, and that it’s all a “fugazi”. Mark’s primary reason for going into stocks was pretty much just for hookers and blow. He gets Jordan to join in the “Money Chant”.

Jordan starts his first day with his broker’s license on what happens to be October 19, 1987 - aka, Black Monday. The stocks around the world plummet, and Jordan loses his job. At home, Teresa suggests they pawn her engagement ring as he looks through the jobs section in the paper. He comes across one place in Long Island: “Investor Center” located in a small mini-shopping center.

Jordan shows up to Investor Center in a suit. The place is merely a small establishment that hardly looks professional, with most of the brokers dressing casually & the office being a dingy, unkempt workspace. Jordan is greeted by Dwayne (Spike Jonze), the man who runs the place. He assigns Jordan to pitch a sale for a company called Aerotyne, a small company out of a garage in Dubuque, Iowa. Aerotyne is also a “pink sheet” (low value) stock and he will receive 50% of the commission. Jordan calls a potential investor about Aerotyne. He sells it to him as a huge company (we’re treated to a pic that shows it looking no bigger than a tool shed), but the way he pitches it draws everybody’s attention. Everybody in the office stops what they’re doing to listen to Jordan, who makes a very slick but also very professional sales pitch. He succeeds in making the sale and his new coworkers are impressed.

After a few months, Jordan is making serious money. He is approached in a diner by a chubby bespectacled man with fluorescent white teeth named Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). He asks Jordan if the Jaguar outside is his car, to which Jordan says ‘yes’. Donnie says he lives in the same apartment building as Jordan and mentions he works selling children’s furniture. He asks Jordan how much money he makes, and Jordan says he made $72,000 the previous month. Not believing it, Donnie asks to see a pay stub for $72,000. Jordan pulls one out, and Donnie calls his boss to tell him he’s quitting to go into stocks.

Jordan and Donnie have drinks at a bar. We learn that Donnie married his cousin because he didn’t like the idea of anybody else trying to sleep with her. Outside, Donnie smokes some crack and offers some to Jordan. He takes one hit and gets pumped, telling Donnie they need to go running.

The two find a garage where they plan to set up a business. Jordan recruits some of his friends to join. They include Robbie Feinberg (Brian Sacca; nicknamed “Pinhead”), Alden Kupferberg (Henry Zebrowski; nicknamed “Sea Otter”), Chester Ming (Kenneth Choi), Nicky Koskoff (PJ Byrne; nicknamed “Rugrat” because of his shoddy toupee), and Brad (Jon Bernthal). Brad is especially well known for making drug sales in his old neighborhood. Jordan tells Brad to sell him a pen that he pulls out of his pocket. Brad tells him to write something on a napkin. Jordan says he doesn’t have a pen, and Brad “sells” it to him. Jordan also brings along several guys from Investor Center, including a guy called Toby Welch (Ethan Suplee).

Jordan and Donnie set up what is basically a boiler room in an abandoned auto garage. The guys are all set up at desks, ready to make calls with a script that Jordan wrote for them. They start with blue chip stocks like Disney and AT&T. Jordan calls one investor to purchase stocks in Kodak. Jordan anticipates closing the deal by making crude sexual gestures to everyone just as the investor signs on. From there, Jordan creates Stratton Oakmont and forms it into a much larger business with even more brokers working for him. He has groups of ambitious and hopeful brokers clamoring in his office showing off their resumes to his face. As one Strattonite makes a sale, the whole floor celebrates, with a marching band and a big group of hookers. They even have one female employee get her head shaved if Jordan pays her $10,000 for her to use for breast implants.

Over the next few years, news of Stratton Oakmont’s success gets around, from Forbes Magazine to the FBI, specifically Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). Forbes does a hatchet piece on Jordan, calling him a “sleazy Robin Hood” and dubbing him “the Wolf of Wall Street.” Jordan is at first angry about it, but Teresa tells him there’s no such thing as bad publicity and more young and eager brokers flock to his office. They bring on Jordan’s father, whom everyone refers to as “Mad Max” (Rob Reiner) due to his constantly irritable attitude. He oversees his son’s accounts and berates him and his partners for spending $26,000 for a dinner, interrupting their chat about using the little people for their game (as seen earlier).

Jordan throws a party at his Long Island beachfront house where he announces a plan to take the company “into the FUCKING STRATOSPHERE!” He is about to explain to us the effects of quaaludes, but Donnie suddenly rises and slowly goes over to Jordan’s pool table in slow motion, mumbling the name “Steve Madden.” Steve Madden, as Jordan notes, was the big name in women’s shoes. Jordan then sees Naomi for the first time. He runs down to introduce himself, inviting her to join him on his jet ski. Donnie’s wife Hildy (Mackenzie Meehan) sees this and tries to get Jordan away from Naomi by saying Teresa needs his help. Donnie then goes downstairs and starts masturbating to Naomi in front of the whole party.

Jordan takes Naomi out to dinner one night. When he takes her home, she invites him to her apartment for some tea. Jordan is extremely tempted by her, right before she steps out of her room fully nude. The two have sex for 11 seconds before Jordan tries to get it going again. He continues his affair with Naomi for a while before Teresa catches Jordan doing coke off her breasts in the back of a limo. She pulls Jordan out and starts smacking him. She tearfully asks him if he loves Naomi, but he doesn’t reply. Narrating again in voice-over, Jordan says he felt bad about hurting Teresa… and then filed for divorce three days later.

Naomi moves into Jordan’s apartment. She hires a decorator to redo the place to Jordan’s liking, and she also hires a gay butler named Nicholas (Jon Spinogatti). Jordan likes him until the night that Naomi comes home to find that Nicholas is holding a gay orgy in the apartment. She goes crying to Jordan and tells him that $20,000 in cash is missing from their room as well as $30,000 worth of jewelry and other appliances. Jordan, Donnie, Chester, and Rugrat interrogate Nicholas about what he knows about the missing money. Nicholas refuses to answer questions (clearly protecting his gay friends) and quickly changes the subject by openly telling them that he thinks them questioning him is just gay prejudice. Chester punches him hard in the nose, and he and Donnie hold Nicholas by his legs over the balcony to try to make him confess. Jordan calls the cops, who arrest Nicholas for stealing, and kick his ass instead.

Jordan manages to recover the stolen cash through money laundering. Since he recognizes that these practices are illegal, he hires an attorney, Manny Riskin (Jov Favreau), to keep them clear. All Jordan cares about is that he’s making more money than he and anybody else can know what to do with.

Jordan proposes to Naomi with a yellow diamond ring and she accepts. He holds a bachelor party in Las Vegas, where even the plane ride consists of a lot of hookers, alcohol and a lot of cocaine. The wedding is also a pretty big event. Naomi introduces Jordan to her English Aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is aware of Jordan’s cocaine use. Jordan and Naomi move out of their New York penthouse and buy a large mansion on Long Island. He even buys Naomi a yacht as a wedding gift (it’s also named Naomi).

Eighteen months later, Jordan and Naomi have a daughter, Skyler. By this time, the couple is constantly bickering over Jordan’s antics. He slept through the night calling the name “Venice”. We see she is a hooker who pulled a lit candle out of Jordan’s ass during sex and poured the hot wax on his back as he kept screaming “Wolfie” (his safety word, which she ignores). Jordan tells us this fighting is part of their routine, which ends with them getting intimate. When they put the baby to sleep, Naomi says she is wearing short skirts from now on and won’t be wearing panties deliberately to tease Jordan. Jordan however, has his own trick to pull; he tells Naomi that she’s been videotaped by Jordan’s security guards, both of whom are named Rocco.

At work, it is the day of an IPO (initial public offering) meeting with Steve Madden, a ladies shoe designer seeking to go public with his company. Jordan catches a geeky broker cleaning his goldfish bowl. He sends Donnie to call the guy out and humiliate him in front of everybody by swallowing the man’s goldfish whole and then sending him out while everybody else jeers at him. Steve Madden (Jake Hoffman) presents his latest product, the Mary Lous (which one broker says look like fat woman shoes). The brokers start throwing junk at him, which Jordan stops. He wants Madden to join them in business, which he agrees to. Jordan then gets up to the stage to give a speech to the whole floor about the wonders of being rich. The stock is launched in the trading room and becomes a success, netting Stratton Oakmont $22 million in just three hours.

The FBI sends the company a subpoena to request Jordan’s wedding video tape. Jordan meets his private investigator, Bo Dietl (playing himself) where Bo tells him that Denham has pictures of Jordan’s inner circle. Jordan asks Dietl if it’s possible to buy off Denham – Dietl emphatically says ‘no’.

A few days later, Jordan invites Denham and his partner Agent Hughes (Ted Griffin) onto the Naomi moored at a Long Island harbor. He shows them the list of everybody in attendance to the wedding. When Jordan tells Denham of an employee of his that he hired after needing money for his mother’s triple bypass surgery, Denham interprets this as some sort of bribe. Jordan laughs it off and sends the agents off his yacht. He mockingly throws 100 dollar bills at them as they walk away.

Jordan decides to keep his money safe from the tax men as well as thieves by storing it in offshore accounts. He, Donnie, and Rugrat go to Switzerland to get the job done. The trip there is chaotic for Jordan since he takes a bunch of quaaludes prior to the flight. He then behaves very lewdly toward the stewardess and he insults the pilot. He wakes up strapped to his chair. Donnie tells Jordan that he tried to start a riotous party on the airplane, dry-humping the female flight attendants and insulting the plane’s captain, who personally restrained Jordan in his seat. Due to Rugrat’s intervention, with assistance from his Swiss friend, Jordan isn’t charged upon his arrival.

The trio meets with a group of French Swiss bankers led by Jean Jacques Sorel (Jean Dujardin), Rugrat’s friend in college. Sorel persuades them to get someone outside the U.S. to store money in their account. Jordan travels to London, England to convince Naomi’s Aunt Emma to take some of his fortune. This also leads to Jordan unsuccessfully trying to hit on her. They also use Brad’s Slovak wife Chantalle (Katarina Cas) to smuggle money in with her family, though she can only strap a certain amount to her body to smuggle into Switzerland. Donnie and Brad get into an argument that ends with Brad punching Donnie out.

Some time later, Donnie drives out to a seedy Long Island strip mall to make an exchange with Brad. Brad had specifically asked Jordan to make sure Donnie didn’t arrive at the meeting drugged out, but Donnie appears to be anyway. After a few moments, Donnie reveals that he isn’t actually stoned for the meeting and begins to provoke Brad – Donnie had taken very personally the fact that Brad had hit him. They get into another argument with the cops watching nearby. Donnie drops his briefcase of money and flees, leaving Brad to get arrested.

Donnie shows up at Jordan’s house with a strong brand of quaaludes called Lemmon 714, a very rare version of the drug. The two take a pill each and watch “Family Matters” on the TV, but feel no effects after 35 minutes. They take more and still feel nothing. They find out that they expired in 1981. Naomi (pregnant again) goes downstairs to find the two working out. She tells Jordan that Bo Dietl is on the line. Dietl tells Jordan to leave his house and call him from a payphone. Jordan drives a mile down the road to a country club to use the payphone there. Dietl tells him about Brad getting arrested, and that Denham has Jordan’s home and work phones tapped. Just then, Jordan starts to finally feel the effects of the Lemmons – the pills were so far past their expiration date they’d developed a “delayed fuse.” He starts slurring his speech and then collapses to the floor, unable to stand or walk. He crawls outside, rolls down the steps, and manages to open the door of his Lamborghini with his foot. Naomi calls him to say that Donnie is acting very strangely and had called Sorel. Jordan makes an attempt to drive his car home despite being too high. He slowly manages to get home safely and crawls his way to the kitchen to pull Donnie (who is also feeling the delayed effect of the quaaludes) off the phone, yelling as best as he can about the FBI listening in. Donnie runs to stuff cold cuts in his mouth, but he starts choking and falls on top of the glass dining table, shattering it. Naomi runs in to find Donnie turning blue and choking. Jordan grabs a little vial of coke from a drawer and pours the whole thing into his nose (juxtaposed with a Popeye cartoon as Olive Oyl feeds the sailor man some spinach, with the tune accompanying Jordan and the coke). He pulls the food out of Donnie’s mouth and begins to apply a crude form of the Heimlich Maneuver. Jordan pauses for a few seconds, thinking he’ll let Donnie die, until Naomi reminds him that Donnie has a family. Jordan finally gets Donnie to cough up the food he was choking on.

Jordan wakes up the next morning to find the police in his house. They arrest him when they show him his Lamborghini, with notable damage, despite Jordan believing he got the car home in one piece. A flashback shows us that Jordan didn’t make it home without damaging his car, hitting several other cars, a few golf carts and a mailbox. He is released after it’s determined they have no proof Jordan was ever behind the wheel of the car. Manny and Max tell Jordan he got lucky.

Another few months later, Jordan holds a big meeting on his floor to announce that he is stepping down from the company to pass it onto Donnie, Pinhead, and Rugrat. He calls out one woman for starting at Stratton with “barely two nickels to rub together”, and now living rich when Jordan decided to give her a shot. He tells the brokers he loves all of them, moving them to tears. Jordan then changes his mind and decides to stay, leading to cheers. He gets everybody to join him in the “Money Chant.” His father is not pleased, believing Jordan would be better off in taking the deal the FBI was offering.

Jordan holds a huge celebration on his yacht, right after Brad is released from jail. Brad subsequently quits doing business in stocks, and Jordan tells us he died of a heart attack two years later.

In June 1996, Jordan and Donnie take their wives to Portofino, Italy to continue the celebration. Rugrat calls then while they’re drinking Bloody Marys and snorting cocaine to tell them that Steve Madden is unloading shares after hearing about Jordan’s recent trouble with the law. To make matters worse, Naomi comes crying to tell Jordan that Aunt Emma died of a heart attack. Jordan is distraught, but more due to the fact that this leaves the $20 million in her account inaccessible. Jordan calls Sorel, who tells him that Aunt Emma named Jordan the successor to the money. He just needs to get to Switzerland immediately. Jordan runs to tell the captain to take them to Switzerland, despite Naomi’s insistence that they go to England for the funeral. Jordan believes they can reach a safe harbor and that he can catch a small plane to Geneva. The captain warns that there may be stormy seas ahead, but Jordan doesn’t care. Indeed, they do sail right into dangerous waters. Jordan orders Donnie to run and get more quaaludes, even as Donnie objects – Jordan doesn’t want to die sober. He runs downstairs anyway and brings the drugs up, just as a huge wave breaks through boat and turns it over. The group is rescued by a Italian Navy helicopter called in by Jordan. They’re taken on another boat, and Jordan sees the jet he wanted to catch crash into the ocean. He tells us this was due to a seagull flying into the engine. He believes this to be a sign from God.

Two years later, Jordan is sobered up. He is seen in an infomercial advertising his moneymaking seminar, Straight Line. During a taping of the infomercial, Denham and other agents arrest Jordan. Sorel had been arrested in Switzerland for crimes unrelated to Jordan, and he ended up ratting him out while having dinner with Rugrat (who is also arrested). Sorel had also been having an affair with Brad’s wife whenever she smuggled cash to him in Switzerland. All the members of Stratton are called in for testimony but refuse to give anybody up to save themselves.

Donnie goes over to Jordan’s place as he is under house arrest, he wears a locator on his right ankle. He says he’s got Jordan’s back in the scheme of things. He also asks Jordan how sober life is. Jordan thinks it sucks. Naomi is also furious with Jordan, refusing to speak to him.

Jordan and his lawyer meet with Denham and two other Department of Justice lawyers. They try to make a deal in which Jordan wears a wire to incriminate the other co-conspirators. They call the case a “Grenada” in reference to the US invasion of Grenada in the Caribbean, where the US government very easily suppressed an invasion of that island nation by Cuba. To them, the case will be easy for the Dept of Justice to win because of the overwhelming amount of evidence they’ve collected.

A few nights later, Jordan pesters Naomi for sex, and she eventually gives in and asks him to make love “as if it were the last time.” Naomi acts passive and uninterested. Once the two are finished, she tells him it really was the last time; she intends to file for divorce, and tells Jordan that unless he agrees to every condition that she demands (a quick divorce, full custody of their two kids and half of his remaining wealth), she’ll take out a restraining order that will bar Jordan from ever contacting her or the kids again. Jordan becomes enraged and insults her; she slaps him and he hits her in the abdomen. He storms into a small sitting room and cuts open one of the sofa cushions, removing a bag of cocaine. He snorts a good-sized amount and runs into Skyler’s room taking from her bed. Over Naomi’s panicked protests, he runs downstairs to leave with Skyler. Naomi and the Belforts’ maid try to stop Jordan as he reverses the car out of the garage, but he ends up crashing into a wall just a few yards away. Skyler is unharmed as she was wearing her seat belt, but Jordan suffers a minor head injury. Naomi takes Skyler out of the car, as a dazed Jordan gradually realizes he will probably never see his two daughters again after this latest incident.

Jordan is set up with the wire to bring in his partners. They all cheer for him upon his return. He goes to start with Donnie. Jordan slides him a note that says “Don’t incriminate yourself. I’m wearing a wire.” When he asks Donnie about their financial practices, Donnie pretends not to remember anything.

The FBI arrive at Jordan’s house to arrest him when they discover the note he slipped to Donnie (though not shown, the note was given to Denham by Donnie himself, likely as part of a deal that will leave Donnie unaffected or facing lesser charges). While Donnie rapidly deletes any incriminating files on his office computer the rest of the co-conspirators are arrested in the office. In court, Jordan is sentenced to 36 months in prison. His mother cries as her son is taken away while Max looks at him disappointed. When he arrives at prison, Jordan admits that he was terrified when he got there. For a fleeting moment, he says, he forgot that he was rich. He had become so accustomed to a life where everything was for sale.

The story begins with the viewer looking out from a window in a workshop to a tree house, then turning and zooming in to a bedroom in a dollhouse that is in the workshop. Steve Graham wakes his teenage son Peter and 13-year-old daughter Charlie for their 78-year-old grandmother Ellen Taper Leigh’s funeral. Steve finds Charlie sleeping in the tree house.

Steve’s wife Annie, an artist who sculpts miniature dioramas, delivers the eulogy at her mother’s service. Charlie makes a clucking noise while drawing a strange sketch during the speech.

Annie talks to Charlie about Ellen at bedtime that night. Charlie claims that her grandmother always wished Charlie were a boy. To Annie’s confusion, Charlie also wonders aloud who will care for her now that Ellen is dead. Annie later sees a haunting vision of Ellen after looking through a memory book while in Annie’s workshop.

A bird dies by flying into one of Charlie’s classroom windows at school. Charlie goes outside and cuts off the bird’s head. A woman across the street waves at Charlie.

Annie begins researching apparitions. Steve receives word from the cemetery that Ellen’s grave was desecrated, but he decides to not tell his wife.

Annie tells Steve she is going to a movie, but actually attends a grief counseling support group. When she arrives at the meeting it is dark outside. Annie openly discloses her mother’s mental health issues including the dissociative identity disorder and dementia.

Charlie sees a strange light in her bedroom. Gallery owner Silvia Archer contacts Annie about progress on her new works, which include a piece featuring Ellen.

Peter asks his mother if he can go to a party where he hopes to see Bridget, a classmate he is interested in. Annie asks Peter if he invited his sister to go with him, since he claimed it was a party related to their school.

Charlie experiences a vision of her grandmother surrounded by fire. Charlie makes her clucking noise when she is shaken out of her trance. Charlie tells Annie that she wants Ellen. Annie forces Peter to take Charlie with him to the party.

Flustered at having to monitor his sister, Peter blows off Charlie so he can smoke marijuana with Bridget and their friends. Many of women at the party are wearing long flannel-style shirts. Left unsupervised, Charlie unknowingly eats chocolate cake containing a substance to which she is allergic. Charlie begins choking as she experiences an anaphylactic reaction.

Peter carries his sister to his car and rushes her toward the hospital along a dark country road. Charlie sticks her head out the window in an effort to breathe better. Peter swerves to avoid an animal in the road. Charlie is decapitated when her head violently hits a utility pole.

After sitting and staring in entranced shock, Peter drives home in a calm daze. Annie comes outside when it is light outside and is horrified to find her daughter’s headless body in the car’s backseat.

The family holds a funeral for Charlie. Steve looks through Charlie’s sketchbook of drawings. Peter experiences a panic attack while smoking marijuana, before biking home from school. Peter arrives at home in the dark. Annie grieves alone while sitting in the car in the driveway.

Annie drives to her grief support group meeting, but decides to turn around while still in the parking lot. It is dark when she arrives. However, before Annie can leave, fellow group member Joan spots Annie and stops her to talk. After hearing about Charlie’s death, Joan confides in Annie about the loss of her own child and grandson.

When Annie returns home, Steve makes a pass at her, but Annie rebuffs him. Annie sleeps in the attic. Peter hears Charlie’s clucking noise and sees what he thinks is a vision of his dead sister in his room, but it appears to be his own hoodie in the corner.

Annie visits Joan at Joan’s apartment. Annie tells Joan about a sleepwalking incident in which she doused Peter and Charlie and herself from head to toe in paint thinner before waking up to find herself preparing to light a match. From her body language, Annie implies that the matches were in her left hand and can of paint thinner in her right. Annie explains that her relationships with her children were never the same afterward.

Steve finds Annie constructing a disturbing diorama of the scene where Charlie died. Steve, Annie, and Peter have an awkward dinner during which Annie blames her son for Charlie’s death. Peter responds by reminding Annie that she was the one who forced Charlie to go to the party.

Annie runs into Joan at an art supply store. Joan excitedly explains to Annie that she attended an open séance that changed her skepticism about psychics. Joan tells Annie that a medium was able to conjure her dead grandson Louis and taught Joan how to conduct a séance as well. Joan has a chalkboard in the trunk of her car.

Joan invites Annie over to witness a séance firsthand. Joan seemingly makes contact with Louis, who uses a glass and a chalkboard to communicate. Joan assures Annie that she can conduct a similar conjuring herself by using a personal item from the deceased, reciting a cryptic incantation, and making sure that her entire family is in the house during the summoning. Annie hears a clucking sound while driving home afterward.

Annie wakes that night to find a swarm of ants leading to Peter’s dead body. Annie wakes from a sleepwalking trance over her son’s bed, prompting a conversation with Peter. Peter asks why Annie is seemingly scared of him. Annie involuntarily confesses that she never wanted to be Peter’s mother and tried to have a miscarriage. Annie suddenly wakes to discover she was experiencing a vision within a vision.

Annie recites Joan’s incantation with Charlie’s sketchbook while Steve and Peter sleep. Claiming she summoned Charlie, Annie excitedly wakes her husband and son for another séance. Charlie seemingly possesses Annie. Steve snaps Annie out of her trance by dousing her with water as Peter cries from confused fright.

During school, Peter sees the same strange light that Charlie previously saw in her bedroom. Peter notices that his reflection looks back at him with a different expression.

Steve admonishes Annie for Peter becoming convinced that a vengeful spirit is threatening him. Annie trashes her studio in frustration when she accidentally breaks a tiny model chair, after another voicemail from her gallery pressures her about providing new pieces.

Charlie’s spirit supernaturally draws in her old sketchbook. Peter sees a vision of his dead sister in the corner, and her head falls off turning into a recreation ball on the floor, before being choked in his bed. Peter accuses his mother of sleepwalking and attacking him again. Annie advises Peter not to tell Steve what happened. Annie goes on to explain that something supernatural is happening in the house and she is the only one who can stop it. The window above Peter’s bed has a mark that looks similar to the one in Charlie’s classroom when struck by the bird.

Realizing that the spirit she summoned is malevolent, Annie throws Charlie’s sketchbook into the fireplace. Annie’s arm mirrors the burning book by also catching fire, forcing Annie to rescue the book.

Annie returns to Joan for help, but no one’s there and she does not go inside Joan’s residence. The camera shows us Joan’s place is decked out in witchcraft paraphernalia, including a photo of Peter inside a ceremonial triangle and a symbol Annie recognizes from family photos.

Annie learns that the symbol is associated with the demon Paimon, one of the kings of Hell. Annie also finds photos of Joan with Ellen, revealing that Joan and Annie’s mother were in the same coven devoted to gaining riches by conjuring Paimon into a male body. Annie discovers Ellen’s headless corpse in her house’s attic.

Peter hears Joan shouting, “I expel you” at him from a distance at school behind a fence. During class, Peter hears Charlie’s cluck. Peter acts possessed and suddenly bashes his head into his desk, snapping out of his trance with cries of terror and pain.

Annie stands in the pouring rain below the tree house with Ellen’s scrapbook, and we see that Peter’s room behind her in the real house does not exist.

Steve brings Peter home. Annie approaches the car, and is dry with no sign of the downpour. Annie tells Steve that Ellen’s corpse is in their attic, but it is now decapitated. Annie also shows Steve the photographs where Joan and Ellen are wearing the seal of Paimon. Annie explains that their family became cursed when she tried contacting Charlie. Annie also explains the connection to Charlie’s sketchbook, adding that Steve needs to destroy it in order to save Peter. Peter sleeps in his room in the background and is not awakened by the conversation.

Disbelieving her wild claims, Steve accuses Annie of digging up Ellen’s grave. When Steve refuses to burn the sketchbook, Annie throws it back into the fire, even though she presumes doing so will kill her. Instead, Steve spontaneously combusts.

With his possessed mother hovering in the corner above his bed, Peter gets up to search the house. When Peter leaves his room the ladder to the attic is withdrawn missing. Peter finds his father’s charred corpse. Possessed, Annie chases Peter to the attic. The ladder to the attic is now down. Annie jumps up and furiously pounds her head on the attic door after Peter climbs the ladder and retracts it into the upstairs ceiling.

In the attic, Peter finds flies, candles, and a photo of his face with the eyes punched out. Ellen’s body is gone. Annie suddenly hovers above Peter before severing her own head. Confronted by this horror and three undressed devil worshipers, Peter jumps out the window.

Peter’s head hits the ground below, which seemingly knocks him out. Peter rises after the oddly glowing light seen previously hovers around his body. Peter follows his mother’s headless corpse as it floats into the tree house.

The film opens with a clip from an old Western TV series, “Bounty Law.” It features action star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the lead role as Jake Cahill, a renegade bounty hunter. Following the clip is an interview with Rick and his stuntman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), both of whom describe Cliff’s role as essentially carrying Rick’s load.

Saturday, February 8th, 1969

Rick and Cliff are in a restaurant where Rick is met by producer Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino). He is a fan of Rick’s work, having seen a double feature presentation of his where he plays an action star, including one where he is a GI that incinerates Nazis with a flamethrower (which he kept). Marvin also brings up a cheesy music video Rick was featured in. “Bounty Law” has since been canceled because of Rick’s ongoing alcoholism (which is also why Cliff is his driver), and now Rick has booked a gig as a villain on the series “Lancer.” Marvin thinks Rick ought to fly to Rome and shoot Spaghetti Westerns. Rick complains to Cliff about how this means that his career is going downhill, and he is now a has-been.

Cliff drives Rick home, where they learn that Rick’s new neighbors are director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) and his wife, rising starlet Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Rick’s mood turns around since he thinks that a big-time director like Polanski (hot off directing the recent thriller “Rosemary’s Baby”) can help reinvigorate his career. He goes to rehearse his lines for “Lancer” for the night. Cliff then drives home to his trailer, where he lives alone with his dog Brandy.

Polanski brings Sharon to a party at the Playboy Mansion, where they meet with their friends Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), Steve McQueen (Damien Lewis), and Michelle Phillips (Rebecca Rittenhouse). Sharon goes dancing, while McQueen talks to Connie Stevens (Dreama Walker). He notes that Sharon is using Polanski to make Jay jealous, and Connie thinks that Sharon has a type - short men that “look like 12-year-old boys”.

Sunday, February 9th, 1969

After Polanski leaves, Sharon hangs out with Jay at her house. Visiting them is Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), claiming that he is coming to see his friends, the previous owners of the house that Polanski and Sharon now live in. He apologizes for the error and leaves.

Cliff brings Rick to the set of “Lancer” for the day’s shoot. He goes back to Rick’s house after he asks Cliff to fix the antenna on his roof. He happens to spot Manson as he leaves, and he smiles and waves at Cliff. We then see a flashback to Rick talking to an old friend of his, Randy (Kurt Russell), into getting Cliff a gig. Randy shows reluctance since it is rumored that Cliff murdered his wife Billie (Rebecca Gayheart) and got away with it. The alleged incident is shown on a boat where Billie was nagging Cliff endlessly, but it cuts away before we see if Cliff really did shoot Billie with the harpoon gun he was holding. Randy brings Cliff to the set, where he meets Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), talking about wanting to fight boxer Muhammad Ali. When Lee catches Cliff laughing at what he’s saying, he challenges him to a fight to see who knocks who on the ground first. Lee gets Cliff down first, and he retaliates by grabbing Lee and slamming him into a car. The two then go hand-to-hand until Janet (Zoe Bell), Randy’s wife and fellow stunt coordinator comes in and is pissed to see Cliff and Lee fighting, and the huge dent that Cliff left in there, meaning he’s fired.

In the present, Sharon drives through Hollywood, where she goes to a local bookstore, and then goes to the local movie theater and sees that a film she is featured in, “The Wrecking Crew,” is playing. She goes to the box office and asks for a ticket, but then asks if she gets any privilege for starring in the film. The manager comes out and recognizes Sharon from “Valley of the Dolls,” and he invites her in. Throughout the film, Sharon listens to the audience’s enthusiastic reactions to her performance, with laughter and cheering at the right moments.

Meanwhile, Rick goes through his hair and make-up for “Lancer.” He then sits down next to his eight-year-old co-star Trudi (Julia Butters), who is a method actor. Rick smokes a cigarette near her as she reads her book. They have a conversation about the books they are reading, and Rick has a small breakdown over his perceived decline in stardom. Shooting begins, and Rick works with the series lead actor, James Stacey (Timothy Olyphant), who plays protagonist Johnny Madrid. During the take, Rick forgets his lines due to being drunk. He goes to his trailer and has a meltdown, but then vows to do better.

Elsewhere, Cliff drives home from Rick’s place and sees a hitchhiker called Pussycat (Margaret Qualley), whom Cliff has noticed throughout the weekend. He picks her up and agrees to take her to the Spahn Ranch, where Cliff used to shoot films with Rick. When they get there, Cliff sees that the place has become some kind of commune for hippies, mostly consisting of women. Pussycat tells Cliff that he should stick around to meet Manson, but he wants to speak with the ranch’s elderly owner, George Spahn (Bruce Dern). The women warn Cliff that Spahn is sleeping, but he goes over to his house anyway. He is met by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Dakota Fanning), who also reiterates that Spahn is asleep because she just had sex with him. Cliff goes to wake Spahn up, but he doesn’t recognize Cliff since he is blind. He asks Spahn if the women there are taking advantage of him, but Spahn denies it and tells Cliff to leave. Outside, Cliff sees one of the male hippie’s stuck a knife in his front tire. He gets his stuff out and orders the man to fix it, but is given a “fuck you.” Cliff responds by decking the guy hard in the face three times in front of the other women. One of the Manson girls gets a horse and runs to get Tex Watson (Austin Butler), but Cliff is already driving away by the time he arrives.

Back on the “Lancer” set, Rick shoots a scene where he has Trudi’s character hostage, and Scott Lancer, played by Wayne Maunder (Luke Perry), comes to intervene. Rick improvises his slimy villain character and has a moment where he throws Trudi off of him. After the take, he is praised by both the director and Trudi, who tells Rick that it was the best acting she has ever seen in her life. The comment even moves Rick to tears.

Cliff and Rick go back to the latter’s house to watch the episode of FBI her appears in. As they are watching, we cross cut to Schwaz, who makes a phone call regarding Ricks’ career. The screen fades to black.

Six months later.

A voice-over from Randy states that Rick and Cliff ended up flying to Rome to shoot the Spaghetti Western films. While there, Rick met and married Italian film actress Francesca Capucci (Lorenza Izzo).

August 8th, 1969

Rick and Cliff have returned to Los Angeles, but now feel that it is time for them to go their separate ways. They spend one last night having drinks and hang out at Rick’s home with Francesca. Meanwhile, Sharon, now very pregnant, is having a small gathering with Jay and their friends Wojciech Frykowski (Costa Ronin) and Abigail Folger (Samantha Robinson).

Cliff takes out a cigarette he bought from Pussycat that was dipped in acid, and he proceeds to smoke it to trip out. Outside, Tex drives in front of the houses with fellow “family” members Patricia Krenwinkel, AKA Katie (Madisen Beaty), Susan Atkins, AKA Sadie (Mikey Madison), and Linda Kasabian, AKA Flowerchild (Maya Hawke). They arrive intending to kill Sharon and her friends, but a drunk Rick comes out and angrily yells at them because their car’s busted muffler is making too much noise. He orders them to leave, even as Katie appears to be reaching for her gun, but Tex drives away. At the bottom of the hill, the four recognize Rick from TV, and Sadie suggests that they kill him and whoever else is in his house. The others agree, but as they start walking there, Flowerchild says she forgot her knife. Tex gives her the car keys to get it, but she ends up ditching them and driving away. The three then proceed to carry out their plan.

The Manson trio walks up to Rick’s house. Tex and Katie break in through the front door, while Sadie goes in through the side. Cliff sees them, but because he is tripping, he is neither frightened nor absolutely sure of what he is seeing. Even as Tex draws his gun on Cliff, he instead sics Brandy on Tex, who viciously chomps into Tex’s arm and groin. Sadie tries to run up to Cliff with her knife, but he chucks a can of dog food at her, which smashes into her face. Cliff stomps Tex’s face in until he is dead before grabbing Katie and brutally smashing her face against the hard furniture until she is dead too. Brandy gets a few bites into Sadie as well, but she runs out the back glass door, flailing and shrieking into the pool, where Rick is lounging. He then comes out with his flamethrower and torches Sadie, who burns to death in his pool. In the chaos, Cliff gets stabbed in his right hip by Katie, but non-fatally.

Five Michigan State University students venture into the hills to spend a weekend in an isolated cabin. There they find the Book of the Dead (a Babylonian and Sumerian text, unrelated to the Egyptian Book of the Dead), otherwise known as the Morturom Demonto.

While searching the basement of the cabin, the students find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting slumbering demons that thirst for revenge. The professor also mentions that his wife was possessed by the risen demons and that the only way to insure possessed individuals are stopped is to dismember their corpses. The characters are gradually possessed one by one, beginning with Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) after she is brutally raped by the evil force (using the nearby trees) in sequences of intense, bloody violence and horrifying voice-overs.

Cheryl makes it home to the cabin but nobody believes her ordeal. Her brother Ash (Bruce Campbell) then decides to drive her into town where she can stay the night. They discover that the only road bridge is completely destroyed and the supports are bent into the shape of a hand. Soon after, Cheryl becomes a demon and stabs Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil. They lock her in the cellar, but soon after Shelly (Theresa Tilly) becomes possessed and attacks Scotty (Richard DeManincor) who dismembers her with an axe. They wrap the dismembered body-parts in a blanket and bury them, after which Scotty leaves to find a trail out of the woods.

Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds her to be possessed also. Scotty returns, but is mutilated by trees. Before losing consciousness he tells Ash there is a trail in the woods. After Linda tricks Ash by returning to (seemingly) normal, Ash drags her outside. He goes back to check on Scotty, who dies. Linda later returns and tries to stab Ash, but she falls on the dagger. Ash drags her outside to cut her up with a chainsaw, but he simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and Ash beheads her with a shovel. The head soon comes back to life and taunts him, and the body arises and chases Ash back to the cabin.

He returns to find the cellar door open. Cheryl jumps at the window and tries to break in. Ash shoots her, but she doesn’t die. Ash barricades both the front and back doors. He runs back into the cellar to find a box of shotgun shells and experiences a strange series of events including the cellar filling with blood and hearing things in his mind.

Léon (Jean Reno) is a hitman (or “cleaner” as he would rather be known) living a solitary life in New York City’s Little Italy. Most of his work comes from a mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello), who operates from the “Supreme Macaroni Company” retail store. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics, nurturing a houseplant that early on he describes as his “best friend”, and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly musicals.

Léon is highly motivated and efficient. He kills plenty of bodyguards (Ed Ventresca) so that a fat guy called Fatman (Frank Senger) receives a phonecall threatening him. A dumb blonde (Ouin-Ouin) walks away non-noncommittally and says she will call him later, not wanting to get involved in the matter.

On a particular day on his way home, he sees Mathilda Lando (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl with a black eye and smoking a cigarette, living with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hallway. Mathilda’s father (Michael Badalucco) attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine in his residence, after they discover that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself. A cadre of DEA agents storm the building, led by a ragged and drug-addicted Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Stansfield shoots Mathilda’s entire family with a shotgun; the whore-looking mother (Ellen Greene), the aerobic-obsessed elder sister (Elizabeth Regen) and the friendly little brother (Carl J. Matusovich)- missing Mathilda only because she is out shopping when they arrive. An elderly lady (Jessie Keosian) comes back inquiring what the rackas is about, and Stansfield shoots the glass behind her, but considers her harmless so he lets her be, just barking at her “go back inside”.

When Mathilda returns with the groceries she was sent to buy and notices the carnage, she calmly continues down the hallway past the open door of her family’s apartment, and receives sanctuary from a reluctant Léon. One of the agents () looks at Mathilda, quizzingly, as she has to insistently ring the bell on and on before Léon lets her in. Stansfield realises that there’s a little girl missing because of a family photograph he’s found. When the news reaches the door guard, he approaches Léon’s apartment, wondering whether the girl who was accepted there was the missing girl. Léon prepares himself to shoot him, watching through a hidden peephole, but at that moment, Mathilda turns on the TV with some Transformers cartoons, which convinces the guard that he saw another girl who had nothing to do with the situation.

León offers some consolation to Mathilda, making her smile when he argues than pigs smell well and are better than many people, and make-pretends that the puppet pig he’s using is talking to her. Mathilda, who soon discovers that Léon is a hitman, begs him to become her caretaker, and to teach her his skills as a “cleaner”: she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother, the only member of her family that she actually loved. In return, she offers herself as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon’s illiteracy. Mathilda says that he could have let her to die outside that door, but as he opened it, now he’s responsible for her well-being. At first, Léon refuses point blank: being a “cleaner” is not a job for girls, and then he alleges that she’s not made for that. To answer to that, Mathilda shoots some pigeons with one of the guns Léon is cleaning. Léon hesitantly accepts her offer and the two begin working together, slowly building an emotional attachment, with Léon becoming a friend and father figure.

They leave Léon’s apartment, and Léon begins to settle some rules. Mathilda carries León’s plant, accepting everything, and convinces the hotel clerk (George Martin) that she’s preparing for an audition, and that she won’t practice after 10. When the hotel clerk asks Léon to fill up the registration form, Mathilda jumps right in and says “You know how much I love registering. Can I do it, daddy?” Léon breaths, and apprecciates that Mathilda is resourceful. The hotel clerk congratulates Léon because he’s got a good daughter, but he’s got a 17-year-old who can’t do anything. León leaves his plant at reception. He checks everything in the room, the exits, the windows, while Mathilda fills up the form. As they work together, Mathilda admits to Léon several times that she is falling in love with him, in spite of him making her drink a glass of milk every day.

Tony has been keeping Léon’s money, instead of it being put into a bank. As Léon was illiterate, he didn’t want to have to deal with it. Léon asks if he could give it to somebody; Tony tells him that he’s like a bank, only that there’s no paperwork involved, but that he’s got all the accountancy in his mind, and that is security enough. Tony wants Léon to renew work, as training won’t earn him any money. Léon prevents Mathilda from flirting with a guy (Michael Mundra), a cute teenage boy a little older than herself - she replies that they were only sharing a cigarette - to which Léon answers that he wants her to quit smoking. Léon adds that she should stay away from him, as he looks like a weirdo. Léon walks to work. Mathilda tells the hotel clerk that she’s fed up of practicing her instrument and that Léon is not her father, but her lover. Mathilda walks back to her old flat. She slips past a police guard and picks up a teddy bear and a stack of bills hidden under a loose floor plank. She has to hide, because the FBI is questioning Stansfield, who is being a jackass about the people he killed in the line of duty. He shouts to the FBI guy that kids should be at school, and also shouts his office number.

Mathilda follows Stansfield by taxi to the police station. Mathilda is watching cartoon Transformers again when Léon arrives with blood dripping down an arm and a pink dress for her. The hotel clerk arrives with two men, and throws Leon and Mathilda out. In another hotel, Léon takes a shower and stitches a wound in the chest, where he’s been hurt. Mathilda wants to pay Léon to kill her brother’s killers, but Léon doesn’t want to. He tells her that life changes after the first time you kill somebody. She wants to play Russian roulette with him. She threatens him with killing herself - and at the last second he pushes the pistol away. Mathilda and Léon go talk with Tony.

As Mathilda increases her confidence and experience, she locates Stansfield, follows him to his office in the DEA building. She attempts to kill him, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a bathroom. Léon finds a note she left him declaring her intentions and rushes to the federal building. He rescues her, killing two of Stansfield’s men in the process.

Stansfield is enraged that the “Italian hitman” has gone rogue and is killing his men. He confronts Tony and threatens him, eventually beating him into surrendering Léon’s whereabouts. Later, as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon’s apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and takes one of their members hostage, rapidly bartering him for Mathilda’s freedom. As they slink back into the apartment, Léon creates a quick escape for Matilda as he reassures her and tells her that he loves her moments before they come for him.

In the chaos that follows, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer, almost unnoticed except for Stansfield. Stansfield follows Léon into the hotel lobby and shoots him from behind. Looming over the dying Léon, Stansfield jeers him haughtily. However just before he gives out, Léon places an object in Stansfield’s hands, which he explains is “from Mathilda”. Opening his hands, Stansfield recognizes it as grenade pin. He rips open Léon’s vest to discover several grenades on his chest. Stansfield lets out a brief “Oh, shit” before a massive explosion destroys the hotel lobby.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is on patrol near the Persian Gulf when radar contact is made with a MiG fighter. The Combat Air Patrol of the Enterprise is vectored to meet the incoming aircraft, and the fighters involved are F-14 Tomcat interceptors, each manned by a pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO). The pilot of the lead plane is Flight Lieutenant Peter “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), a callsign appropriate for his arrogant rule-bending attitude; his RIO is Lt. Nicholas “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards). The second F14 is piloted by Bill “Cougar” Cortell (John Stockwell) with Sam “Merlin” Wells (Tim Robbins) as the RIO. The two F14s split up and are surprised when a second MiG, shielded from radar by riding within feet of its leader, appears. Cougar is outmaneuvered by MiG One while Maverick locks his missile radar on MiG Two, who promptly disengages. MiG One stays on Cougar and is only chased off when Maverick flies upside down, closes up on the MiG, and flashes an obscene gesture to the enemy pilot. The MiG disengages and the two Tomcats fly to the Enterprise, but Cougar is so rattled he cannot land, forcing Maverick, low on fuel and against orders, to abort his own landing and talk Cougar to the deck.

Cougar sees the captain of the Enterprise, Tom “Stinger” Jordan (James Tolkan), and turns in his wings – the incident has left Cougar rattled and he feels he can’t fly combat any longer. Stinger is forced to change his intended disciplinary action against Maverick, for he must send a Tomcat tandem for additional combat training at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School in Miramar, near San Diego,CA and the Captain is plainly disgusted that Maverick is the only qualified candidate for the assignment.

Maverick, however, is quietly overjoyed as he regards the assignment as an opportunity for advancement, and upon arrival begins a rivalry with a fellow Tomcat pilot, Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), and his RIO, Ron “Slider” Kerner (Rick Rossovich). At a bar the night after their first day at the School, Maverick notices Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) a pretty young blonde in jeans, and hits on her by following her into the ladies room and serenading her. It seems not to work until the next day she appears at the School, revealing herself to be Charlie, a previously unseen DOD flight instructor that Maverick had assumed to be male. Though technically a civilian, she has mastered the flight simulator where she has beaten several actual pilots. She begins to become smitten with Maverick before the official competition begins.

In his first exercise, Maverick takes on the School’s resident “enemy” pilot, LTC Richard “Jester” Heatherly (Michael Ironside), and succeeds in outmaneuvering him and “shooting” him down, but in so doing he flies below a set minimum engagement altitude - a “hard-deck” - and then compounds this faux pas by “buzzing” (or overflying) a flight tower at absurdly low altitude just to show off. Both Maverick and Goose listen while Jester and their commanding officer, Commander Michael “Viper” Metcalf (Tom Skerritt) are chewed out by the tower’s commanding officer.

Iceman also chews out Maverick for his “unsafe” attitude, but Maverick refuses to have any of it, even after Jester summons him to his office and threatens to expel him should he continue this way. Metcalf, however, knows Maverick because Maverick’s father flew with him in Vietnam off the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) and was shot down when he engaged the enemy in “neutral” airspace.

The contest between Maverick and Iceman continues; in a later exercise Viper and Jester team up against Maverick and fellow F14 pilot Hollywood. Maverick breaks a cardinal rule by abandoning his wingman to go after Viper, and in so doing Hollywood is “shot down” and then the same fate befalls Maverick.

But the worst is yet to come, for Maverick is teamed with Iceman and Maverick, determined to win the School contest, angrily chews out Iceman for taking too long to attack an enemy craft; Maverick takes the shot, but when the two aircraft get close, the backwash from Iceman’s thrusters cripple Maverick’s engines and the F14 plunges toward the sea. Goose barely succeeds in yanking open the emergency ejection handles, but when the fighter’s canopy pops open, the two pilots eject and Goose crashes into the canopy, killing him.

In 1985, near the city of Boston, Massachusetts, John Bennett was a lonely child who dearly wished for his new Christmas gift, a large teddy bear named Ted, to come to life to be his friend. That wish coincided with a falling star and Ted became a fully mobile sentient being. John’s parents (Alex Borstein and Ralph Garman) got over the shock, word of the miracle spread, and Ted was briefly a celebrity.

In 2012, John (now played by Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (now voiced and motion captured by Seth MacFarlane), now living in the South End neighborhood of Boston, are still staunch, if immature, companions enjoying a hedonistic life even while John is pursuing a 4-year-long relationship with a level-headed office worker, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis). As the fourth anniversary of their relationship approaches, Lori hopes to marry John, but she feels he can’t move ahead with his life with Ted around, who has become a vulgar, obnoxious wastrel. John is resistant to making his lifelong companion leave, but he is finally persuaded that night to act when the couple discover Ted at home with four prostitutes, one of whom has defecated on the floor during a game of Truth or Dare.

John finds Ted his own apartment and a job at a grocery store, where his grossly irresponsible behavior on the job manages to both get him promoted and acquainted with the superficial co-worker Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), who gets easily irritated by Lori who is shocked at her anger. Regardless, Ted and John still spend most of their time together, which frustrates Lori when she discovers John has been skipping work to do so while using her for his excuses. Meanwhile, a crazed loner named Donny (Giovanni Ribisi), who idolized Ted as a child, shows interest in possessing him for his brutishly destructive son, Robert (Aedin Mincks). Things start to come to a head when Lori and John are invited to a party put on by Lori’s lecherous manager, Rex (Joel McHale), and Ted lures John away to a wild party at his apartment with the offer to meet Sam J. Jones (playing himself), the star of their favorite movie, Flash Gordon. Although John arrives with the intention of spending only a few minutes, he gets caught up in the occasion which gets completely out of control, with Jones persuading John and Ted to snort cocaine and Ted singing karaoke and eventually getting beaten-up by a duck. Eventually, Lori discovers John there and breaks up with him in a rage. At that, John blames Ted for ruining his life and tells him to stay away.

Eventually, Ted and John confront each other about their ruined friendship in John’s hotel room and have a destructive brawl, but soon manage to reconcile. To repair John’s relationship with Lori, Ted arranges with an old lover, singer Norah Jones (playing herself), to help by having John express his love for Lori with a song during her concert, being held at the Hatch Shell. Although John’s performance proves an embarrassment, Lori is touched by the attempt while repelled by Rex’s sneering. Later, Ted meets Lori at her apartment and explains that he was responsible for John’s lapse; he offers to leave them alone forever if she goes to at least speak with him. Lori is persuaded, but moments after she leaves, Ted is kidnapped by Donny and taken to his house to function as Robert’s victim.

Ted manages to distract Robert and reach a phone to contact John, but is soon recaptured. Realizing that Ted is in danger, John and Lori manage to find Donny’s residence and chase him and Robert to rescue Ted. The chase leads to Fenway Park, where John manages to knock out Robert, but during the chase Ted is damaged and falls onto the field, torn completely in half. A police car arrives, forcing Donny to flee. As John and Lori gather his stuffing, Ted relays his wish that John be happy with Lori, as the magic that gave him life fades away. Unable to accept his best friend’s death, Lori and John return to her apartment to attempt to repair him, but it proves useless. That night, Lori wakes up and quietly makes a wish on a falling star. The next morning, Ted is magically restored and the trio fully reconcile with Ted, who encourages John and Lori to resume their relationship.

1997 - A helicopter flies into a compound in the Middle East. Four men apprehend a terrorist leader and tie him to a chair. One of the men, Harry Hart, aka Galahad (Colin Firth) threatens to shoot the terrorist until he gives him answers. The terrorist lifts his head up to reveal a grenade pin in his mouth. Harry’s comrade Lee (Jonno Davies) jumps on the terrorist and covers the explosion, sacrificing himself for his partners. Harry’s other two partners, Merlin (Mark Strong) and Lancelot (Jack Davenport), remove their masks. After noting Lee’s sacrifice, Harry welcomes Lancelot into the Kingsman agency. Harry visits Lee’s wife Michelle (Samantha Womack) to inform her of her husband’s death. He gives her a medal of valor in Lee’s honor, with a number on the back of the medal in case she needs a favor, and to use the phrase “Oxford’s not brogues” to let him know it’s her. Michelle rejects the medal. Harry then goes over to Lee’s young son Gary, aka Eggsy (Alex Nikolov). He hands him the medal.

17 years later in Argentina, Professor James Arnold (Mark Hamill) is being held captive by a group of thugs. There is a knock heard at the door. One thug answers it and finds Lancelot at the front. He shoots the thug and proceeds to fight and kill the rest of the thugs before helping himself to a drink. Another knock is heard at the door. Lancelot goes to answer and is then cut down the middle by a woman with bladed prosthetic legs named Gazelle (Sofia Boutella). She answers the door for her employer, the billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). Valentine and Gazelle free Arnold and take him with them.

Back in London, Harry goes to a tailor shop that is a front for the Kingsman headquarters. He meets with Merlin and their superior Arthur (Michael Caine). They mourn Lancelot’s death and learn that those involved in his death also had ties to incidents in Uganda and Chechnya.

We catch up with Eggsy (now played by Taron Egerton), now in his early 20’s, living with his mother and her new husband Dean (Geoff Bell), along with Eggsy’s baby sister. They live in a ratty flat and are financially insecure. Eggsy goes to the pub with two friends, where they spot Dean’s group of goons nearby. They go over to Eggsy’s table and bully them into leaving. Outside, Eggsy reveals to his friends that he stole the goon’s car keys. They take his car and do donuts in it and drive off, only to come across the police. Eggsy drives the car backwards down a few blocks until he crashes into another car. He tells his friends to run for it so he can handle it. He proceeds to drive into the police car.

Eggsy is detained at the police station. He refuses to give up his friends’ names and is facing 18 months in prison. He takes out the medal he wears around his neck and calls the number on the back. Eggsy remembers the phrase “Oxford’s not brogues”, and moments later, he is bailed out by Harry. The two go to the pub where Dean’s goons approach Eggsy for more trouble. Harry calmly tells them to leave, but the main goon is rude to him and tells HIM to leave. Harry walks over to the front door and locks it, stating, “Manners maketh man”. With the hook of his umbrella, he grabs a glass and swings it at the main thug, and then proceeds to swiftly beat the rest of the thugs, and even make some of them beat each other, to Eggy’s surprise. He pats Eggsy on the shoulder and leaves him after being assured that Eggsy won’t tell anyone about Harry or what he’s just seen.

Eggsy returns home, and Dean violently confronts him over what he did with his mate’s car. Michelle tries to intervene but is shoved aside. Harry overhears the struggle through a mic that he placed on Eggsy’s shoulder. Harry speaks into it and tells Dean to let Eggsy go or he will report Dean’s various crimes to the authorities. Eggsy runs out of the flat and evades Dean’s goons yet again.

Eggsy goes to the tailor shop after Harry mentioned it to him. He finds Harry, who proposes the Kingsman candidacy to Eggsy. Eggsy decides he’s got nothing to lose and joins Harry as they go underground to a shuttle that takes them to meet with the other recruits. Eggsy is quickly befriended by a girl named Roxy (Sophie Cookson). He gets teased by a boy named Charlie (Edward Holcroft) and his buddies.

Harry finds Professor Arnold on his way to his class and confronts him over who held him captive. Arnold starts yelling in pain, and his head explodes. Two goons enter the building, forcing Harry to detonate a hand grenade before jumping out the window. He is slightly caught in the explosion and is left in a coma. Valentine learns of Arnold’s death and decides to investigate who is looking into them.

As the recruits are sleeping, the room starts to fill with water. Everyone but Eggsy swims to the toilets to get pipes and put them in the toilets to have a source of air. Eggsy tries to pull the door open but he can’t. He then swims to the mirror and smashes it, releasing the water into the next room where Merlin was overseeing them. Although he commends Roxy and Charlie for going along with the pipes and Eggsy for the mirror, he says everyone failed because they didn’t utilize proper teamwork, resulting in one recruit, Amelia (Fiona Hampton), drowning.

Valentine and Gazelle meet with the Scandinavian Princess Tilde (Hanna Alström) and the Scandinavian Prime Minister (Bjørn Floberg) for dinner as Valentine proposes his plan for controlling climate change to them. The PM is on board, but Tilde thinks Valentine is crazy. Tilde leaves and calls the guards. Gazelle runs out and kills the guards with her prosthetic legs and keeps Tilde captive.

The recruits continue their training by having to personally train a bunch of puppies. Eggsy is stuck with a small pug that doesn’t properly listen to him, though he becomes attached to it and he names it JB (after Jack Bauer).

After Harry recovers, he, Merlin, and Eggsy learn that Arnold had a chip implanted in his neck that resulted in his head exploding. Similarly, the Scandinavian PM had the same implant with a scar under his ear, like Arnold did. Merlin traces this back to Valentine. Eggsy comments that Valentine is a genius, and he shows Harry and Merlin a video of Valentine’s latest announcement. He is set to distribute free SIM cards around the world. Valentine is also suspected in the disappearances of numerous world leaders and some celebrities (including Iggy Azalea).

Harry goes undercover to Valentine’s estate to investigate further into Valentine’s plans. The two eat McDonald’s for dinner and discuss their admiration for James Bond movies, but Harry doesn’t get much information other than seeing one of Valentine’s aides carry a pamphlet for a hate group church in Kentucky.

The recruits are left down to Eggsy, Roxy, Charlie, and three of Charlie’s friends. Their next assignment involves them jumping out of a plane and onto a target. Merlin tells them they need to figure out what to do when one of their teammates has no parachute. Panicking, one recruit opens his chute too early. Eggsy has everyone join hands before pulling each others’ chutes. Only he and Roxy are left, and they pull Roxy’s chute at 300 feet. Merlin lets the others (except Charlie) go.

Eggsy meets Harry at the tailor shop where he takes Eggsy into a room filled with various weapons, including a hand grenade that looks like a lighter, a pen that triggers a poison, and a pair of shoes with a poison-tipped blade. As they return to the lobby, they find Valentine and Gazelle there, with Valentine trying on one of the suits in the shop.

On their next assignment, Eggsy, Roxy, and Charlie are sent to speak with a young woman at a nightclub. The three of them get drugged by an interrogator. Eggsy wakes up to find himself tied to the train tracks. The interrogator tries to get Eggsy to tell him about the Kingsmen and Harry, but Eggsy refuses to talk. The train runs over him, but Eggsy is dropped into a little hole. Harry emerges and tells him he and Roxy passed this test. They watch Charlie taking his test, but he refuses to die for the Kingsmen and he is sent home.

As part of their last test, Arthur and Merlin tells Eggsy and Roxy, respectively, to shoot their dogs. Eggsy fails to do so, but a gunshot can be heard from Roxy. Arthur sends Eggsy home. Eggsy takes Arthur’s car and drives back home, disappointed. He hugs his mother but then sees she has a black eye. Furious, he goes by the pub to find Dean. Eggsy is set to fight him until the car drives itself to Harry’s place. He is disappointed with Eggsy for failing his test and reveals that the gun had a blank in it. He also reveals that Amelia never drowned and that she works with the Kingsmen in Berlin. Roxy, meanwhile, is made the new Lancelot.

Harry goes to Kentucky to the hate group church. As he sits and overhears the nasty sermon from the bigoted leader, Harry starts to head to the door. From a few thousand feet away, Valentine and Gazelle sit to activate the signal on the phones in the church from the people who have Valentine’s SIM cards. The signal goes live and causes everyone, including Harry, to go into a violent rage and start attacking each other. Harry shoots several people in the head, as well as stabbing, bludgeoning, impaling, and blowing up anyone that tries to attack him until he is the only survivor. Eggsy, Merlin, and Arthur watch from their respective locations. Outside, Harry finds Valentine and Gazelle waiting for him. Valentine explains that the signal from the SIM cards triggers aggression and represses inhibitors. He then takes out a gun and shoots Harry in the head, killing him. Eggsy screams in horror, while Valentine is appalled at having killed someone.

Eggsy goes back to the tailor shop to meet with Arthur. He mentions that Harry had recorded Valentine’s confession and pours a drink in Harry’s honor when Eggsy notices that Arthur has an implant scar under his ear. Arthur was swayed by Valentine when he proposed his plan of mass genocide because he thinks that mankind is a virus to the planet, and wiping them out would be beneficial, so he has tried to convince all world leaders to join him in his plan. Arthur toasts to Harry, and he and Eggsy drink. Arthur then takes out his pen to activate the poison that he put in Eggsy’s drink, only to find himself dying. Eggsy switched the drinks by distracting Arthur moments earlier by asking him if the paintings on the wall were of former Kingsmen. Arthur dies on the table.

Eggsy goes to Merlin and Roxy with the information he’s just received, and they head off to stop Valentine’s plan from happening. Roxy is sent into the atmosphere with two giant balloons to launch a missile at one of Valentine’s satellites, while Merlin and Eggsy infiltrate his base as he hosts a party for everyone involved in his plan. Eggsy uses Arthur’s invitation and poses as him to get inside. Eggsy passes a cell with Tilde inside. He asks if she’ll give him a kiss if he saves the world. She says they can have anal sex if he succeeds. Eggsy proceeds to go on and save the world.

Roxy gets high enough to the satellite, but one balloon already bursts as she is at a very high altitude. She manages to launch the missile before the other balloon bursts, sending her plummeting back to the ground, though she gets her chute out and lands safely. Eggsy finds the Scandinavian PM and tranquilizes him before hacking into his laptop. Charlie then shows up and holds Eggsy with a knife to his throat. Eggsy electrocutes Charlie with the ring on his finger. Eggsy runs back to the plane while evading and shooting through Valentine’s gunmen. Meanwhile, the missile hits Valentine’s satellite and delays the signal from going live. However, Valentine gets control of another closer satellite and activates the signal with a biometric scanner, which Merlin is unable to get past. The signal goes live all around the world. People beat each other up in London, Rio de Janeiro, and New York. Michelle is seen trying to break into the bathroom trying to kill her daughter (after Roxy called her and told her to lock her in there following a request from Eggsy). Eggsy is cornered by the gunmen after trying to run back and stop Valentine. Merlin triggers the implants and causes everyone (the gunmen and world leaders) to have their heads explode like fireworks.

Eggsy manages to get back to where Valentine and Gazelle are. He shoots at them, momentarily taking Valentine’s hand off the scanner and stopping the signal. Gazelle bursts through the glass and tries to kill Eggsy. The two fight until they jump at each other. Gazelle attempts to cut Eggsy with her legs, but Eggsy poisons Gazelle after cutting her with the blade in his shoe. He then pulls off one of her legs and hurls it at Valentine’s back, impaling him. Thus, every signal is deactivated for good. Merlin and Roxy congratulate Eggsy for saving the world. He proceeds to grab a bottle of champagne with two glasses and goes to Tilde’s cell to have anal sex with her. As the camera slowly pans down and Eggsy starts to lick Tilde’s butt, which prompts Merlin to turn off his video monitor.

It’s the last night of summer in 1962, and a number of friends are meeting at Burger City for one last hurrah. They include:

-Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), The recently-graduated Class President.

-Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss), another recent graduate and Steve’s best friend, who was awarded the local Moose Lodge’s first scholarship.

-Laurie Henderson (Cindy Williams), who is heading into her Senior Year in high school, and was the head cheerleader, as well as Steve Bolander’s girlfriend. She is also Curt’s younger sister.

-Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charles Martin Smith), a rather nerdish and socially awkward kid with glasses and a mutual friend of Steve and Curt.

-John Milner (Paul Le Mat), a young man and high school graduate in his early 20s who spends most of his days fixing cars for a living and racing a yellow deuce coupe, said by some to be the fastest car in the Valley.

At Burger City, Curt confides to Steve that he is considering not heading East for college the next day. Steve is upset by this, but Curt feels that maybe he needs to get his feelings in order. After their discussion, Steve tells Terry that he is going to give him his 1958 Chevrolet Impala until he comes back from college. As Terry only has a little Vespa scooter, the opportunity to have a hot set of wheels makes him ecstatic.

After the formalities, Steve gets into Laurie’s car, and tells her that he thinks they should see other people while he is away. Laurie tries to hide the fact that this upsets her, but becomes very quiet considering the ramifications.

Meanwhile, Curt and John talk about how it seems every girl that comes by is ugly or has a boyfriend. “Where is the dazzling beauty I’ve been waiting for all my life?” bemoans Curt. John’s conversation turns to how the strip that they cruise on keeps shrinking, remembering when a tank full of gas was needed to complete a full circuit.

It is then that the group decides to split up. John heads off cruising in his yellow deuce coupe, while Terry heads out in Steve’s car. Curt decides to accompany Steve and Laurie to the “Freshman Hop,” a sock-hop in the school gymnasium.

As Milner heads off to cruise around, he encounters a couple of his buddies also cruising down the streets, who tell him of a “very wicked ’55 Chevy looking for him,” as well as alerting him to cops watching for speeders.

Steve, Laurie and Curt have pulled up to a stop light, with a white ‘56 T-Bird next to them. As Curt looks, a blonde driving the vehicle smiles at him, and seems to mouth the words “I love you,” before taking off. Curt is taken by the vision of this ’goddess,’ and pleads with his friend and sister to follow the Thunderbird. However, his words fall on deaf ears.

Milner soon after encounters a Studebaker, full of girls. When he asks if any of them wants to ride with him, one of the girl’s sisters volunteers. However, it is only after she gets into his car does he realize what he’s gotten himself into. The girl, named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), is easily a very young girl, and John is determined to not have her along with him for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, Steve, Laurie and Curt have made it to the sock-hop. Laurie’s friend Peg (Kathleen Quinlan) confides that Laurie will be fine without Steve, but Laurie is still upset and confused about Steve’s wish to see other people. Steve meanwhile, has explained his plans to some of his own friends, who laugh that he will use the opportunity to “screw around.” Curt meanwhile, roams the halls of the school and comes across his old locker. He tries the combination, only to find that it has been changed.

After Steve and Laurie meet up after talking to their friends, Steve wishes to dance, but Laurie refuses, her anger over his decision boiling to the surface. Curt meanwhile, meets one of his teachers who is chaperoning the dance. Mr. Wolfe (Terence McGovern) and Curt then discuss the teacher’s past, how he went to a college in Middlebury, Vermont, and only stayed one semester. Wolfe contends that he wasn’t the adventuresome type, and Curt explains how he might not be as well. The teacher encourages Curt to not stay, but to go out and explore life.

Back in the yellow deuce coupe, John and Carol continue to be at odds with each other. Carol explains how she and her friends used shaving cream to coverup someone’s windshield as a gag, and shows John that she still has a can with her at that moment. They then fight over the music on the radio, with John being irritated by the Beach Boys song “Surfin’ Safari” on the radio. John’s night is further complicated when Officer Holstein (Jim Bohan) pulls him over. Holstein gives Milner a ticket, claiming one of his taillights is out, and claims that he received reports of John speeding, but is going to let him go this time, promising that one day soon, he’s going to catch him in the act. After Holstein leaves, John gives Carol the ticket to put in a pouch on the driver’s side door, which already contains plenty of tickets from “the law.”

Terry meanwhile, has pulled up to a light, next to a black ’55 Chevy. The driver is Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), who shouts over to Terry that he’s looking for John Milner, and to let John know that he’s looking to race him. After the encounter with Falfa, Terry notices a blonde walking the streets. After saying that she resembles Connie Stevens, the girl stops to talk to Terry. Terry claims he’s known as “Terry the Tiger,” and offers to let her feel the tuck-and-roll upholstery of the Impala. The girl, named Debbie (Candy Clark), gets in, and the two drive off.

Back at the sock-hop, Steve and Laurie are chosen to lead a spotlight snowball dance, and put on smiling faces for the rest of the students. As they dance together, Laurie continues to argue quietly, before beginning to cry, and telling Steve to “go to hell,” as the song “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” fills the gymnasium.

Curt meanwhile, has run into his ex-girlfriend, Wendy (Deby Celiz). With nothing else to do at the school, he asks if he can tag along with her and her friend Bobbie (Lynne Marie Stewart). Wendy agrees, much to the ire of her friend.

Back in the gymnasium, as the music picks back up, Steve and Laurie are now dancing intimately, when a teacher named Mr Kroot (Mark Anger) tells them to “break it up.” Steve gets smart and tells Kroot to ‘kiss a duck,’ as well as calls him a ‘marble-head.’ Kroot tells Steve that he is suspended, but Steve smilingly tells Kroot that he graduated last semester, and by all accounts, Kroot can’t do anything to him. As Kroot storms off, Steve and Laurie laugh at the moment. After the incident, they decide to go to The Canal to be alone, their relationship appearing to have been patched up.

Terry meanwhile, has taken Debbie to Burger City to get food. As they wait, a former ‘flame’ of Debbie’s leans into the car to talk to her. Debbie ignores all his advances, before flicking a lit match at him after making an obscene gesture at her. Debbie confides that the guy is just ‘horny,’ and that she likes Terry because he’s different. As Terry’s face develops a smile, Debbie tells Terry that she figures he’s smart enough to get them some liquor. Seeing a new way to impress Debbie, Terry heads off to a liquor store, leaving behind the order they placed.

Curt has now come to occupy the back seat of Bobbie’s VW Bug, and Wendy in the passenger seat. Seeing the white T-Bird, Curt demands they follow it, much to Bobbie’s irritation. When Wendy asks Curt who this girl in the T-Bird is, Curt says he has no idea. Bobbie meanwhile, claims that she’s the wife of a guy who owns a jewelry store. Curt doesn’t believe it, since the girl in the T-Bird is young and beautiful.

Wendy confides to Bobbie about Curt’s dream to be a Presidential Aide, and to one day shake hands with President Kennedy. Curt and Wendy then playfully bicker about telling of his future ambitions, and Curt invites her into the backseat to cuddle. Wendy then confides that she thinks Curt’s decision to stay in town is a good idea, saying that maybe they can attend the local college together. Just then, Kip Pullman (Ed Greenberg) pulls up next to their car. Bobbie tells Curt to ‘say anything’ to Kip, whom she has a crush on and would like to meet. Curt then takes her request a bit too far, and yells over to Kips that Bobbie is madly in love with him, and trembles at the sight of his rippling biceps. This causes Bobbie to pull over immediately, demanding Curt to leave her car. Curt does so, and then sees the T-Bird off a ways. He chases after it, but it soon disappears, and he is unsure where to go or what to do next.

John meanwhile, has given in to Carol’s request for a drink, and takes her to Burger City for a Coke. While there, John meets one of his hot rod buddies, and explains that he’s babysitting Carol. Carol gets upset and throws her drink at him, before storming out of the car. John lets her go for a bit, but then feels a sense of responsibility and catches up to Carol, who gets back into his coupe.

Terry meanwhile, has gotten to the liquor store, but is unsure how to get a bottle of Old Harper for Debbie. As he ponders outside the store, a wino comes up, and Terry asks him to help. The wino takes Terry’s money, but instead buys wine and exits out the back door of the store. Terry goes in, and runs off a list of things for the storekeeper to give him along with the bottle of Old Harper. However, the storekeeper still asks Terry for his ID. Terry returns to the car, now without the money, and asks Debbie for more. She is at first upset, but agrees. As Terry approaches the store again, he sees another man approaching. Terry explains his situation, and the man claims he will help Terry. However, seconds later, the man rushes out, and tosses Terry the bottle of Old Harper. The man appears to have robbed the store, and the store owner soon after emerges, firing on the man with a gun! Terry hightails it back to the Impala, and quickly gets out of there with Debbie.

Meanwhile, John has taken Carol to an old junkyard, and gives her a run down of the various vehicles that he’s known about, usually belonging to guys he’s known who have long since died in crashes or accidents. Carol claims that John told her he’s never been in an accident, but he confides that he’s come close a couple of times, and that so far, none has been able to beat him.

Curt meanwhile, has taken to sitting on the hood of a car, watching an episode of “Ozzie and Harriet” through the window of an appliance store. As he notices, several guys who are part of a gang called “The Pharoahs” accost him, claiming he’s sitting on a car that belongs to a friend of theirs. When Curt gets off, one of the members tells Curt that he appears to have left a scratch in the hood. The guys then take Curt along with them in their car, deciding on a ‘fitting punishment’. As Curt feels he is going to die, the white T-Bird passes by. Shortly thereafter. Falfa’s ’55 Chevy passes, and the leader of the Pharoahs claims that this guy aims to beat Milner, claiming John’s days are numbered.

Meanwhile, John and Carol encounter a white Cadillac, full of girls. The girls claim that John’s car deserves their special prize. When John is eager to accept it, the girls hurl a water balloon at him, which misses and hits Carol. John bursts into laughter, but Carol wants revenge, and John seems eager to have a little mischief. As both cars come to the next red light, John proceeds to flatten the other car’s tires, and Carol sprays shaving cream all over the other car’s windows, before the two jump back into John’s car and drive off.

Terry and Debbie have made it to the Canal, where Terry mixes up the Old Harper with some soda. Terry and Debbie attempt to get intimate, but there appear to be too many people walking around. Terry leaves the car door open and the music on, and he and Debbie go looking for a quiet place to be alone.

Curt and the Pharoahs pull into a miniature golf establishment, where the Pharoahs attempt to pry open the pinball machines in the main building for gas money. They are soon caught by Mr. Gordon (Scott Beach), who is a member of the Moose Lodge in town. Curt claims that the guys he is with are his friends, and Gordon takes Curt into the back to meet with another Moose Lodge member named Hank (Al Nalbandian). They both congratulate Curt on winning the Lodge’s first scholarship, before he takes leave along with the Pharoahs, who have finished cleaning out the change in the pinball machines. The leader of the Pharoahs is impressed with how Curt handled the situation, and decides that he and his friends will consider making Curt one of them.

Back at the Canal, Terry stops necking with Debbie, when he realizes the music from the car has stopped. He and Debbie then return to where the car was, only to find that it has been stolen!

Meanwhile, in another part of the Canal, Steve and Laurie are getting intimate in her car. The conversation shifts a little towards Steve’s decision of wanting to go, and how Curt does not. The talk again upsets Laurie, and she stops giving in to Steve’s advances. When he claims he wants something to remember her by, she goes limp, infuriating him more that she is just going to let him do whatever but she isn’t going to take any pleasure out of it. When Steve makes an off hand comment about Laurie watching her brother ‘doing something,’ Laurie yells at Steve “You’re disgusting!” and kicks him out of the car, before driving off.

Terry and Debbie are walking near the canal, with Debbie explaining about reports of a person in the area dubbed “The Goat Killer,” who kills and dismembers his victims. Terry is getting more and more freaked out by her talking, when a noise distracts them. At first thinking it might be the goat killer, Terry is relieved when it turns out to be Steve. When Debbie explains that their car was stolen, Terry attempts to divert the subject (not wanting Steve to know that “his” car was stolen).

Back with John and Carol, John attempts to trick Carol into telling where she lives, to try and take her home, but Carol is stubborn, claiming she isn’t going home until she “gets some action.” It is then that Bob Falfa’s car pulls alongside John, and the two trade barbs, with Bob insisting on racing John. They do a small race through several lights before John stops at a red light and Bob continues on through. Carol notes that Bob is fast, but John says that while he is fast, he also seems stupid.

Meanwhile, Steve separates from Terry and Debbie, and goes back to Burger City, while Terry and Debbie go off to report the car stolen.

Curt and the Pharoahs have meanwhile located a police car watching for speeders. The leader of the Pharoahs charges Curt with hooking a tow cable to the rear axle of the car. Curt is unsure about this, but is told that he has to do this, or the Pharoahs will still plan to make him suffer for the vehicle he scratched. Curt has some close calls, but eventually gets the cable hooked. As he rushes back to the Pharoahs, they then speed by the officers, with Curt yelling at the top of his lungs, “Stand by for justice!” The cops then take off, but the cable catches, tearing the rear axle off their car. Prepared for shock and awe, the two cops turn around, speechlessly looking at the torn off rear axle of their car. Nearby, Terry and Debbie are witnesses to the incident as well.

Carol soon finds herself confused when John takes her along a dark stretch of road, and John seems intent on having his way with her. Carol’s spitfire demeanor wavers and she insists that much of her toughness was pretend. John explains that if he knew where she lived, he could take her home, and Carol immediately tells him her address. Of course, John was hoping that his ‘trick’ would work, and they head off for Carol’s place.

At Burger City, Steve meets up with a waitress named Budda (Jana Bellan). Budda takes a moment to talk with Steve, who explains about how he and Laurie broke up. Budda takes this opportunity to tell Steve how she secretly likes him, and offers to have him come over to her place after her shift is over. As they talk, both are unaware that Laurie has returned to Burger City as well and is outside, having stopped at seeing Budda and Steve talking in a booth. Laurie assumes the worst, and quickly leaves before they see her. Back inside the restaurant, Steve declines Budda’s offer, and watches her get back to work.

Outside, The Pharaohs pull up with Curt, and eagerly applaud what he has done. The Pharaohs are eager to induct Curt the next evening into their group, but Curt does not tell them that he’ll be gone. Curt then gets into his car, and sees the white T-Bird pass by. He tries to start up his car, but it won’t turn over, and he watches once again as the mysterious blonde slips from his grasp once more.

Laurie is cruising around the strip when she encounters Bob Falfa. She parks her car and gets in with him, and they begin to cruise. Falfa attempts to talk with her, but Laurie explains she does not want to talk.

John finally gets Carol to her place, and they have an awkward goodbye, until John gives her the cover to his gearshift as a memento. Carol happily takes it and goes to her house, as John drives off, a strange look on his face.

Back at Burger City, Curt has run into Steve, and is shocked when Steve explains that he is now considering not going to college out East. Curt attempts to calm Steve, but also ends up fixing his car, and takes off, leaving Steve unsure of what to do now.

Meanwhile, Terry has had an adverse reaction to the alcohol, and has thrown up most of it. After Terry recovers, he and Debbie walk a ways off, and find Steve’s Impala parked in a lot! Terry finds the car unlocked and the keys gone. He attempts to hot-wire the car when the guys who stole it confront him, and attempt to beat him up. Debbie attempts to stop them, but they are both saved when John rolls by, comes over and scares away the two men.

Back at Burger City, another classmate of Steve’s tells him that Laurie was seen riding around with Bob Falfa. Just as Terry and Debbie pull up outside Burger City with his car, Steve rushes out and shoos Terry and Debbie out of his car, and drives off. Debbie is shocked that Steve just took Terry’s car, and Terry tells her the truth about how the car wasn’t really his, and how he just has a Vespa Scooter for transportation. Even so, Debbie smiles and tells Terry that she had a good time, and as she takes leave, tells him that she’ll probably see him around.

Curt meanwhile, has made his way to a radio station on the outskirts of town. Rumor is that Wolfman Jack, whose voice has played across the airwaves all evening, is located here. As Curt enters the station, he encounters a bearded man sitting in the control booth. Curt hands the man a piece of paper featuring a dedication and a request to the girl in the white T-Bird. The man explains that he can have the dedication sent into the Wolfman’s main station and broadcast the next day. But Curt explains that he needs the request put out tonight, as he is unsure if he is going to be leaving town or not.

The man in the control booth then explains to Curt that he really should not sell himself short, and to go out and experience life. Curt takes the words to heart, and is excited when the man tells him if he can, he’ll try to get the message relayed right away. As Curt is about to exit the studio, he hears a familiar voice. He turns, and sees the man in the control booth speaking into his microphone, in the voice of Wolfman Jack. Curt smiles at having met one of his heroes, and exits the building.

John is still at Burger City when Falfa comes up in his Chevy. John tells Falfa to meet him out at Paradise Road for their race. Terry pleads to go along, and John concedes.

The word spreads throughout the strip, and soon reaches Steve’s ears, who heads out there when word comes that Laurie is riding with Falfa.

Meanwhile, Curt has returned to Burger City, and over to a nearby phone booth. On his car radio, he hears Wolfman Jack relay his dedication to the blonde in the T-Bird, and smiles as Wolfman calls Curt a good friend. Wolfman dedicates the next song to the blonde, and gives her the number of the phone booth at Burger City, encouraging the girl to call Curt.

Meanwhile, John, Falfa, and a number of other kids have rolled out to Paradise Road. Once out there, John finally realizes that Laurie is riding with Falfa, and asks what she is doing in there. Laurie gives a nonchalant “Mind your own business, John” and stays in Falfa’s car, but Terry gets out to shine his flashlight for the race. As the vehicles take off, the race stays tight, until Falfa loses control of his car, skids off the road, rolls, and crashes, whilst John continues straight down the road.

Steve arrives just in time to see the aftermath, and rushes to the wreck, to see Falfa emerge and Laurie beating and hitting him. Steve pulls her off Falfa just as John pulls Falfa away from the car, just as it bursts into flames.

In a moment of desperation, Laurie cries and pleads for Steve not to leave, to which Steve embraces and tells Laurie that he is not going to leave her.

Terry explains to John how impressed he was with how John beat Falfa, but John confides to Terry that just before Falfa’s car swerved off the road, he was beating him. Terry explains that John was just nervous, and that he’ll never be beaten. John just backs up Terry’s hero worship, and to calm him down, says that they’ll take on all comers, as Terry yawns, muttering, “Jesus, what a night.”

Meanwhile, back at Burger City, the phone rings, and Curt answers it, ecstatic to be talking to the girl of his dreams. He inquires about her name, but she does not give it. When Curt asks to meet her, she explains that she’ll be cruising the strip again that night, but Curt wants to meet her now. She then says goodbye as Curt struggles to speak more, and the line goes dead.

Several hours later, Curt goes to the airport to get on the plane to head East, with his friends and family saying goodbye. Steve does not accompany him, and Curt boards the plane, taking off to a new adventure. As he glances out the window of the plane, he sees a white Thunderbird traveling along a stretch of road.

As the plane banks off, the audience is treated to images of John, Terry, Steve, and Curt, along with where they ended up in life:

-John Milner was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964.

-Terry Fields was reported missing in action near An Loc in December 1965.

-Steve Bolander is an insurance agent in Modesto, California.

The nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts, ruled from the Capitol. As punishment for a failed revolt, each district is forced to select two tributes, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games until there is only one survivor.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen of District 12 volunteers to take her younger sister Primrose’s place in the 74th Hunger Games. She and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are escorted to the Capitol by their chaperone Effie Trinket and mentor Haymitch Abernathy, the Games’ only living winner from District 12. Haymitch stresses the importance of gaining sponsors, as they can provide potentially life-saving gifts during the Games. While training, Katniss observes the “Careers” (Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, and Clove), volunteers from the wealthy Districts 1 and 2 who have trained for the Games from an early age. During a televised interview with Caesar Flickerman, Peeta expresses his love for Katniss, which she initially sees as an attempt to attract sponsors; she later learns his admission is genuine.

At the start of the Games, Katniss grabs some of the supplies placed around the Cornucopia, a structure at the starting point, and narrowly escapes death. Half of the 24 tributes die in the initial melee, and only 11, including all four Careers, survive the first day. Katniss tries to stay away from the others, but Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker, triggers a forest fire to drive her towards them. She runs into the Careers, with whom Peeta has seemingly allied, and flees up a tree. Peeta advises the Careers to wait her out. The next morning, Katniss notices Rue, District 11’s young female tribute, hiding in an adjacent tree. Rue draws her attention to a nest of genetically modified venomous wasps. Using a knife, Katniss causes the nest to fall on the Careers sleeping below; Glimmer dies, but the others escape. Katniss becomes disoriented from being stung a few times. Peeta returns and tells her to flee.

Rue helps Katniss recover, and they become friends and allies. Katniss destroys the supplies the Careers stockpiled by detonating mines guarding them, while Rue provides a distraction. Katniss later finds and frees Rue from a trap, but Marvel throws a spear which impales Rue. Katniss kills him with an arrow. She comforts Rue by singing to her and, after she dies, adorns her body with flowers, triggering a riot in District 11. President Coriolanus Snow warns Crane about the unrest.

Haymitch persuades Crane to change the rules to allow two winners provided they are from the same district, suggesting that this will pacify the public. After the announcement, Katniss finds a gravely wounded Peeta. Another announcement promises that what each survivor needs the most will be provided at the Cornucopia the next morning. Despite Peeta’s vehement opposition, Katniss leaves to get medicine for him, but she is ambushed and overpowered by Clove, who gloats about Rue’s death and prepares to dispatch her. Thresh, District 11’s male tribute, overhears and kills Clove. He spares Katniss once, for Rue’s sake. The medicine heals Peeta overnight.

While hunting for food, Katniss hears a cannon go off, signaling a death. She races to Peeta, who has unwittingly collected deadly nightlock berries. They discover “Foxface”, District 5’s female tribute, poisoned by the nightlock she collected after watching Peeta. Crane then unleashes genetically modified beasts that kill Thresh and force Katniss, Peeta, and Cato - the last three survivors - to climb onto the Cornucopia’s roof. Cato gets Peeta in a headlock and uses him as a human shield against Katniss’s bow. Peeta directs Katniss to shoot Cato’s hand, enabling Peeta to throw him to the beasts below. Katniss kills him with an arrow to end his suffering.

Crane then revokes the rule change allowing two victors to win. Peeta urges Katniss to shoot him, but she convinces him to eat nightlock together. Just before they do, Crane hastily declares them co-victors. Afterward, Haymitch warns Katniss that she has made enemies through these acts of defiance. Snow has Crane locked in a room with nightlock berries.

Haymitch tells Katniss during her final interview with Caesar she must profess her love for Peeta so that she seen as a girl who acted out for love instead of starting a rebellion. Afterwards President Snow crowns both of them victors of the 74th Hunger Games and later return home as heroes.

A white background. Red drops begin to fall past the opening credits. The drops become a red sauce on a plate. A slab of meat is cut with a knife and garnished with raspberries, then placed on a table. The camera moves over various dishes, most of which are very small and look very expensive. The restaurant is furnished in pinks and greens, and everyone is well-dressed. Waiters tell customers ridiculously decadent specials like squid ravioli and swordfish meatloaf.

The setting is New York City, sometime in the 1980s. The vice-presidents of Pierce and Pierce, a Wall Street financial institution, are seated around a table. They include Timothy Bryce (Justin Theroux), Craig McDermott (Josh Lucas), David Van Paten (Bill Sage) and Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). Bryce says “This is a chick’s restaurant. Why aren’t we at Dorsia?” McDermott replies “Because Bateman won’t give the maitre d’ head.” Bateman flicks a toothpick at him. They discuss various people in the restaurant, including who Bateman believes to be Paul Allen across the room. Van Paten returns from the bathroom and says that there’s no good place to do coke in. They discuss the fact that Allen is handling the Fisher account, which leads McDermott to make racist remarks about Allen being Jewish. “Jesus, McDermott, what does that have to do with anything?” says Patrick. “I’ve seen that bastard sitting in his office spinning a fucking menorah.” Bateman rebukes him. “Not a menorah. A dreidel, you spin a dreidel.” McDermott replies “Do you want me to fry you up some potato pancakes? Some latkes?” “No, just cool it with the anti-Semitic remarks.” “Oh I forgot. Bateman’s dating someone from the ACLU!” Bryce calls Bateman the voice of reason. Looking at the check he remarks “Speaking of reasonable, only $570.” They all drop their Platinum American Express cards on top of the bill.

At a nightclub, Bryce takes some money out of a clip and gives it to a man in drag, who lets them inside. As some 80’s pop music plays from overhead, the men dance while strobe lights flash and some women on stage wave around prop guns like something out of a grind house flick. Bateman orders a drink and hands the bartender a drink ticket, but she tells him drink tickets are no good and that he has to pay in cash. He pays, and then when she’s out of earshot, he says “You’re a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, then play around with your blood.” He takes his drink with a smile.

The camera pans through Bateman’s apartment the next morning. Everything is shades of white, with black counters and shelves. It is sparsely decorated, but looks expensive. “I live in the American Gardens building on West 81st street, on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman. I’m 27 years old.” He describes his diet and exercise routine, and his meticulous daily grooming rituals, which involves no less than 9 different lotions and cleansers. “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman,” he says while peeling off his herb-mint facial mask. “Some kind of abstraction. But there is no ‘real me’. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.”

Sweeping over the skyline of downtown New York, the song Walking on Sunshine starts playing. Walking down the hallway to his office, Bateman listens to this song on his headphones with absolutely no expression on his face. Someone passes by him and says “Hey Hamilton. Nice tan.” Everyone in the hallway has expensive suits and slicked-back hair. He walks by his secretary, Jean (Chloe Sevigny), to his office door. She’s dressed in a long coat and shirt that are too big for her. “Aerobics class, sorry. Any messages?” She follows him into his corner office. She tells him someone cancelled, but she doesn’t know what he cancelled or why. “I occasionally box with him at the Harvard Club.” She tells him someone named Spencer wants to meet for drinks. He tells her to cancel it. “What should I say?” “Just say no.” He tells her to make reservations for him at a restaurant for lunch, as well as dinner reservations at Arcadia on Thursday. “Something romantic?” “No, silly. Forget it. I’ll make them. Just get me a mineral water.” She tells him he looks nice. Without looking at her, he tells her not to wear that outfit. “Wear a dress or a skirt. You’re prettier than that.” The phone starts ringing, and he tells her to tell anyone who calls that he isn’t there. “And high heels.” She leaves. He puts his feet up and starts watching Jeopardy on his office TV.

A taxicab makes its way through Chinatown. Inside, Bateman is trying to listen to the new Robert Palmer album on his headphones, but his “supposed” fiancée Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon) keeps distracting him with ideas for their wedding. He says he can’t take the time off work to get married. “Your father practically owns the company. You can do anything you like, silly. You hate that job anyway, I don’t see why you don’t just quit.” “Because… I want… to fit… IN.” The cab drives up to a restaurant called Espace. “I’m on the verge of tears as we arrive, since I’m positive we won’t have a decent table. But we do, and relief washes over me, in an awesome wave.” Bryce it already seated next to two punk-rock teens smoking cigarettes. “This is my cousin Vanden and her boyfriend Stash,” says Evelyn. Bryce kisses Evelyn on both cheeks, and then starts kissing her neck, slightly crossing the line. Bateman looks at his blurry reflection in a metal menu. As they eat sushi, he remarks “I’m fairly certain that Timothy Bryce and Evelyn are having an affair. Timothy is the only interesting person I know.” Bateman doesn’t care because he’s also having an affair with Courtney Rawlinson, her best friend. “She’s usually operating on one or more psychiatric drugs, tonight I believe it’s Xanax.” She’s also engaged to Luis Carruthers, “the biggest doofus in the business.” Courtney and Luis are seated beside him, and Courtney, slurring her words, asks Stash whether he thinks Soho is becoming too commercial. “Yes. I read that,” says Luis. “Oh who gives a rat’s ass,” says Bryce. “That affects us,” says Vanden. “What about the massacres in Sri Lanka, honey? Don’t you know that the Sikhs are killing like, tons of Israelis over there?” Bateman tells him there are more important problems to worry about than Sri Lanka. He tells them they include Apartheid, nuclear arms, terrorism, and world hunger. “We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal right for women. We have to encourage a return to traditional moral values. Most importantly, we have to promote general social concern, and less materialism in young people.” Bryce almost chokes on his drink as he starts laughing. “Patrick, how thought-provoking,” Luis says, feigning tears. Patrick takes a swig of his whiskey.

It’s nighttime. Patrick takes some money out of an ATM. A woman walks by and he starts following her. They stop at a crosswalk and he says “hello”. She hesitantly says hello back. The sign changes to walk and they cross the street.

The next day, Bateman argues with an old Chinese woman who runs a dry cleaners. Another Chinese man is looking at some bed sheets with a huge red stain on them. Bateman is trying to tell her that you can’t bleach that type of sheet, and that they are very expensive. She continues to babble in a language he can’t understand. “Lady, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth, I will kill you.” She is shocked, but still won’t speak English. “I can’t understand you! You’re a fool! Stupid bitch-ee!” A woman comes in the door and recognizes him. Her name is Victoria. He says hi to her. “It’s so silly to come all the way up here,” she says, “but they really are the best.” “Then why can’t they get these stains out?” he says, showing her the sheets. “Can you get through to them? I’m getting nowhere.” “What are those?” she says, looking wide-eyed at the stains. “Uh, well it’s cranberry juice. Cran-apple.” She looks skeptical. He tells her he has a lunch date in 15 minutes, and she tries to make plans with him. He tells her he’s booked solid. “What about Saturday?” “Next Saturday? Can’t. Matinee of Les Mis.” He promises to call her, and then leaves.

Patrick paces his apartment in his underwear, on the phone with Courtney Rawlinson (Samantha Mathis). A porno movie is playing on his TV. “You’re dating Luis, he’s in Arizona. You’re fucking me and we haven’t made plans. What could you possibly be up to tonight?” She says she’s waiting for Luis to call. “Pumpkin you’re dating an asshole. Pumpkin you’re dating the biggest dickweed in New York. Pumpkin you’re dating a tumbling, tumbling dickweed.” She tells him to stop calling her pumpkin. He insists that they have dinner, and when she says no, he says he can get them a table at Dorsia. This perks her interest. He tells her to wear something nice. He calls the restaurant, and asks if he can make a reservation for two at 8:00 or 8:30. There is a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the man on the other end starts laughing uncontrollably. Patrick hangs up.

In a limo, Patrick listens to Courtney describe her day, while she is almost passing out from her medication. “Is that Donald Trump’s car?” he asks, looking out the window. Patrick’s face is blurred through the plastic divider of the limo. She tells him to shut up. He tells her to take some more lithium, or coke or caffeine to get her out of her slump. “I just want a child,” she says, absently looking out the window. “Just two… perfect… children.”

At the restaurant, she nearly falls asleep at the table and Patrick touches her shoulder and wakes her up. “Are we here?” she asks sleepily. “Yeah,” he says, sitting down. “This is Dorsia?” “Yes dear,” he says, opening the menu which clearly says Barcadia across it. He tells her she’s going to have the peanut butter soup with smoked duck and mashed squash. “New York Matinee called it a ’playful but mysterious little dish. You’ll love it.” He orders her the red snapper with violets and pine nuts to follow. She thanks him, and then passes out in her chair.

A conference table at P&P the next day. Luis thanks Patrick for looking after Courtney. “Dorsia, how impressive. How on Earth did you get a reservation there?” “Lucky I guess,” replies Patrick. Luis compliments him on his suit. “Valentino Couture?” “Uh-huh.” Luis tries to touch it, but Patrick slaps his hand away. “Your compliment was sufficient Luis.” Paul Allen comes up to them. “Hello Halberstram. Nice tie. How the hell are ya?” Narrating, Patrick explains that Allen has mistaken him for “this dickhead Marcus Halberstram.” They both work at P&P and do the same exact work, and wear the same glasses and suits. “Marcus and I even go to the same barber. Although I have a slightly better haircut.” Allen and Patrick discuss accounts. He asks him about Cecilia, Marcus’ girlfriend. “She’s great, I’m very lucky,” replies Patrick. Bryce and McDermott come in, congratulating Allen on the Fisher account. “Thank you, Baxter.” Bryce asks him if he wants to play squash. Allen gives him his card out of his case. An audible tremor goes through the room. “Call me.” “How about Friday?” says Bryce. “No can do. I got an 8:30 rez at Dorsia. Great sea urchin seviche.” He leaves. Bryce wonders how he managed to swing that. McDermott thinks he’s lying. Bateman takes out his new business card, which reads “Patrick BATEMAN - Vice President”. “What do you think?” “Very nice,” says McDermott. “I picked them up from the printers yesterday.” “Nice coloring,” says Bryce. “That’s ‘bone’. And the lettering is something called ‘silian rail’.” “Cool Bateman. But that’s nothing,” says Van Paten, laying his card down next to Patrick’s. “That is really nice,” says Bryce. “Eggshell with romalian type. What do you think?” Van Paten asks Patrick. “Nice,” Patrick says, visibly jealous. “How did a nitwit like you get so tasteful?” says Bryce. Biting his nails, Patrick can’t believe Bryce prefers Van Paten’s card. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” says Bryce, taking out his own card. “Raised lettering, pale nimbus, white.” Another tremor goes through the room. Holding back his rage, Bateman tells him it’s very nice. “Let’s see Paul Allen’s card.” Bryce takes it out of his pocket and hands it to Bateman. It shines with an ethereal glow in the dim light of the conference room, even though it is basically identical to the rest of their cards. Narrating, Patrick says “Look at the subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God. It even has a watermark!” He drops the card on the table. “Something wrong?” asks Luis. “Patrick? You’re sweating.”

Nighttime. Patrick walks by a courthouse on his way home. Steam rises from underground vents. He walks through an alley, a black shadow under a pale streetlight. He stops and looks behind him, to see a homeless man by some piles of trash. “Hello. Pat Bateman. Do you want some money? Some food?” He starts taking out some money. “I’m hungry,” says the bum. “It’s cold out too isn’t it? If you’re so hungry, why don’t you get a job?” The bum says he lost his job. “Why? Were you drinking? Insider trading? Just joking.” He asks him his name, and the bum says his name is Al. “Get a god-damn job, Al! You have a negative attitude. That’s what’s stopping you.” He promises to help him get his act together. Al tells him he’s a kind man. He puts his hand on Patrick’s arm, and Patrick pulls it off, visibly disgusted. “You know how bad you smell? You reek of shit. You know that?” He laughs, and then apologizes. “I don’t have anything in common with you.” He bends down and opens his briefcase. “Oh thank you mister, thank you. It’s cold out here…” “You know what a fucking loser you are?” Patrick suddenly takes a knife out of the briefcase and stabs the bum three times in the stomach, than pushes the shocked man to the ground. The dog barks at Patrick, so he stomps it with his foot, hard enough to kill it. He picks up his briefcase and walks away down the alley.

A health spa. A young Asian woman rubs some lotion on Patrick’s face. She compliments him on his smooth skin. Later, another Asian woman gives him a manicure. “I have all the characteristics of a human being. Flesh. Blood. Skin. Hair. But not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed, and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside me, and I don’t know why.” He is lying in a tanning bed now. “My nightly bloodlust has overflowed into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.”

A Christmas party. A short man in an elf costume hands out glasses of champagne. ‘Deck The Halls’ is playing in the background. Patrick takes one, scowling at the bizarre costumes. Someone comes up to him and calls him by the wrong name. “Hey Hamilton. Have a holly-jolly Christmas,” says Patrick. “Is Allen still handling the Fisher account?” He points to Paul Allen across the room. “Of course. Who else?” Evelyn comes up to them. “Mistletoe alert! Merry X-mas Patrick. You’re late honey.” “I’ve been here the entire time, you just didn’t see me.” A man behind him puts cloth antlers on Patrick’s head without him noticing. “Say hello to Snowball. Snowball says ‘hello Patrick’”, she says in a childish voice. “What is it?” Patrick looks with disgust at the creature in her arms. “It’s a little baby piggy-wiggy, isn’t it? It’s a Vietnamese potbellied pig. They make darling pets. Don’t you? Don’t you?” Patrick looks ready to vomit as she pets the animal. “Stop scowling Patrick. You’re such a Grinch. What does Mr. Grinch want for Christmas? And don’t say breast implants again.” Ignoring her, he goes to mingle with the rest of the party. ‘Joy to the World’ is playing. He says hi to Paul Allen. “Hey Marcus. Merry Christmas, how’ve you been. Workaholic I suppose?” He calls to Hamilton that they are going to Nell’s bar, and that the limo is out front. Patrick says that they should have dinner. Paul suggests that he bring Cecilia. “Cecilia would adore it.” “Then let’s do it, Marcus.” Evelyn comes up to them. Paul compliments her on the party, and then walks away. “Why is he calling you Marcus?” asks Evelyn. Ignoring this, Patrick says “Mistletoe alert!”, and kisses her while waving a leafy branch.

A restaurant. Most of the tables are empty. Patrick takes his reservation under the name Marcus Halberstram. He is led to a table where Paul is already seated, and he is arguing with a waiter. “I ordered the cilantro crawfish gumbo, which is of course the only excuse one could have for being at this restaurant, which is, by the way, almost completely empty.” Patrick ignores this and orders a J&B straight and a Corona. The waiter, who looks slightly effeminate and has a red bandana around his neck, starts to list the specials, but Paul cuts him off and orders a double Absolut martini. “Yes sir. Would you like to hear the specials?” “Not if you want to keep your spleen,” says Patrick. The waiter leaves. “This is a real beehive of activity Halberstram. This place is hot, very hot,” Paul comments sarcastically. “The mud soup and charcoal arugula are outrageous here,” replies Patrick. Paul derides him for being late. “I’m a child of divorce, give me a break. I see they’ve omitted the pork loin with lime Jell-o.” Paul says he could have gotten them a table at Dorsia instead. “Nobody goes there anymore. Is that Ivana Trump?” Patrick says, looking behind him. “Oh geez Patrick. I mean Marcus. What are you thinking? Why would Ivana be at Texarkana?” He asks how Paul ended up getting the Fisher account. “Well I could tell you that Halberstram… but then I’d have to kill ya!” He laughs. Patrick simply stares at him with a vicious smile.

They pick at their meals. Patrick says “I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane?” Paul doesn’t seem to hear him. He compliments him on his tan. When Patrick says he goes to a salon, Paul says he has a tanning bed at home. “You should look into it.” Patrick can barely suppress his rage. Paul asks about Cecilia. “I think she’s having dinner with Evelyn Williams.” “Evelyn! Great ass. She goes out with that loser Patrick Bateman, what a dork!” Patrick chuckles with inner contempt. “Another martini Paul?”

Patrick’s apartment. Paul lounges drunk on a chair with a bottle of liquor on the floor beside him. Newspapers are taped to the floor of the living room. Patrick picks up a CD. “Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?” “They’re OK,” says Paul. Patrick continues “Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when ‘Sports’ came out in ‘83, I think they really came into their own. Commercially and artistically.” He goes to the bathroom and puts on a raincoat. “The whole album has a clear crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism, that really gives the songs a big boost!” He takes a valium, washes it down, looks at himself in the mirror, and walks back into the living room. On his way back he grabs an axe. Moonwalking backwards, he says that Huey has been compared to Elvis Costello, but that Huey has a more cynical sense of humor. He puts the axe down and starts buttoning up the raincoat behind Paul. “Hey Halberstram,” says Paul. “Why are there copies of the Style section all over the floor? Do you have a dog? A little chow or something?” He laughs. “No Allen.” “Is that a raincoat?” “Yes it is!” He goes over to the CD player and presses a button. The song ’Hip to Be Square’ starts playing.”In ‘87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is ’Hip to Be Square’.” He dances over to the kitchen where he left the axe. “The song is so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics, but they should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends, it’s also a personal statement about the band itself! Hey Paul!” Paul looks around too late to see Patrick charge at him with the axe. Screaming, he swings it into Paul’s head splattering blood all over his own face. Paul falls to the floor, pouring blood all over the newspapers. Patrick yells “Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now you fucking stupid bastard!” He swings it down again, and again, screaming, decapitating him. “You… fucking… bastard!” He finally drops the axe and begins composing himself. He takes off the raincoat. He fixes his hair and lights up a cigar. ‘Hip to Be Square’ continues to play from the stereo.

Patrick drags the body through the lobby of his building in a black bag. A trail of blood pours from the bottom of the bag. The doorman looks up at him, and then goes back to writing something. Patrick hails a cab outside, and starts stuffing the bag into the trunk. A voice says his name from the sidewalk. It’s Luis. “Patrick. Is that you?” “No Luis. It’s not me. You’re mistaken.” He introduces Patrick to an attractive Asian woman. “We’re going to Nell’s. Gwendolyn’s father is buying it. Ooh. Where did you get that overnight bag?” He eyes the bag with the corpse inside it. “Jean-Paul Gaultier.” Patrick slams the trunk and heads off.

Later, he arrives at Paul’s apartment. “I almost panic when I realize that Paul’s place overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine.” He finds his suitcases and starts to pack. “It’s time for Paul to take a little trip.” He throws some clothes in a suitcase, and then goes to the answering machine. In his best imitation of Paul’s voice, he records “It’s Paul. I’ve been called away to London for a few days. Meredith, I’ll call you when I get back. Hasta la vista, baby.” He takes the suitcase and leaves.

In his office the next day, Patrick listens to the song ‘The Lady in Red’ by Chris De Burgh on his headphones. Jean comes in and tells him that there’s someone named Donald Kimball there to see him. “Who?” “Detective Donald Kimball.” He looks through the office window. “Tell him I’m at lunch.” “Patrick, it’s only 10:30. I think he knows you’re here.” “Send him in, I guess,” he says resignedly. Jean goes to get him. Patrick picks up the phone and starts having a pretend conversation with someone, giving him advice on clothes and salons. “Always tip the stylist fifteen percent. Listen John I’ve gotta go. T. Boone Pickens just walked in. Heh, just joking. No, don’t tip the owner of the salon. Right. Got it.” He hangs up and apologizes to Kimball. “No I’m sorry, I should have made an appointment. Was that anything important?” Patrick gives a vague synopsis of the call. “Mulling over business problems, examining opportunities, exchanging rumors, spreading gossip.” They introduce themselves to each other and shake hands. Kimball apologizes again for barging in. Patrick stuffs some magazines and his walkman into a desk drawer. “So, what’s the topic of discussion?” Kimball explains that Meredith hired him to investigate the disappearance of Paul Allen. “I just have some basic questions.” Patrick offers him coffee, which he turns down. He offers him a bottle of water, which he also turns down. Bateman presses the intercom button anyways and tells Jean to bring some water. “It’s no problem.” He asks what the topic of discussion is again, and Kimball repeats he’s investigating the disappearance of Paul Allen. Jean comes in with a bottle, and Patrick quickly puts a coaster down before she can put it on the desk. He tells Kimball he hasn’t heard anything. “I think his family wants this kept quiet.” “Understandable. Lime?” offers Bateman. Kimball insists he’s ok. He asks Patrick his age, where he went to school, and his address, the American Gardens building, which Kimball says is very nice. “Thanks,” Patrick says smugly. Kimball asks what he knew about Paul Allen. “I’m at a loss. He was part of that whole Yale thing.” Kimball asks him what he means. “Well I think for one that he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot of cocaine. That Yale thing.” Kimball asks what kind of person Paul was. “I hope I’m not being cross-examined here.” “You feel like that?” “No. Not really.” Kimball asks where Paul hung out. Patrick names some places including a yacht club. “He had a yacht?” “No, he just hung out there.” “And where did he go to school?” “Don’t you know this?” “I just wanted to know if you know.” Patrick tells him St. Paul’s, then says he just wants to help. “I understand.” Patrick asks if he has any witnesses or fingerprints. Kimball tells him about the message on the answering machine, and that Meredith doesn’t think he went to London. “Has anyone seen him in London?” “Actually, yes. But I’m having a hard time getting actual verification.” He tells him that someone thought they saw Paul there but mistook someone else for him. Patrick asks whether the apartment had been burglarized. Kimball tells him about the missing luggage. Patrick asks whether the police had become involved yet, but Kimball says no. “Basically, no-one’s seen or heard anything. It’s just strange. One day someone’s walking around, going to work, alive, and then…” “Nothing.” “People just disappear,” says Kimball with a sigh. Bateman says “The earth just… opens up and swallows them.” “Eerie. Really eerie.” Bateman excuses himself by telling Kimball he has a lunch appointment with Cliff Huxtable at the Four Seasons in 20 minutes. “The Four Seasons? Isn’t that a little far up town? I mean, aren’t you going to be late?” “No, there’s one down here.” Patrick promises to call him if he hears anything, and shows him the door.

Patrick does stomach crunches while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and then does some jump-rope.

Nighttime. A seedy part of town. A blonde woman in a blue coat, a hooker, stands in front of a warehouse on a street corner. She has a face that says she’s been hooker for too long. A limousine drives up. Patrick rolls the window down as the car stops in front of her. “I haven’t seen you around here,” he tells her. “Well you just haven’t been looking.” “Would you like to see my apartment?” She is reluctant. He holds out some money and asks again. “I’m not supposed to, but I can make an exception,” she says, taking the money. “Do you take a credit card? Just joking.” He opens the door and invites her in. The car drives away.

Patrick makes a phone call on a large cordless phone. “I’d like a girl, early 20’s, blonde, who does couples. And I really can’t stress blonde enough. Blonde.” He hangs up. He tells her his name is Paul Allen, and that he’s going to call her Christie. “You’ll respond only to Christie, is that clear?” She nods.

Patrick’s apartment. Patrick pours some mineral water into a bathtub, where Christie is bathing and drinking champagne. “That’s a very fine chardonnay you’re drinking.” The song ‘If You Don’t Know Me by Now’ is playing in the background. Patrick is dressed in a suit and bow tie. “I want you to clean your vagina,” he tells her. She puts down the champagne and picks up a bath sponge. “From behind. Get on your knees.” He tells her she has a nice body, playfully splashing her with water. The phone rings. It’s the second girl in the lobby downstairs. He tells the doorman to send her up. He tells Christie to dry off and choose a robe, then come to the living room.

He opens the door for the second girl, and takes her coat. “I’m Paul. Not quite blonde, are you? More like dirty blonde. I’m going to call you Sabrina. I’m Paul Allen.” He asks both girls if they want to know what he does for a living. They both say no, lewdly. “Well, I work on Wall Street. At Pierce and Pierce. Have you heard of it?” Sabrina shakes her head, and Patrick clenches his jaw. “You have a really nice place here Paul,” says Christie. “How much did you pay for it?” “Well actually Christie, that’s none of your business. But I can assure you, it certainly wasn’t cheap.” Sabrina starts to take out a cigarette. “No! No smoking in here.” He offers them chocolate truffles. “I don’t want to get you drunk, but uh, that’s a very fine chardonnay you’re not drinking.” He goes over to the stereo and puts on a Phil Collins CD. “I’ve been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, ‘Duke’. Before that, I really didn’t understand any of their work. It was too artsy. Too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collin’s presence became more apparent.” He goes and stands in the doorway of the bedroom, invitingly. “I think Invisible Touch is the group’s undisputed masterpiece.” The girls follow him into the bedroom. “It’s an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums.” He tells Christie to take off the robe, which she does. “Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of each instrument,” he says, setting up a video camera on a tripod. He tells Sabrina to remove her dress. “In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, and sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don’t you dance a little? Take the lyrics to ‘Land of Confusion’. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the abuse of political authority. ‘In Too Deep’ is the most moving pop song of the 1980s,” he continues, wrapping a scarf around Christie’s neck while Sabrina dances in her lingerie. “About monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I’ve heard in rock.” He turns the camera on and points it towards the bed. “Christie, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collin’s solo career seems to be more commercial, and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way. Especially songs like ‘In the Air Tonight’ and ‘Against All Odds’. Sabrina, don’t just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works better within the confines of the group than as a solo artist. And I stress the word ‘artist’.” He goes to the stereo and switches CDs. “This is ‘Sussudio’, a great, great song. A personal favorite.” He walks back to the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt.

He has sex with both women at once. He flexes his muscles and admires himself in the mirror while doing them doggy-style. He makes them look into the camera. They do oral sex, then missionary. Patrick flexes his muscles in the mirror again. Christie rolls her eyes. They do more doggy-style.

Patrick sleeps with a woman on either side of him. He awakens some time later. Christie’s arm touches his. “Don’t touch the watch.” He gets up and goes over to the dresser. The women get up and start to dress. He opens a drawer to reveal a collection of scissors, carving tools and other sharp objects. He takes out a coat hanger. “Can we go now?” asks Christie. “We’re not through yet.”

Some time later, he pays them and shows them the door. They take the money quickly and appear to be in tears. Sabrina’s nose is bleeding. They leave and he closes the door behind them.

McDermott, Van Paten and Bateman are seated in a bar lounge with drinks in front of them, discussing women. “If they have a good personality and they are not great looking, who fucking cares?” says McDermott. “Well let’s just say hypothetically, what if they have a good personality?” replies Bateman. There is a moment of silence, and then all three men burst out laughing. “There are no girls with good personalities!” they say in unison, high-fiving each other. Van Paten says “A good personality consists of a chick with a little hard body who will satisfy all sexual demands without being too slutty about things, and who will essentially keep her dumb fucking mouth shut.” McDermott continues: “The only girls with good personalities who are smart or maybe funny or halfway intelligent or talented, though god knows what the fuck that means, are ugly chicks.” Van Paten agrees. “And this is because they have to make up for how fucking unattractive they are.” Bateman asks them if they know what Ed Gein said about women. Van Paten: “Ed Gein? Maitre d’ at Canal Bar?” “No. Serial killer. Wisconsin. The 50’s.” “What did Ed say?” “He said ‘When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right.’” McDermott: “And what did the other part of him think?” “What her head would look like on a stick!” Bateman laughs heartily, but Van Paten and McDermott just look at each other nervously. Luis comes up to their table and says hello. He takes out his new business card and asks their opinion on it. It is a nice looking card with gold lettering. Van Paten says it looks nice. McDermott is uninterested. Bateman swallows as a dramatic crescendo of music starts. Luis leaves and walks up the stairs. Bateman watches him go and Luis gives him look back over his shoulder. Van Paten asks about dinner. “Is that all you ever have to contribute?” snaps Bateman. “Fucking dinner?” McDermott tells him to cheer up. “What’s the matter? No shiatsu this morning?” Bateman pushes his hand away as he tries to touch his shoulder. “Do that again and you’ll draw back a stub.” McDermott tells him “Hang on there little buddy,” but Bateman stands up and goes up the stairs behind Luis.

Putting on his leather gloves, he enters a bathroom with nice wallpaper and gold mirrors. He slowly walks up behind Luis who is using a urinal. Hands shaking, he slowly puts his fingers around Luis’ neck. Luis turns around, looks at Patrick’s hands, takes off one of his gloves, and plants a kiss on the back of his hand. “God. Patrick, why here?” Patrick is too shocked to say anything and he can’t bring himself to kill Luis. “I’ve seen you looking at me. I’ve noticed your… hot body,” Luis says, rubbing a finger over Patrick’s mouth. “Don’t be shy. You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted this, ever since that Christmas party at Arizona 206. You know the one where you were wearing that red striped paisley Armani tie…” Patrick walks over to the sink in a daze and starts washing his hands, with his gloves still on. He looks like he’s about to cry. Luis walks up behind him. “I want you. I want you too!” Patrick starts walking towards the door. “Patrick?” “WHAT IS IT?” he yells. “Where are you going?” “I’ve got to return some videotapes.”

He rushes down the stairs. He runs into a man holding a tray of glasses. Looking up the stairs, he sees Luis make a ‘call me’ gesture with his hand. He leaves without saying a word to McDermott or Van Paten.

Patrick walks down the hall to his office. He stops. Kimball is leaning over Jean’s desk, talking to her about any reservations Paul Allen might have made. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you, come into my office,” Patrick says, shaking his hand. “Jean. Great jacket. Matsuda?”

Inside his office. “Do you remember where you were the night of Paul’s disappearance?” asks Kimball. “Which was on the 20th of December.” “God. I guess I was probably returning videotapes.” He looks at his datebook. “I had a date with a girl named Veronica.” “That’s not what I’ve got,” says Kimball. “What?” “That’s not the information I’ve received.” “What information have you received? I could be wrong.” “When was the last time you were with Paul Allen?” “We’d gone to a new musical called ‘Oh Africa, Brave Africa’. It was laugh riot. That was about it. I think we had dinner. I hope I’ve been informative. Long day. I’m a bit scattered.” “I’m a bit scattered too. How about lunch in a week or so, when I’ve sorted out all of this information?” Patrick says okay. Kimball asks him to sort out exactly where he was on the night of the disappearance. “Absolutely. I’m with you on that one.” Kimball takes a CD out of his briefcase. “Huey Lewis and the News! Great stuff! I just bought it on my way over here! Have you heard it?” Patrick is stunned, and terrified of possibly becoming friends with this man. “Never. I mean I don’t really like singers.” “Not a big music fan, huh?” “No I like music, just they’re… Huey’s too black sounding for me.” “To each his own.” Kimball closes his briefcase. “So, lunch next week?” “I’ll be there.”

Patrick and Courtney are having sex. Patrick orgasms, then rolls off her. He pulls a stuffed black cat from underneath himself, putting it on Courtney’s lap. He gets off the bed and starts getting dressed in front of a mirror. “Will you call me before Easter?” she asks. “Maybe.” “What are you doing tonight?” “Dinner at uh, River Cafe.” “That’s nice,” she says, lighting a cigarette. “I never knew you smoked.” “You never noticed. Listen, Patrick, can we talk?” “You look… marvelous. There’s nothing to say,” he says, shutting her out. “You’re going to marry Luis.” “Isn’t that special… Patrick? If I don’t see you before Easter, have a nice one okay?” she asks, with a hint of depression in her voice. “You too.” He starts to leave. “Patrick?” “Yeah?” “Nothing…” He leaves.

A club. Androgynous men and women pack the dance floor. The song ‘Pump up the Volume’ is playing. Bryce is telling Bateman about STDs while in line to use private stalls for drugs. “There’s this theory now that if you can catch the AIDS virus by having sex with someone who is infected, you can catch anything. Alzheimer’s, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, leukemia, diabetes, dyslexia!” “I’m not sure but I don’t think dyslexia is a disease,” says Bateman. “But who knows? They don’t know that. Prove it.” Bryce snorts some white powder. “Oh God. It’s a fucking milligram of sweetener.” Patrick sniffs some. “I want to get high off this, not sprinkle it on my fucking oatmeal.” “It’s definitely weak, but I have a feeling if we do enough of it we’ll be okay,” says Bateman. Someone leans over the divider. “Could you keep it down? I’m trying to do drugs!” “Fuck you!” says Bryce. Bateman tells him to calm down. “We’ll do it anyway.” “That is if the faggot in the next STALL thinks it’s okay!” “Fuck you!” says the man. “Fuck YOU!” says Bryce. “Sorry dude. Steroids. Okay let’s do it.”

A club balcony. The song ‘What’s On Your Mind’ is playing. Three blonde women are seated across from Patrick. One of them asks where Craig went. Bryce tells them Gorbachev is downstairs and McDermott went to sign a peace treaty. “He’s the one behind Glasnost.” Bryce makes a ‘he went to get cocaine’ gesture to Bateman by tapping his nose. “I thought he was in mergers and acquisitions,” she says. “You’re not confused are you?” asks Bryce. “No, not really.” Another woman says “Gorbachev is NOT downstairs.” “Karen’s right, Gorbachev is not down stairs. He’s at Tunnel.” Bateman tells one of the girls to ask him a question. “So what do you do?” “I’m into uh, well murders and executions mostly.” “Do you like it?” “Well that depends, why?” “Well most guys I know, who work in mergers and acquisitions, really don’t like it.” He asks her where she works out.

On the street, Patrick and the girl are talking. “You think I’m dumb don’t you. You think all models are dumb.” “No. I really don’t.” “That’s okay. I don’t mind. There’s something sweet about you.” They both get in the back of a cab. Somewhere a car alarm is going off.

Patrick is lounging on the sofa in his office. He has sunglasses on. Between his fingers is a lock of blonde hair. Jean knocks on his door, and he quickly stuffs the hair into his shirt pocket. He picks up a paper and starts twirling a pen. She enters slowly, wearing a baggy brown coat and beige shirt. “Doin’ the crossword?” she asks. Every line of the crossword is filled in with either ‘meat’ or ‘bones’. She asks him if he needs any help, but he ignores her. She puts something on his desk. As she walks back to the door, he says “Jean, would you like to accompany me to dinner? That is, if you’re not doing anything.” She says she doesn’t have any plans. He sits up and crosses his legs. “Well! Isn’t this a coincidence. Listen, where should we go?” She says she doesn’t care where. “How about anywhere you want?” he tells her. “I don’t know Patrick, I can’t make this decision.” “Come on!” he says, chuckling and pointing his pen at her. “Where do you want to go? Anywhere you want, just say it, I can get us in anywhere.” She thinks for a minute. “How about…” Patrick flips through his Zagat booklet. “Dorsia?” Patrick looks up. “So. Dorsia is where Jean wants to go.” “I don’t know, we’ll go wherever you want to go.” “Dorsia is fine.” He picks up a phone and dials the restaurant. “Dorsia, yes?” says the man on the other end. Can you take two tonight at, oh, say nine o’clock?” “We’re totally booked.” “Really? That’s great.” “No I said we are totally booked!” “Two at nine? Perfect! See you then!” He hangs up. Jean gives him a quizzical look. “Yeah?” he asks, taking off his sunglasses. “You’re… dressed okay.” “You didn’t give a name.” “They know me,” he lies. “Why don’t you meet me at my place at 7:00 for drinks?” She smiles and starts to leave. “And Jean? You might want to change before we go out.”

Jean looks out the window of Patrick’s place. A telescope is pointed out the window. She’s dressed in a pretty green strapless dress. “Patrick it’s so elegant. What a wonderful view.” Patrick gets some frozen sorbet out of the fridge. Next to the sorbet is a severed head wrapped in plastic. “Jean, sorbet?” “Thanks Patrick. I’d love some.” He gives it to her. “Do you want a bite?” “I’m on a diet, but thank you,” he says. “No need to lose any weight. You’re kidding right? You look great,” she tells him. “Very fit.” “You can always be thinner… look better.” “Well, maybe we shouldn’t go out to dinner. I don’t want to ruin your willpower.” “That’s alright. I’m not very good at controlling it anyway.” He goes over to a kitchen drawer and starts running his finger over some steak knives. “So, what do you want to do with your life? Just briefly summarize. And don’t tell me you enjoy working with children.” She tells him she’d like to travel and maybe go back to school. “I don’t really know. I’m at a point in my life where there seems to be so many possibilities.” Patrick runs his hand across some stainless steel meat cleavers on a triangular base. “I’m just so unsure.” He asks her if she has a boyfriend. “No, not really.” “Interesting.” “Are you seeing anyone? I mean, seriously?” she asks. “Maybe. I don’t know. Not really,” he says with a smile. “Jean, do you feel, fulfilled? I mean, in your life?” “I guess I do. For a long time I was too focused on my work. But now I’ve really begun to think about changing myself, developing and growing.” Patrick reaches into a closet and takes out some silver duct tape. “Growing. I’m glad you said that. Did you know that Ted Bundy’s first dog, a collie, was named Lassie?” he laughs. “Who’s Ted Bundy?” “Forget it.” “What’s that?” “Duct tape. I need it for… taping something.” “Patrick, have you ever wanted to make someone happy?” She starts to put her spoon down on his coffee table. “No! Put it in the carton!” “Sorry.” He takes something else out of the closet and walks behind her. She repeats her question. “I’m looking for uh…” He holds up a nail gun and points it at the back of her unsuspecting head. “I guess you could say I just want to have a meaningful relationship with someone special.” His finger moves toward the trigger. The phone rings, and the answering machine picks it up. It’s Evelyn. “Patrick… Patrick! I know you’re there. Pick up the phone you bad boy. What are you up to tonight?” He puts the nailgun down behind the couch. “It’s me. Don’t try to hide. I hope you’re not out there with some number you picked up because you’re MY Mr. Bateman. My boy next door.” Jean sips some wine, looking at Patrick as she listens. “Anyway you never called me and you said you would, and I’ll leave a message for Jean about this tomorrow to remind you, but we’re having dinner with Melania and Taylor, you know Melania she went to Sweetbriar. And we’re meeting at the Cornell club. So I’ll see you tomorrow morning honey!” Patrick winces. “Sorry I know you hate that. Bye Patrick. Bye Mr. Big Time CEO. Bye bye.” She hangs up. Jean says “Was that Evelyn? Are you still seeing her?” He doesn’t answer. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask that. Do you want me to go?” “Yeah,” he finally says. “I don’t think I can control myself.” “I know I should go. I know I have a tendency to get involved with unavailable men.” She asks him if he wants her to go. “I think if you stay, something bad will happen. I think I might hurt you. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?” “No, I guess not. I don’t want to get bruised.” She gets up and starts leaving. On her way out, she reminds him that he has a dinner date with Kimball the next day. “Thanks. It slipped my mind completely.”

A crowded restaurant. Bateman and Kimball sit across from each other, eating some beef dishes. “So. The night he disappeared. Any thoughts about what you did?” asks Kimball. “I’m not sure. Uh, I had a shower, and some sorbet?” “I think you’re getting your dates mixed up.” “Well, where do you place Paul that night?” He tells Patrick that according to his datebook, Paul had dinner with Marcus Halberstram, thought Marcus denied it. “Does Marcus have an alibi?” “Yes. I’ve checked it out, it’s clean. Now, where were you?” “Well, where was Marcus?” “He wasn’t with Paul Allen. He was at Atlantis with Craig McDermott, Fredrick Dibble, Harry Newman, George Butner, and… you.” Patrick looks up. “Oh right, yeah, of course.” Kimball makes a ‘slipped your mind’ gesture. “We had wanted Paul Allen to come, but he had made plans. And I guess I had dinner with Victoria the following night.” Kimball says “Personally, I think the guy just went a little nutso, split town for a while, maybe he did go to London. Sightseeing, drinking, whatever. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he’ll turn up sooner or later. I mean, to think that one of his friends killed him for no reason whatsoever would be too ridiculous. Isn’t that right Patrick?” he says with an eerie smile. Patrick smiles back faintly.

Patrick takes a limo to the part of town where he met Christie. She’s standing on the same corner. He rolls down the window and calls out to her. “I’m not so sure about this,” she tells him. “I had to go to emergency last time.” He promises that this won’t be anything like last time. She says no. “Just come in the limo and talk to me for a minute. The driver is here. You’ll be safe.” He holds out some money. Reluctantly, she takes it and gets in. He hands her a drink. “Nothing like last time. I promise,” he repeats. “Alright.” He tells her she’s looking great, and asks how she’s been. “I might need a little surgery after last time. My friend told me I should maybe even get a lawyer.” “Lawyers are so complicated,” he says, writing her a cheque. She takes it and bolts from the car. The car keeps pace with her as she walks. Bateman rolls down the window and whistles at her, waving more money. She stops and looks at the wad. She tries to grab it, but he pulls his hand back. He opens the car door again, moving over to let her get back in. “Half now, half later.” He closes the door. He tells her her name is Christie again, and that they are meeting a friend of his named Elizabeth. “She’ll be joining us in my new apartment shortly. You’ll like her. She’s a very nice girl.”

Paul Allen’s apartment. Patrick breaks open a capsule of ecstasy onto a spoon, and puts it into a bottle of wine. A redhead woman in a white silk shirt and black jacket is sitting on the couch across from Christie. She tells her she looks familiar. “Did you go to Dalton? I think I met you at a surf bar, didn’t I. It was spicy. Well maybe not spicy but it was definitely a surf bar.” She talks on and on in a self-important tone, neither Patrick or Christie really listening to her. Christie tells Patrick that this place is nicer than his other one. “It’s not that nice,” he says. She asks where he and Elizabeth met. She says it was at the Kentucky Derby in 86. “You were hanging out with that bimbo Alison Poole. Hot number.” “What do you mean? She was a hot number.” “If you had a platinum card she’d give you a blowjob. Listen, this girl worked at a tanning salon, need I say more?” She sips her wine. She asks what Christie does. “She’s my… cousin. She’s from… France,” says Bateman. Elizabeth asks for the phone to call someone. She asks if Christie summers in Southampton. The person she’s calling doesn’t answer. “Elizabeth, it’s 3 in the morning.” “He’s a god damn drug dealer, these are his peak hours.” She says that the wine tastes weird. She leaves the man a message on his answering machine. She looks at Bateman when she can’t remember where she is. “Paul Allen’s.” “I want the number idiot. Anyway I’m at Paul Norman’s and I’ll try you again later, and if I don’t see you at Canal Bar tomorrow I’m going to sic my hairdresser on you.” She hangs up. “Did you know that guy who disappeared, didn’t he work at Pierce and Pierce? Was he a friend of yours?” He says no. She asks if he has any coke. He shakes his head. “Or a Halcyon? I would take a Halcyon.” “Listen,” he says. “I would just like to see the two of you get it on.” They stare at him. “What’s wrong with that? It’s totally disease-free.” “Patrick you’re a lunatic.” He asks her if she finds Christie attractive. “Let’s not get lewd. I’m in no mood for lewd conversation.” He says he thinks it would be a turn-on. She asks Christie if he does this all the time. Christie remains silent. He tells her to drink her wine. “You’re telling me you’ve never gotten it on with a girl?” he asks Elizabeth. “No. I’m not a lesbian. Why would you think I would be into that?” “Well, you went to Sarah Lawrence for one thing.” “Those are Sarah Lawrence GUYS, Patrick. You’re making me feel weird.”

Some time later, the drugs having kicked in, and Elizabeth and Christie are feeling each other up on the couch. Patrick says wistfully “Did you know that Whitney Houston’s debut LP, called simply ‘Whitney Houston’, had four number-one singles on it? Did you know that Christie?” Elizabeth starts laughing. “You actually listen to Whitney Houston? You own a Whitney Houston CD? More than one?” she laughs, falling off the couch. “It’s hard to choose a favorite amongst so many great tracks. But ‘The Greatest Love of All’ is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written, about self-preservation, dignity, its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it’s not too late to better ourselves.” Elizabeth is still laughing. “Since, Elizabeth, it’s impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, but we can always empathize with ourselves. It’s an important message, crucial really, and it’s beautifully stated on the album.”

All three have sex, Patrick on top of both of them. He moves his face down to Elizabeth’s torso, and she starts giggling. Christie rolls out from underneath them. She watches them as they fool around under the sheets, and she starts gathering her clothes. A stain begins to form on the sheets: Blood. Elizabeth is screaming. Patrick looks up at Christie with blood on his mouth and a crazed look on his face. Christie runs out of the room, and Patrick chases her naked. She runs to a door and throws it open, to reveal a closet with two dead women in plastic bags hanging on coathangers. The full horror of Patrick’s existence finally revealed to her, she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. She enters another room and almost vomits. Spraypainted on the wall is the words ‘DIE YUPPIE SCUM’ and the room is covered with blood and faeces. She backs out and sees Patrick turn the corner naked wielding a chainsaw. She cuts through a maze of doors and finally runs into a bathroom. She falls into a pool of blood next to another dead, naked woman. Patrick runs in, covered in Elizabeth’s blood and starts biting her leg. She kicks him in the face and runs. “Not the face! Not the fucking face you piece of bitch trash!” She runs through the living room and out into the hallway, pounding and screaming on neighbours’ doors, but to no avail. Patrick runs after her, stark nude, and chainsaw in hand. She runs down a circular set of stairs. Patrick reaches the top and holds the chainsaw out over the gap, waiting for the right moment. When she nears the bottom, he lets go, and the chainsaw falls end over end, finally hitting its target. He screams in victory. The chainsaw has impaled Christie through the back.

Patrick doodles a woman impaled with a chainsaw with a crayon on a paper tablecloth. He hasn’t touched his dessert. Evelyn is sitting next to him, asking him to commit to their relationship. The restaurant is crowded with middle-class looking people. “I think Evelyn, that uh, we’ve lost touch.” “Why, what’s wrong?” she asks, waving to someone. A woman flashes a gold bracelet to her, and she mouths “It’s beautiful. I love it.” “My need to engage in homicidal behaviour on a massive scale cannot be corrected, but uh, I have no other way to fulfill my needs. We need to talk. It’s over, it’s all over,” he tells her, scratching a red X over his drawing. “Touchy touchy. I’m sorry I brought up the wedding. Let’s just avoid the issue, alright? Now, are we having coffee?” “I’m fucking serious. It’s fucking over, us, this is no joke, uh, I don’t think we should see each other any more.” “But your friends are my friends, and my friends are your friends. I really don’t think it would work.” She tries to brush some food away from the corner of his mouth, but her stops her. “I know that your friends are my friends, and I’ve thought about that. You can have ’em.” She finally understands. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? What about the past? Our past?” “We never really shared one,” he replies. “You’re inhuman.” “No. I’m-I’m in touch with humanity.” She starts crying. “Evelyn I’m sorry, I just uh… you’re not terribly important to me.” She cries so loudly that the whole restaurant turns to look at her. “I know my behaviour can be erratic sometimes…” “What is it that you want?” she cries. “If you really want to do something for me then stop making this scene right now!” he snaps. “Oh God I can’t believe this,” she weeps. “I’m leaving,” he says. “I’ve assessed the situation and I’m leaving.” “But where are you going?” “I have to return some videotapes.”

Evening. Patrick stops near the lobby of a building to use an ATM. He sticks his card in the machine. Looking down he sees a stray cat. “Here kitty kitty.” He picks up the cat and starts petting it. A message comes on the screen of the ATM: ‘FEED ME A STRAY CAT’. He tries to put the cat in the card slot of the ATM, but it pushes itself away. He pulls out a 9mm pistol and points it at the cat’s head. A woman in a fur coat sees this. “Oh my God. What you doing? Stop that!” He shoots her in the chest and she falls to the ground. He lets the cat go. A siren is heard a block away, and a police car pulls up at the other end of the lobby. He takes his card and walks away. He tries to steal a car, but every car on the street is locked, and he only winds up setting off all their car alarms. He kicks the back of a Porsche and runs. Two police cars cut him off on the next street. They get out, guns drawn. “Drop the weapon! Drop it now! Get on the ground!” He starts to put his hands up, then turns the gun on the officers. They exchange gunfire. He runs behind a parked car for cover, firing and hitting one of them. He fires five more shots, and both police cars explode in a massive fireball. Stunned by his luck, he looks at the gun, then at his watch, and walks away. He breaks into a run, under the support columns of a skyscraper. He walks into the lobby of an apartment. “Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Smith? Don’t forget to sign in,” says the man at the desk. He pulls out the gun and shoots him in the head. He runs past the elevators. One of them opens and a janitor gets out. He goes around a revolving door, back into the lobby, shoots the janitor, then out the other side. He runs into another lobby. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, he goes up to the desk. Smiling at the doorman, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen, signs in, and goes up in the elevator, crying.

He reaches his office. He looks out the window, then hides from the searchlight of a passing police helicopter. Still crying, he makes a phone call. An answering machine picks it up. “Harold, it’s Bateman. You’re my lawyer so I think you should know, I’ve killed a lot of people. Some girls in the apartment uptown uh, some homeless people maybe 5 or 10, um an NYU girl I met in Central Park. I left her in a parking lot behind some donut shop. I killed Bethany, my old girlfriend, with a nail gun, and some man, some old faggot with a dog last week. I killed another girl with a chainsaw, I had to, she almost got away and uh someone else there I can’t remember maybe a model, but she’s dead too. And Paul Allen. I killed Paul Allen with an axe in the face, his body is dissolving in a bathtub in Hell’s Kitchen. I don’t want to leave anything out here. I guess I’ve killed maybe 20 people, maybe 40. I have tapes of a lot of it, uh some of the girls have seen the tapes. I even, um…” He almost can’t say it. “I ate some of their brains. I tried to cook a little.” He starts laughing. “Tonight I, uh, hahahaha… I just had to kill a LOT of people!” Crying again. “And I’m not sure I’m gonna get away with it this time. I guess I’ll uh, I mean, ah, I guess I’m a pretty uh, I mean I guess I’m a pretty sick guy.” He’s smiling. “So, if you get back tomorrow, I may show up at Harry’s Bar, so you know, keep your eyes open.” He hangs up and tries to compose himself. The helicopter can still be heard buzzing around but is getting fainter.

Morning. He showers and picks a suit from his walk-in closet. He goes to Paul Allen’s place, putting on a surgical mask because of the smell of the bodies he left there. Opening the door, he finds the place empty and repainted white. Three people are talking in one of the rooms, and the floor is lined with cloth and there is a ladder and some other redecorating equipment. He heads towards the closet where he left two bodies. It contains only paint cans, ladders and buckets. He takes off the mask, stunned. “Are you my 2:00?” asks a well-dressed 40-something woman behind him. “No.” “Can I help you?” “I’m looking for Paul Allen’s place. Doesn’t he live here?” “No he doesn’t. Did you see the ad in the Times?” “No. Yeah. I mean yeah. In the times.” “There was no ad in the times. I think you should go now.” He asks what happened here. She tells him not to make any trouble, and tells him again that he should leave. He starts to leave. “Don’t come back,” she warns. “I won’t. Don’t worry.” He closes the door behind him.

Outside, Bateman calls Jean from a payphone. He downs the rest of a bottle of pills while he waits for her to pick up. She answers. “Jean… I need help.” He sounds distraught. “Patrick is that you? Craig McDermott called, he wants to meet you, Van Paten and Bryce at Harry’s Bar for drinks.” “What did you say you dumb bitch…” he croaks. “Patrick I can’t hear you.” “What am I doing?” he laughs. “Where are you Patrick? What’s wrong?” He starts crying. “I don’t think I’m going to… make it, Jean. To the uh, office, this afternoon.” “Why?” She sounds worried. “JUST… SAY… NO!” he screams. “What is it? Patrick, are you alright?” “Stop sounding so fucking SAD! JESUS!” he screams, laughing. He hangs up, then tries to compose himself.

Jean goes to Patrick’s desk. She opens a drawer and finds a leather notebook. The first few pages have regular appointments. One page has a drawing of someone getting killed with a shotgun in the mouth.

Patrick reaches Harry’s Bar. He straightens his dishevelled hair and goes inside. Bryce, Van Paten and McDermott are sitting and drinking. McDermott tells him he looks wild-eyed. “Rough day at the office?” Bryce is drinking mineral water. “He’s a changed man! But he still can’t get a reservation to save his life.” Bateman tells them he isn’t going anywhere unless they have a reservation. They discuss various restaurants. Bateman spots his lawyer, Harold Carnes, across the room, and excuses himself. His lawyer is telling someone how the Japanese will own most of the country by the end of the ’90s. “Shut up, Carnes, they will not. So uh, did you get my message?” “Jesus yes! That was hilarious! That was you, wasn’t it! Bateman killing Allen and the escort girls. That’s fabulous. That’s rich.” He asks him what he means. “The message you left. By the way Davis, how’s Cynthia? You’re still seeing her, right?” “What do you mean?” “Nothing. It’s good to see you. Is that Edward Towers?” He starts to walk away but Bateman stops him. “Davis. I’m not one to bad-mouth anyone. Your joke was amusing. But come on man. You had one fatal flaw. Bateman is such a dork, such a boring, spineless lightweight. Now if you said Bryce, or McDermott, otherwise it was amusing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.” For some odd reason, Carnes keeps calling Patrick “Davis”. Patrick angrily stops him again. “I did it, Carnes! I killed him! I’m Patrick Bateman! I chopped Allen’s fucking head off,” he whispers with tears in his eyes. “The whole message I left on your machine was true.” Carnes tries to leave again. “No! Listen, don’t you know who I am? I’m not Davis, I’m Patrick Bateman!” He no longer sounds sure who he is. “We talk on the phone all the time. Don’t you recognize me? You’re my lawyer.” He tells Carnes to listen carefully. “I killed Paul Allen. And I liked it. I can’t make myself any clearer.” Carnes tells him that that isn’t possible. “And I don’t find this funny anymore.” “It never was supposed to be! Why isn’t it possible?” “It’s just not.” “Why not you stupid bastard?” says Patrick. “Because I had dinner with Paul Allen in London twice, just ten days ago.” “No you… didn’t.” Patrick is stunned. He begins to doubt whether he actually killed Allen or not or all those other people. Maybe it was all a fantasy. Maybe Patrick Bateman’s real name is Davis. Carnes excuses himself again and he lets him go.

Jean continues to look with horror through Patrick’s notebook. A crude drawing of a woman getting her limbs cut off with a chainsaw. A naked woman nailed to boards. The more pages she turns, the worse the images get. Page after page is filled with shocking fantasies of rape, murder and mutilation of women.

Patrick returns to the table. The guys are watching President Ronald Reagan talking about Iran-Contra on TV. “How can he lie like that?” says Bryce. Van Paten continues to ask where they have reservations, even though he isn’t really hungry. “How can he be so fucking… I don’t know, cool about it?” “Some guys are just born cool I guess,” says Van Paten. Bateman starts laughing. “Bateman? What are you so fucking zany about?” “Ha ha, I’m just a happy camper! Rockin’ and a-rollin’!” Turning back to Reagan on the TV, Bryce says “He presents himself as this harmless old codger, but inside… but inside…” “But inside doesn’t matter,”

In 1571, the Yucatán people fell ill to the plague. One man found a plant and along with other people, drank it. The substance turned the people blue and made them incapable of breathing in air. They quickly moved to the ocean and created a civilization in the deep water, Talokan. One of the women who ingested the plant had a baby named K’UK’ulkan. The baby grew up to become ruler of Talokan. When Fen died, she asked to be buried on the land. K’UK’ulkan led some guards up to the land where he saw a civilization. They attacked the civilization to make room for his mother’s burial. One of the villagers called him “Namor,” meaning “the boy without love.”

Shuri works in her lab, trying hard to create an artificial Heart-Shaped Herb to use for her brother and Wakanda’s king, T’Challa, who is dying of an illness. Ramonda slowly walks into the lab, announcing the King’s death. A year later, Wakanda is having trouble with other nations wanting their Vibranium. The Dora Milaje catch French military men trying to steal from their outpost. Later, Ramonda talks to the United Nations and reveals the French’s attempt to steal. She reminds the countries that even though the Black Panther is gone, they will still fight.

At a mining outpost, Americans mine in the ocean using a vibranium detector that was created by an MIT student, Riri Williams. They use this to find vibranium in the ocean. Suddenly they come under attack by Talokanils who do not want them stealing their vibranium. The last remaining helicopter of survivors is struck down by Namor. In Wakanda, Ramonda and Shuri go to the water and mourn the year since T’Challa’s passing. They burn their funeral garments to signify the end of the mourning period, despite Shuri not being completely ready for this. Namor then arrives, getting through the border by going under the water. He reveals to them the existence of Talokan and wants their help to stop foreigners from taking vibranium. He also explains that Wakanda is not the only place that has vibranium, Talokan has it too. Ramonda tells him off, worried of his presence. He tells them he is going to kill the scientist who made the machine and that they can help him, but they cannot get in his way.

Shuri and Okoye go to meet Everett Ross, who gives them the name and location of the young scientist, despite possibly giving away private information. Okoye and Shuri then go to Cambridge, Massachusetts to find Williams. They follow her to her garage where she reveals that she is working on an Iron Man type armor. However, they are followed by the FBI. The three get away, Okoye in a car, Shuri in a motorcycle, and Williams in her armour. Suddenly, they are met by Talokanils, Attuma and Namora. A brief skirmish ends in Shuri and Williams getting captured.

Ross arrives at the scene the next day and meets with his ex-wife, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. He also finds Kimoyo Beads and hides them. In Wakanda, an infuriated Queen Ramonda reprimands Okoye for losing Shuri, which is exacerbated by previous incidents such as when she seemingly sided with Killmonger when he usurped the throne, and fires her from her position as general. Shuri and Williams wake up in Talokan. Namor shows Shuri the civilization, trying to convince her of his ideals, even giving her his mother’s bracelet. However, she disagrees in killing Williams. Meanwhile, Ramonda goes to Haiti to see Nakia, who had left Wakanda six years prior. She asks Nakia to find Shuri for her. Nakia does some spying and figures out the location. She then breaks Williams and Shuri out as Ramonda talks to Namor about his plan.

They return to Wakanda, but only for more torment as Namor and his people invade. They flood the city causing an all out war. Namor takes care of all of the Wakandan vehicles before flooding the throne room holding Ramonda and Williams. Williams starts drowning, so Ramonda swims to save her. She is able to get Williams to safety, but only to drown in the process. Shuri mourns her mother’s passing as Namor tells her she is Queen now. He and his people then leave the country. Meanwhile, Allegra de Fontaine finds out that Ross has been communicating with Wakanda this whole time and has him arrested.

M’Baku talks to Shuri after the funeral and gives her moral judgement that she should not kill Namor. He then tells her he will provide housing for the displaced Wakandans following the attack. Shuri then uses Namor’s mother’s bracelet to create the artificial heart-shaped herb which finally works. She goes to the Astral Plane after taking it and is greeted by Erik Killmonger, who claims they are the same. They argue a bit before Shuri claims she is going to kill Namor out of revenge. Shuri wakes up and makes herself a suit. She then drops into a meeting between M’Baku and the elders as the Black Panther.

In preparation of the battle, Shuri and Williams realize that they could weaken Namor by heating his body up to where it cannot get oxygen. They then make a second Ironheart armor. Shuri gives Okoye new armor, acting much like Iron Man’s as well, called the Midnight Angels. Okoye recruits Aneka to be apart of her two woman team. In the ocean, they use a vessel to lure the Talokanils into a trap. The battle commences as Namor seems to gain the upperhand. However, Black Panther traps him in a Royal Talon Fighter as they take off away from the battle. Meanwhile, the Dora Milaje fight the Talokanils on the side of the vessel while the Jabari Tribe, Nakia, and the others battle the ones on top. Ironheart and the Midnight Angels take care of the airborne Talokanils.

Black Panther heats up the Royal Talon Fighter, weakening Namor, but he begins to break out with his spear. Black Panther shoots a blast from her Vibranium Gauntlets which explodes the whole ship, sending the two adversaries into the island below. The two fight some more until Namor impales Shuri. However, instead of finishing her off, he is more worried about getting to the water before he dies. An injured Black Panther breaks free and gets in front of the limping Namor. She then yells “Wakanda Forever” as she armors up, sending a blast from the exploding Talon Fighter into Namor. He is set ablaze as he collapses. She stands over him to finish him off, but remembers her brother, T’Challa. With these memories of the man he was, she decides to spare Namor’s life as long as he returns to Talokan.

Namor has gratitude for the Black Panther and joins her as they return to the fight scene and tell everyone to stop fighting. Black Panther then yells “Wakanda Forever” once again as the rest repeat it back. In the aftermath, Williams returns to MIT without her armor as the Wakandans do not want any controversy with letting her keep it. Shuri leaves for Haiti instead of challenging for the throne, which ultimately is challenged by M’Baku. Later, Namor paints in his room as Attuma greets him. Namor assures her that their new alliance with Wakanda will be beneficial. On his way to prison, Okoye breaks Ross out of custody.

In Haiti, Shuri meets with Nakia before leaving for the beach where she burns her funeral ceremonial robe in accordance to Ramonda’s wishes, allowing her to finally grieve T’Challa.

The film opens with Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) in Singapore, calling his daughter Daniela (Haleigh Hekking) as he intends to arrive home in Honolulu to spend time with her for the holiday. Brodie, a former RAF pilot, is flying Trailblazer Airlines Flight 119, and he arrives to meet his co-pilot, Samuel Dele (Yoson An), who informs Brodie that they are going to fly through a storm. Bonnie (Daniella Pineda), the chief flight attendant, informs Brodie that he is needed to meet an RCMP officer (Otis Winston). The officer informs Brodie that they are transporting an accused killer/former French Foreign Legion soldier named Louis Gasparre (Mike Colter).

As the flight gets ready for takeoff, we see other guests, such as young social media influencers and a snooty businessman. While in the air, Brodie and Dele talk, with Brodie mentioning how his wife had passed years earlier. As they pass over the South China Sea, the plane encounters heavy turbulence when it passes through the storm. The storm gets worse, leading to the plane suffering damage, and Brodie injures his head in the commotion. The RCMP officer leaves his seat, is thrown about, and dies. A stewardess leaves her seat to assist him and is also killed in the turbulence. Brodie and Dele have to manage control without comms and radar, bringing it to a safer balance. Realizing the damages are too heavy, they have to make an emergency landing. The pilots find an island and make a rough landing.

Once everything settles, Brodie has the passengers get out of the plane. He and Dele learn they are on Jolo island, in the Philippines.

In New York City, at Trailblazers HQ, the board of directors is met by their crisis manager, Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn), to try and locate the plane and passengers.

Brodie tries to keep Louis away and secured from the other passengers due to his violent history. Brodie works with Dele and Bonnie to keep the passengers calm and to find a way to call for help. Dele tells Brodie that Jolo is operated by violent separatists, meaning they risk putting everyone in danger the longer they are there.

The rebels, led by Datu Junmar (Evan Dane Taylor), catch wind of the plane’s crash landing and hope to gain from the passengers. Meanwhile, Brodie goes with Louis into the forest to find a way to contact for help.

Back in NYC, Scarsdale and the board review Brodie’s history file, featuring a video of an incident where Brodie held an aggressive passenger in a chuckhole until he passed out after the man punched Brodie when he tried to calm down an altercation. They learn of Brodie’s calls to Trailblazer and his daughter, and are able to identify the plane’s location. Scarsdale sends a private mercenary team to rescue the crew and passengers, since he knows of the threat on the island, and the Philippine government is unwilling to help.

In Honolulu, Daniela’s aunt informs her of the news that her father’s plane went down.

Brodie and Louis reach a tower where Brodie manages to contact an agent from Trailblazers who doesn’t believe him because she claims they have been getting lots of crank calls over the missing flight. Brodie then calls Daniela and attempts to tell her their location before he is attacked by a rebel. Brodie fights the man until he is able to kill him. Upon further inspection of the building, Brodie and Louis see that the rebels used the area to torture and videotape their victims for ransom money.

The two rush back to the plane but find that Junmar and his goons have already made it there. A Korean woman attempts to flee, only for one of the rebels to shoot her. Her husband is then brutally decapitated. The rebels proceed to take everyone else hostage while Brodie and Louis hide. Once the rebels leave, the two subdue a remaining rebel and learn that Junmar is taking everyone to a nearby village. Brodie and Louis resolve to follow and rescue everyone.

As the two head out to the village, Junmar starts forcing the hostages to state their names and home countries for their ransom video.

The mercenary team, led by a man named Shellback (Remi Adeleke ) arrives on the island, but they find nobody near the plane, only the bodies of the RCMP officer and the stewardess, along with a message from Brodie.

Brodie and Louis make it to the village and kill some more rebels before locating and freeing the hostages. Everyone gets boarded onto a bus while Brodie offers himself to the rebels, hoping to give the passengers a chance to escape. Junmar and his men beat him and prepare to execute him, but the mercenary team arrives and opens fire on the rebels. With Louis’ and the mercenaries’ help, Brodie and the passengers escape. After the fight, Junmar finds his brother among the dead, driving his cause against the others to become more personal.

The passengers and crew make it back to the plane, while Louis and the mercenaries fight off the rebels, who have followed them. Back at Trailblazers HQ, Trailblazers executive Terry Hampton (Paul Ben-Victor) demands that the plane stay where it is, fearing the consequences for Trailblazer if the damaged plane explodes in midair, but Scarsdale ignores him and tells Brodie to get the plane airborne before they’re all killed by the rebels. Louis, who has found the ransom money brought by the mercenary team, chooses to remain on the island since he has no future going back.

With most of the first wave of rebels dead, Brodie and Dele make an effort to get the plane moving. Junmar attempts to fire an RPG at the plane, but Brodie lifts it high enough in the air that he kills Junmar by smashing into him with the plane’s wheels. The plane is badly damaged, but they head towards a nearby island, Siasi, with an airstrip. With only one engine left, and limited control, Brodie, with Dele’s assistance, is able to land safely. Everyone at HQ cheers.

Ki-woo Kim (Choi Woo-Shik) is a young man living in poverty in the slums of a nameless South Korean city with his family - father Ki-taek Kim (Song Kang-ho), mother Chung-sook Kim (Jang Hye-jin), and sister Ki-jung (Park So-dam). The family lives in a garden unit where they struggle finding a Wi-Fi signal to sneak into in order to get access to the Internet to watch TV, get fumigated on, and have to watch men urinating in the alley outside their home. They make ends meet by doing menial tasks such as folding pizza boxes - and even then, get criticized by the pizza employees for messing up the boxes. Ki-woo’s wealthy friend Min-hyuk pays the family a visit, giving them a gift - a rock that is supposed to bring those who have it wealth and prosperity. He then tells Ki-woo that he has been tutoring the teenage daughter of a very wealthy family. He is leaving to study abroad but is in love with the daughter, and knows that any of the other university boys would steal her away. He wants Ki-woo to be her tutor, knowing he will watch over her so that Min-hyuk can propose to her once she graduates high school. Ki-woo knows he isn’t qualified since he isn’t in college, but Min-hyuk promises to vouch for him, and so he agrees and has Ki-jung forge credentials for him to take to his interview.

Ki-woo interviews at the very wealthy Park family where he meets Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun), his scatterbrained wife Mrs. Park (Choi Yeo-jeong), and their children, teenage daughter Da-hye and young son Da-song. Ki-woo realizes he needs to flirt with Da-hye to get the job, and he does - Mrs. Park pays him an exorbitant amount of money and mentions they need an art tutor for Da-song. Da-song had a traumatic incident where he saw a “ghost” in the house and had a seizure and has been needing help with his art. Ki-woo introduces them to Ki-jung, who forges documents for herself and goes by “Jessica,” and she too begins making money hand over fist. When the Park’s limo driver takes her home, Ki-jung leaves her underwear in the car in order to get him fired: she then suggests her “Uncle” as the new driver - who is really Ki-taek. The last position is that of the housekeeper, Moon-kwang (Lee Jeung-eun). She has worked for the home since before the Park family lived there - she worked for the previous owner, an eccentric architect. In order to get her fired, the Kims exploit her allergy to peaches, causing her to have allergic reactions: they then convince Mrs. Park that she is seriously contagiously ill and cannot be around their son. She leaves, devastated, and Mrs. Kim is given the job, fooling the Park family into hiring the entire Kim family.

The Kim family enjoys their massive increase of income, and when the Park family decides to leave to go camping for Da-song’s birthday weekend, they take the opportunity to stay in the huge Park house for the weekend. They spend the evening drinking and eating and making a mess of the place when the doorbell rings: it’s Moon-kwang. She claims she was fired so quickly she left without being able to get something and just wants it back. Mrs. Kim reluctantly lets her in, and Moon-kwang runs into the basement and begins screaming, opening a secret passage behind some shelves. She goes to her husband, Geun-sae (Park Myung-hoon), who has secretly been living in the bunker ever since the previous owner moved out in order to hide from loan sharks. She gives him food while Mrs. Kim looks on in horror - she tells Moon-kwang she needs to leave, and as Moon-kwang begs her to let them stay, the rest of the Kim family (who had been eavesdropping) falls off the stairs and into view - and they call each other “dad,” etc., which Moon-kwang films on her phone, realizing the con the family has pulled. She threatens to send it to the Park family and uses that so she and her husband can force the Kim family to do their bidding.

The Kim family manages to get the upper hand on them, getting them into the secret bunker, but the Park family calls: they’ve canceled their camping trip due to rain and will be home in eight minutes. The Kims scramble, trying to clean up as much mess as they can, keeping the other two in the basement. They manage to do a good enough job that the rest of the family is able to hide while Mrs. Kim gives the Parks their dinner - when Moon-kwang breaks out and runs upstairs, Mrs. Kim shoves her back down the stairs, where she hits her head and is severely wounded. Moon-kwang and Geun-sae are locked in the bunker. Mr. and Mrs. Park end up sleeping in the living room in order to keep an eye on Da-song who is camping out in the backyard, forcing the Kims to stay under the table, frozen all night, even as the Parks complain about Mr. Kim’s smell - and then later, have sex. Eventually, in the dead of night, they are able to sneak out. They return home to find their apartment completely flooded with rain and sewage. Ki-woo takes the rock, and the family sleeps in a shelter for the night.

The next day, Mrs. Park decides to throw an impromptu party for Da-song. The Kim family, in their roles as help, are invited and have to pretend that they don’t know that there are two people locked in a bunker under the house. Ki-woo takes the rock down into the bunker, where Moon-kwang has died and is ambushed by Geun-sae, who bludgeons him in the head with the rock. He then enters the party, where he stabs Ki-jung in the chest. The party explodes into horror, and Da-song has a seizure - Geun-sae was the “ghost” he had seen in the house prior. Mr. Park screams at his driver, Mr. Kim - who is trying to stop Ki-jung’s bleeding - for the car keys to take his son to the hospital, and he throws them to him. They land under Geun-sae, who is fighting with Mrs. Kim. She manages to kill him by stabbing him with a meat skewer. Mr. Park gets the keys but expresses disgusts at Geun-sae’s smell - this triggers Mr. Kim, who snaps and stabs Mr. Park, killing him. Mrs. Park faints as Mr. Kim flees.

The story opens in 2049, thirty years after the events of the first film. An on-screen text states that the Tyrell Corporation has collapsed decades before, in the wake of violent revolts involving their Nexus-6 through -8 Replicants, forcing the company into bankruptcy. After the world’s ecosystems collapsed in the mid 2020s, famine swept the Earth, killing millions. With his invention of synthetic farming, a wealthy businessman named Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) ended food shortages and acquired Tyrell’s remaining assets to form his own corporation. The Wallace Company has reinvigorated the Replicant industry by mass producing the Nexus-9 Replicants, a new generation of artificial humans with modified behavior to make them more obedient than the older models. These Replicants have implanted memories and open-ended lifespans, and are still used for slave labor on the off-world colonies (the Moon, Mars, and the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, etc.), but some are also used as Blade Runner units, hunting down and “retiring” the few remaining older model Replicants that are still at large.

In the opening scene, Agent K (Ryan Gosling), one of these Nexus-9 Replicants, travels to a protein farm outside Los Angeles in his flying Spinner vehicle, where he has tracked down an older model Replicant called Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), who was part of a group of Series 8 Replicants that had gone AWOL. After a brief but violent fight, Morton tells him that as a newer model, K cannot come close to knowing what it means to be human. He implies that K would never help humans kill his own kind if he had ever witnessed the kind of “miracle” that he has. K retires him and is ready to leave when he notices a flower placed beside a dead tree in the desolate landscape next to the farm. This prompts him to thoroughly scan the area, which reveals a chest buried under the ground. He requests his office to send a forensic team to unearth it.

K returns to the LAPD office, where he undergoes a standard ‘baseline test’ for Replicants and passes it. He then goes home to his apartment in a seedy area of town. He spends his time at home with a holographic woman named Joi (Ana de Armas), a futuristic form of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and has apparently formed a deep bond with her, despite the fact that they cannot physically interact. For this reason, he has bought her a mobile hologram projector which allows him to free her program from its home-based console. He can now take Joi outside on the top of his apartment building in the pouring rain, and it also allows her program to touch objects. Joi is extremely happy, but K is called back to the station before they can experiment with Joi’s new capabilities any further.

Downtown, the Forensics team has discovered that the chest contains a human skeleton and a lock of hair. They belong to a female who most likely had complications during childbirth 30 years before. Superficial cuts in the bones suggest an emergency Cesarean section as the cause of death. Upon closer inspection, K locates a serial number engraved on one of the woman’s bones, indicating that the skeleton wasn’t from a human, but a Replicant female. The identification causes quite a stir since Replicants were previously unable to reproduce. K’s superior, Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright), reminds him that if the public knew that the line between humans and Replicants is blurring, or disappearing altogether, it would tear apart what remains of civilization. She commands the team to destroy the evidence, and orders K to burn down the farm, track down the Replicant child, and retire it, despite the mixed feelings he may have about retiring something that was born - and has a soul. Before leaving, K takes some of the female Replicant’s hair.

K goes to the Wallace Company to inquire about the serial number and hair of the female replicant. It is housed in the old Tyrell pyramid, although now much more austerely lit. A clerk tells him that the number belongs to an older model Replicant; information may be hard to find, given the fact that an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) event called the ‘Blackout’ in 2022 destroyed almost every digital file the company had before that date. All that remains is some raw hard-copy data. Fortunately, there appears to be something left. K is helped by a Replicant woman called Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), who gives him access to what appears to be an old memory file containing an audio recording. It belonged to an experimental Replicant named Rachael, who went missing 30 years before. She can be heard talking to a Blade Runner called Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). K detects a very strong connection between the two. Luv thanks K for finally being able to close the case on Rachael.

K does some research on Deckard, and finds his old colleague Gaff (Edward James Olmos) who is now living in a retirement home. Gaff tells him that Deckard and Rachel fell in love, and eloped. K asks if Gaff knew that Deckard would one day leave society; Gaff confirms, saying that there was something in Deckard’s eyes that told him he was finished hunting Replicants.

Luv reports what she has learned to Wallace, who is blind but can see with the help of small drones. He is just witnessing the activation of a new female Replicant. He seems sympathetic to his creation, yet he also carelessly slashes the woman’s abdomen, apparently frustrated by the fact that she cannot bear children. He laments that humanity has only founded less than ten off-world colonies; in order to spread out, much more Replicants will be necessary. The only way he can meet the ever-growing demand for more Replicants is to engineer specimens who can procreate. Tyrell obviously learned how to do this, but his records were destroyed in the Blackout. The only way to learn Tyrell’s secrets is to find Rachael’s child. He commands Luv (who is emotionally shaken by his actions but remains obedient) to obtain Rachael’s remains and follow K to locate the child.

Meanwhile, K is walking through the city’s entertainment district to buy dinner, where a mysteriously cloaked woman commands three Replicant prostitutes to find out what he knows. One of them, Mariette (Mackenzie Davis), tries to seduce him for sex, but noticing he carries a holographic projector, she figures that he is not into “real girls”, and leaves. In the meantime, Luv has entered the police station to retrieve Rachael’s remains, coldly killing the forensic agent who discovers her doing it.

K returns to Sapper’s farm and locates a baby sock and a picture of another woman holding the baby, implying that Sapper and several other Replicants have been protecting Rachael’s secret for decades. He also finds a date carved into the bottom of the tree, 6-10-21, which visibly upsets him. He burns the farm and returns to LA. Reporting his findings to Joshi, she tells him about the disappearance of Rachael’s remains, and asks him about his most precious childhood memory. Even though he knows that it must be an implanted one, K says that he clearly remembers being chased through an old factory as a kid by a group of older boys. They wanted to take away his wooden carving of a horse, so he hid it inside an old furnace. K remembers that the horse had a date on it, the exact same date carved into the rock, a fact that he doesn’t share with Joshi. Joshi suggests he try the DNA bank to identify the child.

Assuming that the date carved in the tree and the horse is meant to be a date of birth, K starts to dig into the DNA bank to find someone born on June 10, 2021. Again, only raw data remains, but he finds records of two children born that day, a boy and a girl. They have the same DNA… which is an impossibility (only identical twins have the same DNA, and they should be of the same gender), so K suspects that one has been copied from the other. The DNA data came from an orphanage outside the city. The girl later died from a genetic disease, so K theorizes that the boy may have been hidden by the Replicants in the orphanage, which is in the ruins of San Diego.

He travels there in his Spinner but is shot down by a tribe of feral scavengers who live among the ruins of a massive old ship breaking yard. They try to attack him, but Luv, who is keeping an eye on him from above through remote camera surveillance, uses precision bombs to repel them. After repairing the damage to his spinner, K proceeds to the orphanage, an old abandoned section of a ship, where the caretaker (Lennie James) is clearly using the children as cheap laborers. He coerces the man into showing him the old administrative files, but finds that the sections he is looking for have been completely torn out. While exiting, he notices how familiar the surroundings feel to him. He walks deeper into the ship section, and is shocked to find the location and the furnace from his memory; the wooden horse is still hidden inside it. K returns to the LAPD station in an upset state for another baseline test, which does not go smoothly.

Not knowing what to make of the revelation, he returns home. Joi is convinced that this means that his childhood memory is real, and K is Rachael’s son, suggesting he was born instead of manufactured, and that he has a soul, as opposed to other Replicants who are thought to be ‘soulless’ and thus inferior to humans. She thinks he deserves a human name, and starts to call him ‘Joe’. K is still not convinced that the memory is real, so Joi suggests that he should contact an expert on implanted memories.

K arrives at the lab of Dr. Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), who designs memory implants for Wallace’s Replicants. Dr. Stelline is happy to see someone, being kept inside a dome at all times since she suffers from a compromised immune system, and can’t be exposed to other people. Her parents left Earth for one of the off-world colonies, but she wasn’t allowed to come along because of her disease. Her youth was lonely, but this caused her imagination to flourish, making her one of the best creators of artificial memories. K asks how fake memories can be discerned from real ones. Dr. Stelline says that fake memories tend to be too detailed, since real memories are ‘messy’ as they tend to reflect an emotional rather than a photographic recollection; but a good fabricated memory always contains something personal of the maker. K asks her to take a look at his memory, and give her thoughts. A special device allows Dr. Stelline to see the memory in his head. Overcome by emotion, she says the memory is real; K leaves in a fit of anger. As he goes outside, he is apprehended by the police.

K is confronted by an angered Joshi for failing his last baseline test, which may mean that he is going to be retired. K tells her that he is in his current state because he succeeded in his mission: he has killed Rachael’s offspring, who was so well-hidden that even he didn’t know who he was. Joshi agrees to suspend him, and gives him 48 hours to disappear. Going home, he finds Mariette in his room. Joi reassures him that this is her doing, because she needs Mariette for something. She synchronizes her holographic program with Mariette, so she is able to steer Mariette’s body and make love to K. The next morning, K seems to feel awkward about the unexpected threesome. He is called to the station, and leaves without saying goodbye, but not before Mariette placed a tracking device in his coat. Joi tells Mariette to leave; Mariette scoffs that, having been inside Joi’s consciousness, she noticed that not much was there (showing that Replicants are not above feelings of superiority either).

K tells Joi that people will be coming for him. Joi insists on coming with him so that she cannot reveal what she knows; K is reluctant as transferring her to the mobile projector would put her at risk of being lost if the projector is damaged, but ultimately accepts. She instructs him to destroy the antenna in the projector so that she cannot be moved to another device and remove any chance of tracking it. Luv, who is monitoring the position of the projector, is no longer able to track K.